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Common Sense Systems

Common Sense Systems

We help software engineering professionals to improve through personalized coaching.

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Meme about Perl looking like shellcode.

Send Me Your Perl Problems!

I have heard people describe Perl as “An explosion at an ASCII factory.” That’s funny, yet Perl is a highly productive language in the right hands.

By John Sambrook

Do you have a Perl program that needs some love? Can’t find anyone in your shop that knows or wants to learn Perl? I love helping people with their Perl problems, so perhaps I can lend a hand.

I have been using and enjoying Perl programming for decades. I think I first started using Perl in 1990 or so. Over the course of the last thirty years I have reached for it frequently – and I still do.

I’ve done a lot of programming in other languages as well. I wrote in C++ for more than 25 years as well. I was fortunate to work with very good engineers, we were into the Design Patterns movement, UML, etc. We wrote good software.

A lot of my work has been in the embedded space. I know microprocessors, debuggers, and hardware assisted debug. I once worked for a company that made high-end in-circuit emulators (Applied Microsystems, Inc.) I enjoyed working at Applied.

I have been pretty impressed with programs like ShellCheck. It’s shocking to me how good it is. I was not surprised to learn it is written in Haskell.

GNU Emacs is my daily driver when it comes to text editors. Interestingly, my text editor is older than my eldest daughter, who was born in 1985.

A picture of Eli Goldratt, sitting on stage, smiling.
Eli Goldratt

I do a lot of different things these days. I love process improvement and the Theory of Constraints and talking with people about their businesses. Eli Goldratt my mentor-at-a-distance for more than 30 years. He passed away in June, 2011. In my view, Eli was on a par with Taiichi Ohno and William Edwards Deming.

At times I think it’s possible for good software engineers to become a little too concerned with the latest language of the day and to perhaps be a little too casual when it comes to solving the problems their customers want to have solved.

While I have done a lot over the years, solving Perl problems has always been fun for me. If I can be of service to you, please contact me.

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About John Sambrook

I love my work and coaching men and women who want to improve their practice of software engineering. We have a tremendous opportunity to do good in the world.

I hope you will contact me if I can answer any questions for you.

— John Sambrook

Common Sense Systems has provided software engineering services to high-tech companies in the Seattle area since 1996.

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