Writing Workshop
Resources
- Kent Beck “how to get your paper accepted at OOPSLA”: https://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~migod/research/beckOOPSLA.html
- Daniel Lemire, Write good papers: https://lemire.me/blog/rules-to-write-a-good-research-paper/
Both of the above are about writing scientific papers. Those differ from technical blog-entries in a number of ways, in particular,
- in a blog you should put your focus on use and practical aspects
- put less emphasis on “related work”. However - everybody likes to get many “likes”, so do provide back-links of relevance.
- Scientific papers follow some rather old-fashioned guidelines on how to write. In a blog entry you can be more relaxed. The list in Daniel Lemire’s blog section 5-7 should only be seen as guidelines.
Abstracts
Kent beck abstracts
https://plg.uwaterloo.ca/~migod/research/beckOOPSLA.html
I try to have four sentences in my abstract.
- The first states the problem.
- The second states why the problem is a problem.
- The third is my startling sentence.
- The fourth states the implication of my startling sentence.
Or, phrased differently: (https://lemire.me/blog/rules-to-write-a-good-research-paper/)
- state the problem
- say why it is interesting
- say what your solution achieves
- say what follows from your solution.
Example
Mongo databases often suffer performance problems when the dataset grows.
This lead to bottlenecks and degrades the overall user experience for your site.
However, most performance problems have their root in a few simple fallacies that are easy to address.
Addressing these issues can bring new life to your site and allow nearly unlimited scaling.
(read: https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/administration/analyzing-mongodb-performance/)
Exercise
Read this blog-entry
http://www.theserverside.com/tip/Is-JSON-and-XML-your-REST-performance-bottleneck
Formulate an abstract for it.
Shared doc for your results in class
Workshop
In your groups:
Produce 3 abstract proposals (Your target group is next years students on the same course)
Pick one abstract and
- Expand the 4 sentences into 3-10 lines paragraphs each.
- Search the web for other who address the same problem
- Create an outline for the blog – it has to follow the structure from the first lesson.