The Cycling Santa

At our local Shopping Centre they put up this little Santa dude on a tiny bicycle that travels between two pillars. One end of the wire is fixed, the other on a circular rotation. He just goes back and forwards, back and forwards. So very simple.

Simple. My kids absolutely love it. I mean, every time we pass it they want to stand and watch.

Simple.

And it got me thinking today, as we passed by underneath the jolly fellow.

The construction of the cycling santa is pretty simple. It relies on a lot of outside functionality. Gravity, momentum … physics. These are the building blocks that were already in place. They were the development suite , the 4gl language. All the developer did was put together a pretty UI and a very simple engine.

And it holds the attention of my kids (and me included) long enough for a handy pickpocket to do the rounds. Well … that was a side-thought :) … but anyway. It grabs the attention.

And that is enough. You get the people in. Then, once they’re watching Santa, you need a plan for what comes next.

But that’s for a later post. When my brain thinks it through a bit more. The point of this is that simple systems wrapped around constructs (the physics and absolute truths of our own development worlds) that are already part and parcel with what we do, is a very smart way to develop.

We need to think about what things just are in our world. The Internet, in all it’s forms. Conduits of information. And the Interfaces to that information.

Nice. That’s a succinct little detour-ee thought.

Break down what we do. Conduits of Information. Interfaces to that Information.

Nice.

Anyway, yeah. The Cycling Santa. He reminds me to work very hard at making complex things simple. At using the building blocks that are already in existance. He says to use the simple functionality to draw people in.

Thanks for listening, this has been another Dev Dawn broadcast.

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