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I'm a software developer and writer; I've programmed computers since I was 11.
Nowadays I concentrate on agile software development processes, and Java programming (both server and client-side), also writing and book publishing.
I'm based in Southwest London, and I'm a software developer/project leader/coach (whatever befits the moment) working with financial organisations in Central London. I used to write for Application Development Trends magazine, and now I do a more-or-less monthly column for The Register.
Recently I set up Fingerpress, an independent book publisher and software consultancy - and I'm currently setting up its "sister site", Fingerpress Travel - for publishing crowdsourced travel guides and photos.
As this is an "about me" page, here are some links and stuff to some more "about me" pages:
My "author page" on Amazon...
Matt Stephens on LinkedIn
And this is my Typepad page (that photo in the top-left isn't me, of course).
I can be emailed at:
Books
Fiction
I wrote a "flash fiction" story for Antipodean SF - archived here: All Aboard the Grim Love Bus.
Also check out Geek Fiction, a series of tongue-in-cheek sci-fi short stories. (Beware profanities, poor taste etc).
Older Articles
Older articles include:
JBuilder Enterprise Review (Application Development Trends, January 2005)
A nice chance to try my hand at this "journalism" thing...
The Irony of Extreme Programming (Dr Dobbs Journal, May 2004)
by Matt Stephens and Doug Rosenberg
This article sums up the objections to XP presented in the XPR book (but doesn't include the proposed improvements that the book goes on to describe in detail).
Persona Power: Extending Use Cases With Persona Analysis (Software Development Magazine, February 2004)
Use cases are an important method for specifying behavioral requirements. Despite this, people still struggle with use cases because they find them too abstract. They’re undoubtedly valuable, but we need to get better at writing them—and one way to do this is through personas and scenarios.
Personas combined with use case scenarios produce a practice that’s surprisingly effective at getting the product design right. How? By identifying the user’s goals and designing the interface around them.
>> Read the Full Article
(free registration required)
Too Agile by Half? (Application Development Advisor, January 2004)
by Matt Stephens and Andy Carmichael
Describes some useful techniques for agile planning.
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