into Great Software Teams
The number of developers in my team doubled in the last couple of months. Ok, well, we went from 2 to 4. The end result is 4 devs, 1 QA, 1 Engineering Manager, but still... So, we started working together. After the initial ramp up and information overload, we were ready to finally work on … Continue reading Team Reset or how to get the team on the same page?
Why do we feel so uncomfortable with the idea of small functions that have names? What is it about that that frightens us? I'll tell you what it is. It's the fact that long functions are familiar to us in a very deep way. Take a long function and turn it on its side, and … Continue reading Landscapes of code
I wanted to quit writing software for good. Nevertheless, I coded. And I still do. I've been a software developer for 3 years then. And I totally didn't feel like getting up and going to work. I struggled with my tasks and worked much slower than I used to. I tried to look for another … Continue reading Nevertheless, I coded…
You can probably come up with a bunch of answers: the computer, the client, the cloud, the company... But first and foremost you write code for other developers. And for your future self. I mean, the computer will understand anything you write (as long as it compiles). And it'll behave in the exact way you … Continue reading Who do you write the code for?
You have one. A comfort zone. You're safe. You're productive. You're bored. Get out! #jumpstartblog
If you were hit by a bus tomorrow... If you were hit by a bus tomorrow (knock on wood) would your project get stuck? I still remember when one I worked on did. Well, I wasn't exactly hit by the bus, but from the project standpoint, it was close enough. We worked on an important … Continue reading If you were hit by a bus tomorrow would your project be dead in the water?
I made an estimate... I took part in many projects, but there is one I particularly remember... As soon as I joined the team technical lead gave me a white paper with requirements and asked for estimates of a new functionality. Totally new. I was asked to estimate a chunk of the system (I had … Continue reading Estimates & different points of view. Business vs developers
It's not the ink—it's the think “It's not the ink—it's the think,” wrote Robert Mankoff (New Yorker cartoon editor), answering to the question how to get ideas for cartoons by people who want to submit them to The New Yorker. "There really is no trick—you just have to think of them" he said. It's the same in creating … Continue reading Inking and thinking in software development
The production system broke last Tuesday... I got a phone call last Tuesday around 8 pm. The operator told me a daily task broke in the production and I had to take care of it as soon as possible. I turned on my laptop and connected to the customer's system. I checked the error logs and … Continue reading Feeling stuck? Getting past the programming blockade.
Last Sunday I've talked to a friend. She just recently picked up Java. We're about to start a learning experiment: she is going to learn how to write code in Java, I'm going to help. Work out a plan and set up exercises. I decided to blog about what we're doing here. The "learning" posts will be visible … Continue reading Jump Start into Java Learning Path
