I like Will Larson’s concept of navigators. It is an idea of dividing areas for senior technical leaders similar to what you do for product leaders. I’ve independently come to a very similar model, and like this terminology and approach. https://lethain.com/navigators/
There's still time to sign up for a half-day training in "Introducing Ensemble" with me and Nitsan Avni next week. This training is for people wanting to try ensemble with their team, and has practical advice on how to get started.
https://sammancoaching.org/training/introducing_ensemble.html
It will soon be 10 years since @emilybache delivered a keynote at #PyCon with title 'Will I still be able to get a job in 2024 if I don’t do TDD?'. Today I am curious on how that talk aged, looking at it going to 2024.
But yes, she is a great keynote speaker. https://bacheconsulting.com/keynote_speaker/
The most recent concert i sang with my choir is on Swedish radio. Pieces by Britten, Poulenc, and more.
Svenska kammarkören – i krigets skugga - Konsert i P2
8/
For teams whose commits fail if any tests are red, Greencently offers an optimization: your pre-commit hook can check whether you yourself just ran all the tests green "recently enough" (as defined by the team). Available for JUnit 5, so far. Would love more implementations.
ensemble programming
Since semi-retiring, I've been doing virtual training classes. Whatever the subject matter - Java, TDD, Spring Boot, JavaScript, Node, React, Linux admin, z/OS, MySQL, Oracle, DB2, COBOL, JCL, ISPF, CICS - the primary feedback from every group has been about the remote ensemble programming approach taken during the courses. Experiencing ensemble programming had a greater impact than the subject of the course in every case. Several have said they took this back to their teams.
The tide has started turning on the flow of tech workers.
> Europe is poaching more US talent than it loses to the country. 8,400 US tech workers have arrived in the region so far this year, compared to 8,300 heading across the Atlantic.
I wonder however how much is attributable to more US tech companies having European offices now.
https://sifted.eu/articles/atomico-state-of-european-tech-report-2023
The latest in my series of super-distilled #BluffersGuides to seminal works in software development is considered by many to signal the birth of what we know today as "Agile Software Development" https://codemanship.wordpress.com/2023/12/01/the-bluffers-guide-to-principles-of-software-engineering-management/
@brainwane
This is one of the ideas in this "sparrow deck" training- to get to expert level of seeing patterns faster. https://youtu.be/tkqZDaw-4E4?feature=shared
My series of super-distilled #BluffersGuides to some of the most influential works in software development continues with a seminal 1986 paper that transformed the software development life cycle.
If you need to take time to understand the code before you start refactoring, the refactoring step you plan to do is probably already too big.
The understanding of the code is built _as we refactor_ to the same extent that we refactor as we get a better understanding of the code and domain.
Limiting time for ourselves to understand a piece of code can act as an enabling constraint for finding a smaller refactoring step we could make.
I was skeptical when I first heard about Llewellyn Falco's Sparrow Decks as a way to learn to read code better. It's taken a few years of trying them out to come round to thinking they're actually a pretty good idea. My latest video explains this approach to training and lets you try out Llewellyn's original Sparrow Deck.
I have however introduced a bunch of big cats to the explanation. I'll leave you all to work out if sparrows or leopards make the theory clearer... https://youtu.be/tkqZDaw-4E4
I know folks enjoy Advent of Code for the coding puzzle challenges. And if that's you, go for it and have fun!
Meanwhile, there's a separate set of skills called software crafting. So I'm curious what this Advent of Craft will be like. https://github.com/advent-of-craft/advent-of-craft
The foundation of Continuous Delivery is software that's shippable - i.e., WORKING - at any time.
The foundation of code that always works is CONTINUOUS TESTING.
The foundation of continuous testing is test suites that run FAST.
The foundation of test suites that run fast is clean SEPARATION OF CONCERNS.
The foundation of Continuous Delivery is MODULARITY.
It ain't about the YAML, folks.
Ada Lovelace's notes were labelled alphabetically from A to G. In Note G, she describes an algorithm for the Analytical Engine to compute Bernoulli numbers. It is considered to be the first published algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer, and Ada Lovelace has often been cited as the first computer programmer for this reason. The engine was never completed and so her program was never tested. via @wikipedia
British Mathematician also called the first computer programmer Ada Lovelace died #OTD in 1852. She is known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation.
Babbage's friend Charles Wheatstone commissioned Ada Lovelace to translate Menabrea's paper into English. She then augmented the paper with notes, which were added to the translation.
Here's a thing I made for my bike, and managed to get most of the measurements right on the first go. This is a replacement "deck" for a longtail, but with a box in the front center where there's a blob of empty space on the bike. I also wanted a good way to carry pizza, which is a thing longtails are not great at.
Also - The Samman Society has started offering official training courses, including one called "Introducing Ensemble". I recommend it for technical coaches and developers who want to spend less time working solo. https://sammancoaching.org/training/introducing_ensemble.html
Have you tried Ensemble programming? I've talked to lots of people who have, and the verdict is... mixed. It doesn't always go brilliantly. I think there are several common mistakes which you can avoid, and my latest video explains more https://youtu.be/qjE1O9Zdm3U
Technical Coach, creator of Samman Coaching, Author. she/her.