Take Your Caller’s Perspective
As software developers, many of us have been trained to dive right into implementation. As soon as we learn about a problem, we think about how to code a solution. But this is not always the right approach. Sometimes, it makes more sense to step back and look at the big picture, to try to …
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Read MoreSlow Down to Go Faster
I know it seems like a paradox but often we have to slow down in order improve our productivity. We need to step back and look at what we’re doing and see if we can find more effective ways to meet our goals. A NIST study (http://www.cse.psu.edu/~gxt29/bug/localCopies/nistReport.pdf) showed that over 80% of software developers’ time …
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Read MoreChangeable Code
So, what are the practices that support changeability in code? There are surprisingly few, and I’ve written about them extensively here in this blog, in my book, and I discuss them in detail in my courses: inject dependencies, embody the SOLID principles, keep code quality high, and understand design patterns… There’s a lot to it …
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Read MoreDoing More of What We Love
Developers love writing code. It’s what we’re good at. It’s what we do. But all sorts of things get in our way: Meetings. Reading and interpreting specifications. And the worst time-sink of all—debugging. Most of us would rather do anything other than debugging, but that’s where we end up spending a lot of our time. …
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Read MoreDon’t Be Scared to Touch Legacy Code
As Frank Herbert said in Dune, “Fear is the mind-killer.” He could have been talking about legacy code. As soon as we fear touching legacy code, we won’t do it. As a consultant, I know that merely giving my clients tools and techniques for working with legacy code isn’t enough, I also have to help …
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