Technological Singularity

A singular point is a point in which the rules that define the spectrum around are no longer valid. In Mathematics a singular point is the point for which a function is undefined, in Physics, Gravitational Singularity means infinite gravitational field, known also to be a Black Hole.

Technological Singularity is the point of time when computers would be more inteligent than humans, thus creation of new computers and software programs can better be made by computers. Though sounds science fiction, something like the Matrix, I do know, as of today, of humans that are less inteligent than computers, one shall admit computers did part of the way.

The steps towards singularity in software engineering would be the creation of new software languages which are much more declarative rather than procedural. Computers would be able to get well-formed requirements, or constraints, to create the required piece of software. Prof. David Harel started talking about it back in 2000. Now the problem with our usual requirements is that they are not so well-formed, filled with holes and hacked with contradicting constraints. But what if a computer can identify the holes and contradictions and ask us what we really meant, then go and create the software. And maybe there is no need to ask us, since the computer knows better anyhow. The famous inventor and futurists Ray Kurzweil is speaking about technological singularity in his book The Singularity is Near with forecasts such as that by 2020 personal computers will have the same processing power as human brains and by 2030s Mind Uploading would become possible.

It's closer than you think. Declarative programming. Computers who understand requirements. Technological singularity. At which point the only occupation still relevant for humans would be lawyers, as computers cannot be mean enough for this job.

The future is surely an adventure. Some would see the upside potential of it, others may see the risks, which are there of course. For those and for those it would be good to read some advice from Daniel H. Wilson, on How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.

Maven, Static Code Analysis, Code Coverage and more

Static code analysis and Code Coverage are becoming as basic as IDE syntax highlighting. Tools like FindBugs, Cobertura, Checkstyle, PMD, Eclemma and others, with plugins to Eclipse and Maven extensions, makes your life as a programmer more manageable, having Maven build a site for you with your code coverage results and following Checkstyle remarks in the IDE.

The title connects between things that are uncorrelated, except for being a measurement for modern Java development practicing. And of course Maven relates it all together also.

Today a Java programmer that knows only Java, even if very well, but intentionally ignores what's arround in the industry, e.g. sticking with good old Ant ("Why do I need this Maven, I'm doing just fine with Ant, just leave me in your mother") becomes a bit obsolete. The strength of Maven is that you can take a project with its POM.xml, and open it on another machine, even with another IDE that supports Maven.

So, to summarize.
As a programmer you are usually stressed and under pressure to close your tasks. Find some time to enhance your environment with the relevant Java Power Tools.