Do you ever feel like we are entering the age of democratization of software development? Do you fear that the platforms enabling novices with little coding experience to develop software applications are commoditizing your service as a developer? Today we talk with James Augeri, a serial entrepreneur, Techstars alumni, U.S. Airforce veteran, and a founder of Jingle, where he is working on making better search experiences. James shares with us his passion for low-code platforms - software applications designed to provide a software development environment through GUI and model-driven logic, instead of hard coding. What are their advantages, and where are their limits? When are they useful, and when do they become a liability? James' answers to these questions will help you navigate this incoming disruption. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with James on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Mentioned in this episode:
James on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dotdotjames/
James on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DotDotJames
Jingle at https://heyjingle.com
WordPress at https://wordpress.org
Drupal at https://www.drupal.org
Zapier at https://zapier.com
Workato at https://www.workato.com
Bubble at https://bubble.io/
Knack at https://knack.com/
Duda at https://duda.co/
When dealing with legacy code, it is easy to forget that the pipeline to deploy that code could be just as much "legacy' as the code itself. So how do you puzzle your way through resurrecting the pipeline, and how do you handle a legacy application from a CI/CD pipeline standpoint? Today we talk with Laura Santamaria, a LogDNA's development advocate, and DevOps practitioner. She shares with us the secrets of reconstructing legacy pipelines from the available logs and data, what to do when no data is available, and how to make legacy application's pipeline more usable for the next maintainer down the line. When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Laura on Twitter, and visit her website at https://speaking.nimbinatus.com.
Mentioned in this episode:
Laura on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nimbinatus?lang=en
Laura’s website at https://speaking.nimbinatus.com
LogDNA at https://logdna.com
Rackspace at https://www.rackspace.com
How many pairs of eyes are needed to ensure the quality of a newly written code? When do you send your code to an impartial reviewer? Is a review always necessary? Today we talk with Pranay Suresh, a Silicon Valley startup expert, a former software engineer at Tesla, and a mentor and angel investor about code reviews. Pranay gives us a few tips on how to approach code reviews, both from the perspective of a reviewer and of a coder. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with Pranay on LinkedIn, and visit his website at https://pranaysuresh.com.
Mentioned in this episode:
Pranay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranaysuresh/
Pranay’s website: https://pranaysuresh.com
Bolt at: https://bolt.com/
GitHub Pull Approve: https://www.pullapprove.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5Ij2BRBdEiwA0Frc9aNWlyDBIpQIbPkV0-j31HN5GSiGpkcy54vbIEqa5kY7m5Or8NntPRoCH2wQAvD_BwE
GitHub code review: https://github.com/features/code-review/
Switching from a monolithic architecture to microservices has become an accelerating trend these days. Many tech leaders have already successfully transitioned, and many others are planning to follow suit. But is it always wise to abandon the monolith and adopt the services approach? And if the answer is yes, how to make the transition least painful? Today we talk with Rob Zuber, a veteran of software startups, CTO of CircleCI, and a scalability expert. Rob tells us how to choose the right architecture for your business, and how to transition from one architecture to the other without abandoning already invested years of work, knowledge, and experience. When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Rob on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Rob on Twitter: https://twitter.com/z00b?lang=en
Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robzuber/
CircleCI: https://circleci.com
Sam Newman, Monolith to Microservices: Evolutionary Patterns to Transform Your Monolith at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1492047848/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Coding with empathy is one of the Corgibytes' core principles, underlying everything we talk about on this show. But not since 2016 have we taken a step back and dived deep into the subject of empathy, what it means, and how to practice it. Today we talk with Indi Young, a speaker, writer, and UX researcher dedicated to empowering makers and menders to know their problem space through empathy and deep understanding of people's purposes. Indi is an author of two books - Mental Models and Practical Empathy. She tells us how to bring empathy to the developer's table and understand the user's needs beyond what data reveals. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Indi's website and connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Indi Young at https://indiyoung.com
Indi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/indiyoung?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Indi on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiyoung/
Indi Young, Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work at https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Empathy-Indi-Young-ebook/dp/B00RY9R8H8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485488787&sr=1-1&keywords=practical+empathy&pldnSite=1
Indi Young, Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior at https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/
Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts at https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking-ebook/dp/B004J4WNL2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1587223083&sr=8-2
Mentioned in this episode:
Daniel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dokwufulueze/
Daniel on media.com at https://medium.com/@DOkwufulueze
Dunnhumby at https://www.dunnhumby.com
M.M. Lehman, L.A. Belady, Program Evolution, Processes of Software Change at http://informatique.umons.ac.be/genlog/BeladyLehman1985-ProgramEvolution.pdf
Code Climate at https://codeclimate.com
The code is predictable. Binary. It either works, or it doesn't. Working with people is much messier. Their actions and reactions are not easy to predict. Or are they? Today we talk with Claudius Mbemba, a tech leader, public speaker, and the CTO of Neu, about personality tests. How useful they are, which one to choose, is it enough to use only one, and how to use them to increase the productivity and happiness of your team. When you finish listening to the episode, visit Claudius' blog and make sure to connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Claudius on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mbembaships
Claudius on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbembac/
Neu at https://www.neucleans.com
Claudius’ Blog at https://claudiusmbemba.com
Myers-Briggs personality test at https://www.myersbriggs.org
iMap Individual Multi-Construct Assessment Profile at https://vnacelle.com/our-services/imap/
The Four Tendencies Quiz from Gretchen Rubin: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/
Disc personality assessment at https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/
Personalysis test at https://personalysis.wiredtothrive.com/assessment/
StrengthsFinder at https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx
To paraphrase Lewellyn Falco, when one person is programming, it is that person's best ideas that are being encoded into the software; when two people are programming together, you get the best ideas from both of them. Today we are talking with Harald Reingruber, a software engineer who specializes in visual and spatial computing, about his upcoming pair-programming tour in the US and Canada. Where is he planning to go; how will he travel; who will he pair with; and what benefits pair-programming can bring to you and your team? Be sure to check out the details about his tour at https://dev.to/harald3dcv/pair-programming-tour-invite-me-for-free-sessions-sf-bay-area-5eci.
You can also connect with Harald on Twitter and invite him for a pair-programming session.
Mentioned in this episode:
Harald on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Harald3DCV
About Harald’s tour: https://dev.to/harald3dcv/pair-programming-tour-invite-me-for-free-sessions-sf-bay-area-5eci
Lewellyn Falco’s strong-style pairing http://llewellynfalco.blogspot.com/2014/06/llewellyns-strong-style-pairing.html
The easiest way to make your team members feel happy is to give them a sense of personal growth. By expanding their capacities, they exponentially increase the productivity of the team while strengthening their own sense of purpose. On today’s episode, we chat with Kwame Thomison. After a decade building software and software teams for companies like Facebook and Asana, Kwame set out as a leadership coach and founded his company, Magnetic, to help other teams build and sustain social learning cultures. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Kwame's web-site at https://magnetic-inc.com and connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Mentioned in this episode:
Kwame on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwamethomison/
Kwame on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KwameMagnetic
Magnetic at https://magnetic-inc.com
Asana at https://asana.com
LinkedIn Learning’s 2019 Workplace Learning Report at https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report
It’s never about what you don't know. It’s the difference you can bring to the table that matters. Today we talk with A.J. Rendo, a theatre director, a philosophy major, and an enthusiast historian turned software developer. A.J. gives us a wild ride through his story — how can you switch from directing theatrical shows to maintaining legacy software responsible for managing billion dollars a day? What does such a shift do to your self-confidence? And how do you overcome self-doubt? When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with A.J. via Twitter, and check out some of the resources we mentioned in this episode.
Mentioned in this episode:
A.J. Rendo Twitter at: https://twitter.com/AjAdirondack
Michael Feathers, Working Effectively with Legacy Code at https://www.amazon.com/Working-Effectively-Legacy-Michael-Feathers/dp/0131177052/ref=nodl_
Legacy Code Rocks: Defining Legacy Code with Amitai Schleier at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-legacy-code-with-amitai-schleier/id1146634772?i=1000445569710
Developer on Fire: Amitai Schleier - Safe for Programmers and Non-Programmers at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-436-amitai-schleier-safe-for-programmers-non/id1006105326?i=1000446689222
Martin Fowler at https://martinfowler.com
Eric Evans, Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321125215/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SxxpEbD60E873
David Thomas, Andrew Hunt, The Pragmatic Programmer, 2nd Edition, at https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-Anniversary/dp/0135957052
In a modern fast-moving business environment, we are obsessed with quantitative measurements. But without qualitative data, we might get the wrong impression and incentivize bad behavior. Today we talk with Dalia Havens, Vice-President of engineering at Netlify, about selecting appropriate metrics to measure outputs of your team, increase its productivity, and, most importantly, keep it happy. Building on her experience from Netlify, GitLab, SailPoint and IBM, she shares with us how to promote team health through positive metric-driven management. When you finish listening to the podcast, connect with Dalia on LinkedIn.
Mentioned in this episode:
Dalia Havens on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/daliahavens/
Netlify at https://www.netlify.com
GitLab at https://about.gitlab.com
IBM at https://www.ibm.com
SailPoint at https://www.sailpoint.com
SonarQube at https://www.sonarqube.org
Code Climate at https://codeclimate.com
John Doerr, Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525536221/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_15ClEbKXXGPGQ
Most of the time, we focus on a specific aspect of software development and maintenance and try to see how these small pieces fit in the big picture of working with legacy code. Not today, however. Today we talk with Abraham Marín-Pérez, an extremely active Java developer with more than ten years of experience in various industries, about THE big picture and why legacy code rocks! Abraham is the author of Real World Maintainable Software and a co-author of Continuous Delivery in Java, a Java news editor at InfoQ, an advisor at the Meet-a-Mentor London Group, and a regular speaker at well-known international events. On top of that, he helps to run the London Java Community. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Abraham’s blog From Fragile to Agile!
Mentioned in this episode:
Abraham on Twitter: https://twitter.com/abrahammarin?lang=en
Abraham on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abraham-marin-perez-45b88422/?originalSubdomain=uk
Real World Maintainable Software by Abraham Marín-Pérez at: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/real-world-maintainable-software/9781492042853/
Continuous Delivery in Java by Abraham Marín-Pérez and Daniel Bryant at:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/continuous-delivery-in/9781491986011/
Software Maintenance is an Anti-Pattern by Sarah Allen:
https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/02/23/software-maintenance-is-an-anti-pattern/
https://www.fromfragiletoagile.com
Imagine if you could automatically follow, measure, and analyze your workflow, identify the sticking points, and remove them based on the coldblooded data. Imagine if there was such a thing as a Moneyball of coding. Today we talk with Arty Starr about the Idea Flow - a data-driven approach to measuring friction in developer's experience. Arty is the author of the Idea Flow, a panelist on the Greater Than Code podcast and a social entrepreneur. We talk about the eight most common friction points in coding and how the Idea Flow helps identify and eliminate them. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to subscribe to Arty's newsletter at http://arty.twilightcircuit.io.
Mentioned in this episode:
Arty on Twitter: https://twitter.com/janellekz?lang=en
Janelle Arty Starr, Idea Flow: How to Measure the PAIN in Software Development, at https://leanpub.com/ideaflow
Arty’s newsletter: https://arty.twilightcircuit.io
Greater than Code podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/greater-than-code/id1163023878
If you want your journey to be speedy and painless, it helps to know where you are going. Today we are talking with Sabrina Leandro, the principal software engineer at Intercom and a former VP of tech at Songkick. Sabrina is a technical leader with vast experience in product development processes, systems design, and management. We talk about incremental code rewriting and how to do it most efficiently. When you finish listening to the episode, visit Sabrina's website and take a listen to one of her talks.
Practice leads to perfection. Having fun while doing it can only make you wish to practice more! Today we talk with Emily Bache, a software developer and a technical agile coach at ProAgile. Emily is well known as a maintainer of an outstanding code kata Gilded Rose and as an author of several books, including The Coding Dojo Handbook and Technical Agile Coaching. Emily explains the concepts of code katas and dojos and reveals the secrets of their effectiveness. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Emily's blog Coding Is Like Cooking.
Creating an inclusive workplace culture in which all employees are thriving, the results are soaring, and the defections are non-existent is the goal of every company. One secret to creating this kind of workplace is allyship. Today we talk with Karen Catlin about everyday actions that help in building an inclusive and engaging workplace. Karen is the author of Better Allies, a leadership coach, keynote speaker, passionate advocate for inclusive workplaces and the former vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit the Better Allies website and Twitter handle, check out Karen's website and take a look at her other book: Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking.
Streamlining your process increases the speed of your work while ensuring the consistent quality of your products. Today we speak with Leon Miller-Out, the CEO of a web app development and maintenance firm Singlebrook, about the top five best practices for legacy code maintenance. Listen to Leon and Scott reaching consensus in real-time, on the indispensable steps they take when dealing with legacy code. When you finish listening to the episode, checkout Singlebrook's libyear - a tool for measuring "dependency freshness." It just might change your life!
To survive, every software needs to change over time. However, if the changes are too steep, the survival might quickly turn into a demise. Today we talk with our own Scott Ford, co-founder of Corgibytes and co-host of the Legacy Code Rocks, about Lehman's laws - a set of principles that explain the forces which push software systems to change and the forces that restrain that change. Hear from Scott how Lehman's laws can help you in your work and get to know Scott a little bit better.
Today we go back to where we started and we reprise the first ever episode of Legacy Code Rocks. Andrea and Scott discuss the idea of Makers (the developers who like to build things) and Menders (developers who like to fix things). We also define and explain the mission of this podcast. A great reminder for our old listeners and a perfect opportunity to catch-up for the new ones.
How can sticky notes help you and your team find and resolve problems which are deeply hidden within your business model? How can this quest through colorful papers accelerate the mending of a legacy code which supports that business model? Today we speak with Alberto Brandolini, an inventor of Event Storming, about how this fun and rapid group modeling technique can accelerate learning and productivity within your development team. From upgrading and improving the existing systems to developing new ones, Alberto’s Event Storming helps teams visualize every little wheel of complex machinery they are tasked to maintain or create. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Alberto’s website and to check out his nearly finished book.
Every creature, living or artificial, is learning through the interactions with its environment all the time. It is learning not only from other creatures it interacts with, but also from the context in which these interactions take place. When an environment becomes defined by such contextual mutual learning through interaction, it becomes a creature in its own right - an entity famously named by Nora Bateson as Symmathesy. Today we talk with Jessica Kerr, a developer at Atomist and an expert in development automation, about the ways of transforming your development team into a symmathesy. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to take a listen of Jessica’s own podcasts Greater than Code and Arrested DevOps, and to read her blog at http://jessitron.com.
To successfully lead a team, we must understand why our team members do what they do. To help us unpack that, we need to dig deep into their subconscious and explore their unconscious behavior which underlines most of human actions. Today we speak with Mike Bowler, a long-time Agile technical coach and a trained hypnotist with the interest in neuroscience and psychology, about techniques that help us understand unconscious behaviors. Mike explains the clean language technique developed by David Grove in the 1980s, offers a fresh look at hypnosis and links all of this to coding and software development. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to visit Mike’s website www.unconsciousagile.com for more resources on unconscious behavior and hypnosis.
We all strive to be “full stack” developers, but many of us feel more comfortable with either back-end or front-end programming. Today we talk with Jan Jorgensen, a front-end developer who also enjoys mending legacy applications. Jan works in the Copenhagen based UX research company and is an expert in adding front-end tooling to render components in a monolithic rails app and taking advantage of modern tools instead of writing the apps from scratch. Jan breaks down the main characteristics of front-end development, discusses good practices, opens for us his toolbox and explains how all of this fits into the legacy code maintenance and upgrading. And as an extra, you’ll hear how nomadic lifestyle and coding go together!
What does legacy code mean to you? Is it a valuable code that is hard to change or a code you are simply afraid to change; a code that makes you money or a code you are ashamed of? In today’s episode we deep dive into the quest for the most interesting and influential definitions of legacy code with Amitai Schleier. Amitai is true renaissance man - a software development coach, legacy code wrestler, consultant, non-award-winning musician and award-winning bad poet. Amitai regularly contributes code and direction to notable open-source projects such as NetBSD, pkgsrc, ikiwiki, and qmail. When you finish listening to this episode, you should check out Amitai’s micropodcast “Agile in 3 Minutes”, his articles on legacy code and other topics, and last, but not least, you should relax with his piano performance of Medtner at the International Rachmaninoff Conference.
Lasting success is not measured by past achievements but by the ability to change and adapt to new developments and new demands. Nowhere does the change face more suspicion and distrust than in large enterprises with their established policies, practices and procedures, large bureaucracies, compartmentalized silos and, above all, undeniable past successes. Today we talk with Christine Chrys Sills, the Organization, Change, and Program Manager at Liatrio about DevOps transformations and how to bring change to large enterprises confident in their established ways.