Operation: "Code Inspection Book"

I've reached the end of Phase One of operation: "Code Inspection Book". Phase One was to write 30.000 words.

The second phase will be to sort the words into an order that makes sense. It's not as bad as it sounds, I was thinking ybout the order when I wrote the words. At least the words in each sentence are in the correct order. Whether the sentences flow in good order, remains to be witnessed and corrected in Phase Two.

Here's the structure and the number of words and the date of finishing:
1. Preface (654 words) 15.3.2006
2. Problems (3166 words) 15.3.2006
3. Root Causes (5523 words) 4.7.2006
4. Technique (4890 words) 9.6.2006
5. Rules (12102 words) 16.6.2006
6. Benefits (9402 words) 3.7.2006
7. Examples (38 words)
+ description of Technique (132 words)

Grand total: 34.000 words.

It looks like I will be dropping the two last chapters totally. What you'll notice by looking at the dates is that I didn't write the chapters in the order they are in. I made a skeleton for each chapter and then filled them in one by one in a random order. I kind of selected whichever of the chapters felt best for me to write at the time and then wrote it following the notes I had brainstormed before.

I think Phase Two will be self-reflection, making sure the chapters fit together, and Phase Three will need external reviewers. I hope to get some professional comments from my network. If you want to volunteer and proofread an unfinished technical book about "Tick-The-Code" Inspection, send me an email. Sometime later this year, the chapters will be ready for review. And somewhere I need to think about possible illustrations, maybe even code fragments for making the book less dry. (I actually don't think the way I write is dry, just that the topic might not raise everybody interest levels above the level of thirst.)

Phase Four will probably consist of finding a publisher. I've had my eye on the Pragmatic Bookshelf, because I liked "Pragmatic Programmer" but maybe my book is uninteresting for them. I'll just have to ask.

---

Now I'm off to collect our Vietnamese au pair Katrin. Well, she isn't exactly an au pair, nor is she Vietnamese but it is still a good enough description, at least for the people who know her. She lives and works in Vietnam. This might be a good time to send greeting to Tom Muumilainen (who probably doesn't have access to this website nor know about its existence) somewhere in China. Your wife is fine, and she's an ace in karaoke!