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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: 2023
Sep 19, 2023

Microsoft invited the Legacy Code Rocks team to attend Microsoft Build Conference and gave us access to the studio on the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. In this episode, we talk with Raymond Chen, a senior software engineer at Microsoft.  

Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie-jeebies. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing (Addison Wesley 2007). He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information.

When you finish listening the episode, connect with Raymond on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Raymond on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-cheng-18460a82/

The Old New Thing at https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/

The Old New Thing (book) at https://www.amazon.com/Old-New-Thing-Development-Throughout/dp/0321440307

Jul 31, 2023

Microsoft invited the Legacy Code Rocks team to attend Microsoft Build Conference and gave us access to the studio on the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. In this episode, we talk with Debbie O’Brien and Max Schmitt, both part of the Microsoft Playwright team.. 

Playwright is a tool developed by Microsoft that allows developers to automate the testing of web applications.. Playwright's unique feature is its ability to handle multiple browser contexts, making it efficient for testing complex scenarios and improving cross-browser compatibility.

The opinions expressed in this episode are Debbie’s, Max’s,  and Scott’s and cannot be attributed to Microsoft or its employees in any way. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Playwright at: https://playwright.dev

 

Jun 26, 2023

Microsoft invited the Legacy Code Rocks team to attend Microsoft Build Conference and gave us access to the studio on the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. In this episode, we talk with Kayla Cinnamon, the first of the three guests we had an opportunity to chat with at the Conference. 

Kayla is a Product Manager with Microsoft. She’s currently working on Microsoft Dev Home and helps out the Microsoft PowerToys team. Kayla is also the former product manager of Windows Terminal. She tells us about the maintenance and improvements of the Windows Terminal including the brand-new features added to it, such as tab tear-off. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Kayla on Twitter

The opinions expressed in this episode are Kayla’s and Scott’s and cannot be attributed to Microsoft or its employees in any way. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Kayla on Twitter at https://twitter.com/cinnamon_msft 

Windows Development Blog at https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/

Microsoft Build 2023 at https://news.microsoft.com/build-2023/

 

May 31, 2023

How many of your passwords do you actually know? Now, how many of those passwords are already on the black web? We are living in a fascinating age of transition from personalised passwords dependent on text inputs and our memory to more advanced access solutions. 

To help us navigate this evolution, we talk with Justin Richer. Justin is a technologist working on a wide variety of projects and problems throughout the internet. Justin is the founder of Bespoke Engineering, an independent consultancy specialising in internet security and identity. He is the author of OAuth in Action along with Antonio Sanso. He is the editor of several security standards including http message signatures, GNAP, OAuth dynamic client registration, OAuth token introspection, and vectors of trust, and has contributed to dozens of others. He previously spent 15 years at the MITRE Corporation contributing to many different efforts, including collaboration, identity, serious gaming, and security research programs.

When you finish listening to the episode, visit the Bespoke Engineering website, grab Justin's and Antonio's book, or connect with Justin on LinkedIn or Twitter

Mentioned in this episode:

Justin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinricher/

Justin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/justin__richer

Bespoke Engineering at https://bspk.io

OAuth in Action at https://www.manning.com/books/oauth-2-in-action

 

May 15, 2023

There is some disconnect between business people and engineers when talking about technical debt. While engineers understand the metaphor as a credit card debt that has to be paid off entirely and as soon as possible, business people see it more as a mortgage paid in small installments over a long period. 

Today we talk with Dave Mangot, CEO of Mangoteque and the consultant, author, and speaker helping private equity portfolio companies get good at delivering software. As a former architect at SalesForce, Dave is well-placed to tell us how to bridge the gap between the executives and the engineers and tackle technical debt in a technically sound and economical way. 

When you finish listening to the episode, visit the Magoteque website, read the Magoteque blog, and connect with Dave on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Dave on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmangot/ 

Mangoteque at https://www.mangoteque.com

Mangoteque blog at https://blog.mangoteque.com

Dominica DeGrandis, Making Work Visible at https://www.amazon.com/Making-Work-Visible-Exposing-Optimize/dp/1942788150 

May 1, 2023

How to ensure that your code review practices are not just an expensive bottleneck in your team’s productivity but its ultimate superpower?

Today we talk with Michaela Greiler, a Head of Research at DX and the owner of a consultancy and training company, Awesome Code Reviews, focused on helping development teams improve their practices and processes. She tells us when to do code reviews, how to get the most value out of them, how to incentivize meaningful code reviews, and much more. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Michaela on Twitter, visit her website, and check out the available workshops and courses at www.awesomecodereviews.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Michaela on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mgreiler

Michaela’s website at https://www.michaelagreiler.com

Awesome Code Reviews at https://www.awesomecodereviews.com

Characteristics of Useful Code Reviews: An Empirical Study at Microsoft at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/characteristics-of-useful-code-reviews-an-empirical-study-at-microsoft/ 

Apr 17, 2023

What does it mean to build a cost-free feature in the software, and are cost-free features even possible?

Today we talk with Avdi Grimm. Avdi is a software developer with more than twenty years of experience. During his career, Avdi worked on everything from aerospace embedded systems to enterprise web applications. He is the author of Confident Ruby: 32 Patterns for Joyful Coding and a recipient of the Ruby Hero Award. Currently, he spends his time helping developers deepen their coding practice at Graceful.Dev. He tells us about practices that increase software maintenance costs and how to avoid them. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Avdi on Twitter or LinkedIn, visit his website, and check out his training courses at Graceful.Dev

Mentioned in this episode:

Avdi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/avdi 

Avdi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/avdigrimm/ 

Avdi’s training courses at https://graceful.dev

Avdi’s website at https://avdi.codes 

Avdi Grimm, Confident Ruby: 32 Patterns for Joyful Coding at https://www.amazon.com/Confident-Ruby-Patterns-Joyful-Coding-ebook/dp/B00ETE0D2S/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=Vvn53&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=135-0405864-9131715&pd_rd_wg=PIKbJ&pd_rd_r=01acffe0-cfc0-46a5-b78a-9679fb0ebfcb&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk 

Apr 3, 2023

Every once in a while, it is wise to stop for a second and think about why we do things in a specific way and whether we need to change something. This is where rethinking processes kick in. 

Today we talk with Stefanni Brasil, a co-founder of hexdevs, a senior developer at Thoughtbot, and a core maintainer of faker-ruby. Stefanni is also a co-host of the hexdevs podcast, a show helping developers take their Ruby career to the next level. 

She tells us about her keen interest in processes, why they matter, and when the time is ripe to reevaluate them. 

When you finish listening to the episode, visit Stefanni's blog, check out the Hexdevs website, and listen to the hexdevs podcast. 

Mentioned in this episode:

hexdevs website at https://www.hexdevs.com

hexdevs podcast at https://podcast.hexdevs.com

Thoughtbot at https://thoughtbot.com/blog 

Marry Lynn Manns, Linda Rising, Fearless Change, Patterns for Introducing New Ideas at https://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Change-Patterns-Introducing-paperback/dp/0134395255

Mar 20, 2023

There is an eternal dilemma among software developers - should we try our best to predict the future and build it into our code, or should we just plan for frequent iterations? 

Today we talk with Ashu Chatterji, CEO of Caravel Labs and software engineer with 3+ decades of industry experience, working to reimagine IT consulting as an industry incentivized by innovative outcomes in global sustainability and social justice. Ashu built and led a global practice of "player-coach engineers" that helped sell and deliver path-breaking digital transformation engagements and laid the foundation of Agile software development in Microsoft consulting services. He tells us how to build durable software that will withstand the test of time and the ever-changing needs of its users. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Ashu on LinkedIn and visit the Caravel Labs website to learn more. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Ashu on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashutoshchatterji/ 

Caravel Labs at https://www.caravellabs.com 

 

Mar 6, 2023

To build anew or to rebuild? Many developers have a knee-jerk reaction to start building existing software systems from scratch because they think that is the easiest way forward. 

Today, we talk with John Ousterhout. John is the Bosack Lerner Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. His current research focuses on new software stack layers to allow data center applications to take advantage of communication and storage technologies with microsecond-scale latencies. He is the author of the book "A Philosophy of Software Design", co-creator of the Raft consensus algorithm, and creator of the Tcl scripting language and the Tk toolkit. He tells us about the software designs of legacy systems, why incremental changes of legacy systems are inevitable, and how to resist the impulse of rewriting large software systems from scratch. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with John on Twitter, read his book, and join his discussion group on software design

Mentioned in this episode:

John on Twitter at https://twitter.com/johnousterhout?lang=en

John’s profile at Stanford University at https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/home.php

A Philosophy of Software design at https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Software-Design-John-Ousterhout/dp/1732102201

Raft Consensus Algorithm at https://raft.github.io

TCL/Tk at https://www.tcl.tk/about/language.html

John’s Software Design Discussion Group at software-design-book@googlegroups.com 

 

Feb 6, 2023

Working on legacy code is never easy, but some programming languages make it more enjoyable. 

Today, we talk with Richard Feldman, the creator of the Roc programming language, the author of Elm in Action, and the creator of the Frontend Masters courses Introduction to Elm and Introduction to Rust. Richard tells us about the advantages of the Elm, Rock, and Rust languages and why they are more enjoyable to work with than other languages. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Richard on Twitter, check out his book and courses, and take a look at the Roc programming language

Mentioned in this episode:

Richard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/rtfeldman

Roc programming language at: https://www.roc-lang.org

Elm in Action at https://www.manning.com/books/elm-in-action

Richard’s Frontend Masters courses at: https://frontendmasters.com/teachers/richard-feldman/



Jan 23, 2023

Product teams are scared of technical debt and refactoring. They press on to make something new, not to question what they have already created. However, the urgency to deliver new products carries the risk of technical debt. 

Today, we talk with Andreas Creten, a software engineer turned CTO. Andreas is a co-founder of Made With Love, a company that helps startups and scaleups to get out of technical trouble. Andreas tells us how to work with product teams to address technical debt in the early stages of software development, what tools to use, and what mistakes to avoid. 

When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Andreas on Twitter or LinkedIn and visit madewithlove.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Andreas on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andreascreten

Andreas on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreascreten

Made With Love at https://madewithlove.com



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