Bio: Bruce Johnson

Printer-friendly version

Bio: Bruce Johnson
25-Apr-2002 -- Susan Pichotta
 
This week, the Icetips News Network is pleased to present another first, a bio from South Africa! He's rather well-known, and has written/been involved with some of the most popular third-party tools. He regularly attends and presents at conferences around the world, and we'll see him leading a class on ABC at ETC. For now, see what he says on programming, templates, and being a witness to his country's recent history.
 
Who do you work for?
I am a part owner of CapeSoft. For those with long Clarion memories, we started off as DataSoft 11 years ago, and changed the name in '96 or '97 when it became obvious that there were way too many Datasoft's around...
 
What do you like best about what you do now?
I like the variety. I'm responsible for managing the Clarion Tools development we do, and it's nice working with others to push back the limits of what we can accomplish. Plus I'm also heavily involved in one of our commercial packages (TNA 2000) and this keeps me firmly rooted to what's really important in a program, happy users...
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in using Clarion?
File Manager 2 (FM2) was certainly the most technical thing I've done. That was certainly very difficult, but also very rewarding. And despite the effort it's still the tool that I would give up last.
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in business?
When I first left university I'd already sold a couple programs, and I thought I knew what I was doing. Certainly from a technological point of view I was ready. From a business point of view though I didn't have a clue. And worse, I didn't know it. Fortunately I had went to work for a small company (there were just 3 of us in total) where I had a lot of freedom on the programming side, but didn't have to worry too much about business. In such a small environment I was able to see some of the more practical issues though of running a business.
 

The definitive Cape Town landmark, Table Mountain, as seen from the waterfront. The cable car runs to the very top, right hand corner. The waterfront is now a major buzz point in Cape Town. It's still a working dockland, but it's been built into a major focus point of Cape Town with zillions of shops, harbour cruises, outdoor music entertainment.

I think the hardest lesson to learn was the simplest. The goal of the work is to get paid. In the early years I was too "nice". I'd do piles of work for the clients which ultimately they didn't pay for. Small features, support, you know what I mean. Now I'm more hard-nosed about it. I finally figured out that the best thing you can do for a client is be successful, and be around to help him in the future. In order to achieve that success you have to get paid. It all sounds terrible mercenary, but at the end of the day if you don't get paid then sooner or later you'll go off and do something else.
 
Do you use any computer languages besides Clarion?
Not really. I don't really have much call for it now. Every now and then I'll write something small in C, but my C is now so rusty that it takes forever just to get the Syntax errors out the code...
 
When did you start programming?
I was 11 when my dad brought an Apple 2 home from the office for the first time. Unfortunately the graphics part of it was broken, so games were limited to chess (following the moves on a real board) and the classic text adventures by Scott Adams. My dad then encouraged me to start programming, so I took the basic manual to school and read it cover to cover while sitting in class ignoring the teacher. It was really easy, and in those days the whole manual was really thin. (What I'm supposed to give my son when he wants to start programming is an utter mystery to me <grin>.) From there I just couldn't stop. After the Apple 2 it was the IBM PC, and Pascal and C and so on. After national service I went to the University of Cape Town (UCT) and then straight from there to working for Derek.
 
When did you start using Clarion?

The cable car (as seen from the other car) as it heads upwards to the top of the mountain. There are dozens of walking routes up the mountain, and over weekends the whole mountain range is extremely popular with hikers, and climbers. But the cable car has to be the most civalised way of getting to the top.

When I went to work for Derek he was using Clarion 2 for DOS (CPD) almost exclusively. That was in 1992. He'd started out as a single developer, and the local Clarion distributer gave him a demo. We did a big eval when changing from Dos to Windows, but at the time nothing really compared with CW. The only real contender at the time (that was in our price range) was VB 3. We spent 3 months writing something in VB 3, and hit too many "ceilings" so had to port the project over to CW 1. I actually ran Cw 1 about a year ago, to port an app from that to C5.5, and it now seems absolutly archaic, but at the time it wasn't too bad <grin>...
 
What's the coolest project(s) you've worked on using Clarion?
Oh that has to be the accessories. I just love it when you take an existing app and retro add a feature in no time. Regardless of the fact that the tool may have taken months to get right, it's still a jaw-dropping moment when you drop it in an existing app and hit the compile switch.
 
Probably the biggest jaw-drop I ever did was the very first time I saw, what was then File Manager, for Clarion 3 for Dos working at a client's site. I spent my first year of programming working on a big CPD app and that was changing file structures at a rate of about twice a week. Getting client sites updated was a real pain, and ultimately involved a lot of work on my side. Then I wrote FM for Clarion 3, added it into a beta program I was working on, and went to the client. When I saw it kick in for that first time I knew I was never going back.
 
I guess at heart I'm pretty much a lazy guy. I don't really have the tolerance for doing long-winded things over and over. So I really took to Clarion because it did so much of the grunt work for me. And I got into writing templates because it saved me doing even minor amounts of grunt work.
 
You're going to be a presenter at ETC in May. What will you be talking about in your presentation?
The ABC classes. How to use them, how to understand them. How, and where, to embed code. That sort of thing...
 
Where did you get the idea for that topic?
It's something I've been building on for years. Because of the accessories I had the privilege of travelling a lot, and meeting lots of Clarion developers. The travelling is something I get tired of, but I still love getting together with developers and chewing over what we're doing. At the '99 devcon in Australia I suggested to the organisers doing a day-long course on ABC. That turned into a "tour" of Australia and I ended up doing the course in 4 cities.
 
The response was good, so I hacked it down to about an hour or so for the Florida Devcon in 99. The response there was, to say the least, encouraging and I twisted Lee's arm to let me do it at ETC 2000. (I think he was a bit hesitant at the time - he didn't have a clue if it would be any good - but I convinced him and it turned out OK. ). That session had

Penguins at Boulders beach. About 30 mins from our office. The penguins are protected, but you can get onto the beach with them, even swim in the sea with them.

necessitated a major re-write of the material anyway. Since then I've been adding to my notes whenever I learn something new, and so this year we'll re-cover some of the basics, but most of the time will be spent covering stuff I haven't done before - the File Manager classes, Error classes and so on.
 
I think ABC is one of those things that is very powerful once you get the hang of it, but is completely unintuitive and so is difficult to get into.
 
What do you think is important about technical conferences such as ETC?
Most Clarion developers seem to work in a vacuum. By that I mean they're either working by themselves, or in very small groups. That's not a bad thing, it's just the sort of programmer that Clarion really attracts. But because of this it's difficult to feed off each other, swapping discoveries, ideas and techniques. Conferences like ETC are an excellent opportunity to see what others are doing. Quite apart from the presentations (which over the last 2 events have frankly been excellent ) there's also the opportunity to speak to other developers and swap ideas. Many folks bring laptops, or even full-size machines, and it doesn't take much to convince others to show you what they're doing.
 
From a personal perspective it's also a crucial component of our Accessories business. There is simply no better way to find out what developers want, and need. Many of our products include features which are a direct result of this sort of interaction. It's also an excellent place for users to see first-hand what our products do, and discuss how they might apply to their own products. I've lost count of the folks who tell me that they've known of a product's existance for a long time, but seeing in action is far more valuable.
 
What do you get out of, or bring home from, conferences like ETC?
There are so many things. On the technical side it's a huge learning experience. I'm looking forward to the day on COM - I think that's a big part of the future. On the Accessories side I hope to make a few sales, and also get a chance to talk to existing customers. It's an immensely valuable exercise for us from that point of view. And not least it's a wonderful chance to see old friends and make some new ones.
 
Have you done anything for a living other than software development?
During my years of National Service in the airforce I was a member of the Fire and Rescue services. Basically I got to fulfill every boy's dream of driving a fire engine, with sirens blasting, lights flashing and so on. We worked hard, but also had a lot of fun. Fire Fighting though is a serious business, something which has been highlighted recently, and they have my utmost respect.
 
What are your hobbies/what do you like to do when you're not using Clarion?
Family life is a big part of it. I've got 3 young children so spending time with them, and Vanessa my wife is a priority. Sometimes it's something I have to work on - there are so many things that eat up time. Sometimes it's just a case of deciding beforehand what's important, and then doing that. I've also just started playing golf which is good fun. I don't think I'll ever be any good - that would probably take more time than I have, but it's good fun, and good to get out every now and then.
 
I also like cooking - I do most of the cooking at home and I find it a great way to relax.
 
Married, children, grandchildren, other close family you want to mention?
I'm married to Vanessa - we've just had our ninth aniversary this year. Plus Tim (5), Megan (3) and Gary who's almost 1. So family life is certainly very involving.
 

Where were you born?
Same place I live - Cape Town, South Africa. Right at the bottom of the continent, with an ocean on both sides and a mountain in the middle. I grew up on one side, and moved to the other after I finished university.
 
What's interesting about where you live?
There's an old Chinese whatsit that says "May you live in interesting times". The last 15 years or so in South Africa has certainly been that. From the dark days of Apartheid, through the heady 90's and onwards into this millenium. I'd be lying if I said it's been easy, or that everything is now all ok, but at least we're on the right track. Sure there's still a long way to go, but the mood is definitly that we'll get there. Already I have this profound sense that I have lived through history in the making. In years to come I think we'll fully appreciate the magnitude of what was accomplished here. I look forward to sitting my grand-children on my knee one day and, starry eyed, telling them what it was like as they stare mournfully at their history books, pretending to listen, while really they wish the exam would be cancelled so they can go and play football in the park <grin>.
 
On a more personal side I've had the opportunity to travel a lot, and I guess I might be pretty biased, but I've got to say that Cape Town is definitely the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The combination of mountains and sea is unique in my experience. And the climate is also very mediterranean, warm, but not too hot.

Llandudno in the foreground, Hout Bay behind it. I grew up in Llandudno. Completely hemmed in by mountains it's charicterised by not having a single shop. When my folks built there, there were 8 houses, and it was considered to be out in the sticks. Today it's one of the most exclusive areas in Cape Town. Not least because so few houses come up for sale. So it's populated by the "normal" folks who have been there forever, and foreign celebrities who keep holiday homes there. Where 30 year old family homes rub shoulders with "modern" mansions. Go figure.

It's really starting to position itself as a global holiday destination, which has some really cool spin-offs for those that live here. There's lots to take in, from wine tasting to bungee jumping. Wonderful beaches (albeit with water that is a little cooler than I'd prefer). Or ride up the mountain on a cable car and get the most magnificent view from the top as the sun sinks slowly beneath the horizon... A good site to visit to see more of Cape Town, and South Africa in general is http://southafrica-travel.net
 
What is your favorite food?
It depends. I have quite a few favorites. Nothing beats a good steak, with a red-wine and green peppercorn sauce, and chips. Then again ice-cream with a really dark chocolate-brandy sauce, and covered with roasted nuts ain't bad. And home-made pasta with grilled lamb and a smooth, creamy, spicy tomato & corriander sauce goes down pretty well... Or barbequed fish, drowning in butter over an open fire. Ok, it'll kill you, but at least you die with a smile on your face. Come to think of it, isn't it lunch time....
 
What is your favorite drink?
Either sparkling mineral water or Coke. Ok, it's not very exciting, but I never really developed a taste for the hard stuff... I worked in a bar for a while and seeing people drunk all the time is not a great advertisment to get started. Then again white wine is really good in a cheese sauce, brandy in the above mentioned chocolate, and a couple other things never go amiss in the kitchen.
 
What is your favorite type of music?
I'm sure if I was really smooth, I'd say Jazz, or if I was really cool I'd be into rap or reggae or something. I appreciate good music in any form (Rap is neither good, nor a music form). But unfortunately my real favorite is not hip at all. For me good old Pop does it. Thats right 4 minute ditties and soppy ballads <hangs head in shame>.
 
If Clarion never existed, what do you think you would be doing at this time?
Programming in something else I guess. I have no idea what though. I guess whatever the boss was paying for <g>... When I was in my final year at university I did a couple of interviews with some corporate types. Looking back it's probably a good thing they didn't hire me though. I don't know if I'm really corporate material. For a start there's the whole issue of the suit. I did own a suit once, but the ice-cream mentioned above has long since made it obsolete. And then there are those tie things. I got married in a tie. Only tie I ever owned. Haven't seen it for ages....
 

Megan and Tim listen intently as Gary explains his latest theory on bedtime.