Stories by Andrew Oliver

NoSQL databases like MongoDB are great for some tasks but not for others. Is it MongoDB's fault if misguided developers use it to solve the wrong problem?

Self-taught technologists are almost always better hires than those with a BSCS and a huge student loan

You want the best and the brightest money can buy. Or do you? In fact, you're better served by a group of developers with mixed skill levels who focus on getting the job done

The reason Anonymous has a permanent place in our collective imagination: For a time, its organizational model worked very well

Some are bad habits to overcome; some are poor decisions forced by managers who don't know what they're doing. Read 'em ... and weep

In the era of big data, good old RDBMS is no longer the right tool for many database jobs. Here's a quick guide to choosing among NoSQL alternatives

In plain English, domain-specific languages let users define business rules, help ensure applications do what they're supposed to

Workflow engines help ensure enterprise application development stays on track -- if you know how to use them

The days of Java and .Net dominance are over. Let a thousand languages bloom and cross-pollinate

Functional programming languages will have a place in general application development when we can read their code at a glance

Web development and open standards have triumphed, while the JavaFX framework is merely a last gasp

You might not hear much about SOA anymore, but its imperative to make 'everything a service' is more relevant than ever

Charles Nutter, Rich Hickey, and Galvin King each discovered that 'simplicity' doesn't mean the same thing

Like Larry Ellison's yacht, the RDBMS is sailing into the sunset. But if NoSQL is to take its place, a standard query language and APIs must emerge soon