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Legacy Code Rocks

Legacy Code Rocks explores the world of modernizing existing software applications. Hosts Andrea Goulet and M. Scott Ford of Corgibytes are out to change the way you think about legacy code. If you’re like a lot of people, when you hear the words “legacy code” it conjures up images of big mainframes and archaic punch card machines. While that’s true — it only tells a small part of the story. The truth is, the code you leave behind is your legacy, so let's make it a good one.
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Now displaying: 2022
Dec 18, 2022

How can cooking help you have a better team?

Today, we talk with Kimberly Fox. Kimberly leads virtual and in-person cooking classes and is a recipe developer and writer for her blog, From Market to Table. Building on more than ten years of experience working in STEM and witnessing gender inequalities and micro-cultures in corporate settings, Kimberly developed her signature corporate cooking experiences helping leaders to build more inclusive and diverse teams.

When you finish listening to the episode, start following Kimberly on Instagram and check out her blog, From Market to Table.

Dec 5, 2022

In this episode, we are talking with Michael Kennedy, Python expert and the founder and host of two podcasts - Talk Python To Me and Python Bytes. He also runs Talk Python Training which provides online courses for Python developers. Michael tells us about the reception of Python version changes and the most challenging aspects of the transition to ARM processors. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Michael on LinkedIn and Twitter, subscribe to his podcasts, and check out his training courses. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkennedy 

Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkennedy 

Talk Python To Me Podcast: https://talkpython.fm/ 

Python Bytes Podcast: https://pythonbytes.fm/ 

Talk Python Training: https://training.talkpython.fm/ 

Oct 31, 2022

Software security has become one of the most important topics affecting the lives of millions of people. 

Today we talk with Rob Dickinson, a co-founder, and CTO of Resurface Labs, a data-driven API security solution. He tells us how can security be woven into the culture of a software team, how to build more secure software, and how to adapt traditional security tools to the challenges of cloud computing. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Rob on Twitter and check out resurface.io

Mentioned in this episode:

Rob on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robfromboulder

Resurface Labs at https://resurface.io

Oct 17, 2022

We design software within a particular context. When that context changes, so should the software. But change is often difficult. 

Today we talk with João Rosa, an independent consultant focused on helping organizations to make strategic decisions when building software. João is one of the authors of Software Architecture Metrics, the curator of the book Visual Collaboration Tools, and the host of the Software Crafts Podcast

João tells us how to ensure that our software is evolving with the problems it is designed to solve and how can we evolve along with it. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with him on Twitter, visit his website and grab his book. 

Mentioned in this episode:

João on Twitter at https://twitter.com/joaoasrosa 

João’s website at https://www.joaorosa.io

Software Crafts Podcast at https://www.softwarecraftspodcast.com 

Software Architecture Matrics at https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/software-architecture-metrics/9781098112226/

Visual Collaboration tools at https://leanpub.com/visualcollaborationtools/

Jurgen Appelo, Management 3.0 at https://www.amazon.com/Management-3-0-Developers-Developing-Addison-Wesley/dp/0321712471

Jurgen Appelo, How to Change the World at https://www.amazon.com/How-Change-World-Management-3-0/dp/9081905112/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20PZS97XNXCVG&keywords=Jurgen+appelo+how+to+change+the+world&qid=1665953837&s=books&sprefix=jurgen+appelo+how+to+change+the+worl%2Cstripbooks%2C318&sr=1-1

Oct 3, 2022

If you try to fix broken things in JavaScript, you will probably break the Internet because the entire Internet expects those "mistakes" to be there. Today we talk with David Neal, a family man, geek, musician, illustrator, international speaker, software developer, and Microsoft MVP. David shares the quirkiest things he loves to hate in JavaScript and tells us about the most challenging aspects of working with legacy JS applications. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with David on Twitter and visit his website at https://reverentgeek.com. 

Mentioned in this episode:

David on Twitter at https://twitter.com/reverentgeek

David's website at https://reverentgeek.com

Sep 19, 2022

Legacy becomes legacy only when the memory of how the system works is gone. This is where observability kicks in. 

Today we talk with Hunter Madison. Hunter is the cloud architect for Instana, an observability platform for IBM. He has a decade of software development experience covering everything from e-commerce to database development. He tells us about the significance of observability for maintenance work, when using observability is most helpful, and how to adapt observability tools to match the needs of the system. 

When you finish listening to the episode, you can reach out to Hunter at hunter.madison@ibm.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Hunterr’s email at hunter.madison@imb.com 

Instana at https://www.ibm.com/cloud/instana

Sep 5, 2022

The world as we know it wouldn't exist without open-source software. We have learned to rely and depend on these free products that magically get maintained and updated by communities of volunteers. In our over commercialized world, the very plausibility of projects like Linux, Android, and Apache might seem incomprehensible to some. And yet, they make the world go round. 

Today we talk with Naomi Ceder. She helps us understand the longevity and impact of successful open-source projects. Naomi served as the Chair of the Python Software Foundation Board of Directors, and is the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. Naomi is also a co-founder of the Trans*Code Hack Day - a coding event focused on the trans and non-binary community and its allies. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Naomi on Twitter and visit her website at https://www.naomiceder.tech

Aug 22, 2022

Agile has become the mainstream in software engineering, and agile principles should feel natural to legacy code menders. 

Today we talk with Michael Toppa, the Senior Engineering manager at FastRuby.io. Michael has been a developer, product owner, and engineering director for over 25 years. He had worked for many organizations, including E-TRADE, Ask.com, the University of Pennsylvania, ActBlue, and many others. He is a passionate advocate of agile and lean practices, and today he tells us how to apply them when working with legacy code. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Michael on Twitter or contact him via FastRuby.io

Jun 13, 2022

Imagine if you could refactor legacy code with a single CLI command? Well, you can, at least if you are working with PHP. 

Today we talk with Matthias Noback, a long-time web developer and the author of several programming books, including Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring, which he co-wrote with Tomáš Votruba. Matthias tells us how to use Rector in your daily workflow, how it automates repetitive maintenance and refactoring tasks, and what is the potential of this approach for other programming languages. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Matthias on Twitter, visit his website at https://matthiasnoback.nl, and grab his book Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring

Mentioned in this episode:

Matthias on Twitter at https://twitter.com/matthiasnoback

Matthias’ website at: https://matthiasnoback.nl

Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring at https://leanpub.com/rector-the-power-of-automated-refactoring/

The Mikado Method at http://mikadomethod.info

Corgibytes at https://corgibytes.com

May 30, 2022

There is a lot of buzz around Kotlin, a new Java-based programming language that many think might eventually replace Java. But is all this talk justified, and are the predictions of replacement realistic? 

Today we talk with Duncan McGregor and Nat Pryce, the authors of Java to Kotlin. They reveal to us all the advantages of Kotlin, why and when you would want to transition to it from Java, and how to facilitate the refactoring in a painless and efficient way.

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Duncan and Nat on Twitter and check out their book Java to Kotlin

Mentioned in this episode:

Duncan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/duncanmcg

Mat on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natpryce

Kotlin to Java, 1st edition at https://www.amazon.com/Java-Kotlin-Duncan-McGregor-ebook/dp/B09CT5KZLM

Kotlin Programming Language at https://kotlinlang.org 

Joshua Bloch, Effective Java, 3rd Edition at https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Java-Joshua-Bloch-ebook/dp/B078H61SCH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CG84SQ8VU5ET&keywords=effective+java+josh&qid=1653917364&s=digital-text&sprefix=effective+java+josh%2Cdigital-text%2C260&sr=1-1

Corgibytes at https://corgibytes.com

May 16, 2022

We all want our code to be stable and resilient to future challenges. But we need to strike the right balance between testing our systems and the cost of failure. This is much harder to achieve than it sounds. 

Today we talk with Melanie Frank, Managing Vice-President of Cyber Engineering at Capital One. Her teams innovate boldly to secure the enterprise while obsessing over excellence. Before Capital One, Melanie worked at Honeywell at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she tested software that conducted scheduling, command, and control for space network communication satellites. 

Drawing from her experience in the aerospace and financial industry, she tells us about the significance of testing and how to do it right for your product. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Melanie on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Melanie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-frank-06b3675/ 

Capital One at https://www.capitalone.com 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center https://www.nasa.gov/goddard 

Corgibytes at https://corgibytes.com 

Empathy in Tech at https://empathyintech.com 

May 2, 2022

We all strive to write an ideal code - easily readable, functional, and clean. We use many tools to achieve this. However, we often forget why we need our code to be tidy. 

Today we are talking with Samuel Taggart, President of GDevCon N.A. and the owner of SAS Workshops. Sam is a natural teacher, and he enjoys sharing what he learned with others. We talk with Sam about the tools and methods that make our code clean - refactoring, retrospectives, and style guides. While they are all meant to keep us and our code in check, we forget that these tools and methods also need to be under control. Sam reminds us of a crucial question that will help us do just that. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Sam on LinkedIn and Twitter and visit the SAS Workshops website at www.sasworkshops.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Samuel Taggart on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/taggartsam/

Samuel Taggart on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sasworkshops

GDevCon N.A. at https://gdevconna.org

SAS Workshops at https://www.sasworkshops.com

Mikado Method at https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/a-process-to-do-safe-changes-in-a-complex-codebase/

Legacy Code Rocks - Living Documentation with Cyrille Martraire at https://www.legacycode.rocks/podcast-1/episode/2fd0fdeb/living-documentation-with-cyrille-martraire

Zettelkasten Method at https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/

Corgibytes at https://corgibytes.com 

Apr 18, 2022

Imagine if you could compare concepts side-by-side between a programming language you know and one you don't. Well, now you can!

Today we talk with Sarah Withee, a polyglot software engineer, international tech speaker, and robot tinkerer. Sarah is also the author of Code Thesaurus, the polyglot developer reference tool. She tells us about the reasons behind the creation of the thesaurus, its continuous development, and what you can do to make the thesaurus even better. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Sarah on Twitter and LinkedIn and check out the Code Thesaurus project on GitHub. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Corgibytes at https://corgibytes.com 

Sarah in Twitter at https://twitter.com/geekygirlsarah 

Sarah on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwithee/ 

Sarah’s website at https://geekygirlsarah.com 

Code Thesaurus at https://codethesaur.us 

Code Thesaurus project on GitHub at https://github.com/codethesaurus/ 

Apr 4, 2022

Coders spend most of their time reading rather than writing code. Yet, when you look at the undergraduate programs, boot camps, and conferences, everything seems to be dedicated to code production. 

Today we talk with Felienne Hermans. Felienne is an associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science at Leiden University and the author of the book The Programmer's Brain. She also developed Hedy, a new programming language that makes it easier for kids to learn textual programming. She tells us how to help young programmers better understand both the code they are working with and their own cognition. 

After you finish listening to the episode, connect with Felienne on LinkedIn and Twitter, visit her website at https://www.felienne.com, and make sure to check out her book

Mentioned in this episode:

Felienne on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Felienne 

Felienne on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne 

Felienne’s website at: https://www.felienne.com 

Hedy Programming language at https://hedycode.com 

The Programmer’s Brain at https://www.manning.com/books/the-programmers-brain?utm_source=felienne&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=book_hermans2_programmers_12_8_20&a_aid=felienne&a_bid=d7c7c538

Empathy in Tech at https://empathyintech.com 

Mar 7, 2022

Some of the biggest risks for cyber security frameworks come from employees meant to maintain them. The reason for that is simple, and it couldn't be more human - people who don't feel well don't perform well. 

Today we talk with Nyota Gordon, the founder, developer, and all-around do-gooder at Transition365, a cyber resiliency firm that helps cybersecurity professionals increase their leadership and life skills.

Nyota digs deep into the intersection between cyber security, resiliency, and personal wellness. She shares with us some mental health strategies that will improve our well-being and, as a consequence, our work performance. 

When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with Nyota on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Nyota on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyotagordon/

Transition365 at https://transition365.com

Brené Brown, Shame Resilience Theory at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1606/1044-3894.3483

Symantec Cyber Resiliency White Paper at https://informationsecurity.report/whitepapers/symantec-white-paper-the-cyber-resilience-blueprint-a-new-perspective-on-security

Amy C. Edmondson, The Fearless Organization at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KLT8RKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Charles Feltman, The Thin Book of Trust at https://www.amazon.com/Thin-Book-Trust-Essential-Building/dp/0988953862/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646648424&sr=1-1

Empathy in Tech at https://empathyintech.com

Feb 21, 2022
Agile is all about the speed of iteration and execution. One of the things that often gets neglected is the business impact of the code we are shipping. Today we talk with Prabhjot Singh, serial entrepreneur and the president and CEO of Pyze. He tells us how taking time to better understand the system we are mending can speed up our work and yield much better results. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Prabhjot on Twitter and LinkedIn and visit Pyze's website at https://www.pyze.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Prabhjot on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/psinghsf/

Prabhjot on Twitter at https://twitter.com/psinghsf

Pyze at https://www.pyze.com 

Feb 7, 2022
We frequently discuss compassion, empathy, and kindness on this podcast. What we rarely focus on, however, is being kind and compassionate to ourselves.  

Today we talk with Clare Sudbery. Clare is a lead engineer at Made Tech, and she is the host of the Making Tech Better podcast. Clare tells why it is so important to be compassionate to ourselves and shares with us some techniques on how to achieve this. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Clare on Twitter and dive deeper into the subject of empathy in tech by joining our new community. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Clare on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ClareSudbery

Making Tech Better Podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-tech-better-made-tech/id1558845124

Made Tech Academy at https://www.madetech.com/careers/academy/ 

Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff at https://self-compassion.org

Empathy in Tech at https://empathyintech.com 

Jan 24, 2022

Everyone wants their software system to be resilient - to continue carrying out its mission-critical tasks in the face of disruption or adversity. But resiliency has its cost, and not just in a material sense. With resiliency, your system becomes more complex and harder to maintain. That is why we always have to balance our resiliency requirement with other non-functional requirements around the system. 

Today we talk with Briana Augenreich, a Senior Software Engineer at HubSpot. Briana wears many hats in the software engineering world, but she officially calls herself backend and infrastructure engineer. Briana has extensive experience working with large and complex mission-critical systems. This gives her unique insight on finding the right measure while striving for resiliency. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Briana on LinkedIn. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Briana on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/briana-augenreich-93b4a191/ 

David Woods, The Theory of Graceful Extensibility at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327427067_The_Theory_of_Graceful_Extensibility_Basic_rules_that_govern_adaptive_systems 

Jan 10, 2022

We all get excited about that new, shiny code, but more often than not, our company can live without it. On the other hand, some old and boring lines of code laying around are usually the backbone of our entire business system. And while inventors tend to get all the praise, those who keep the wheels running smoothly are content with, well, the wheels running smoothly. 

Today we talk with Tramaine Darby, a Senior Manager of Content, Subscriptions, and Insights Engineering at Red Hat. She tells us how to manage teams responsible for maintaining the systems that make companies run and how to defend these systems from hard-cuts and radical changes. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Tramaine on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Mentioned in this episode:

Tramaine on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tramainedarby/

Tramaine on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tdarby4

Red Hat at https://www.redhat.com/

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