Muses

Pathing: A Style of Laying Out Work

Programming, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 6 minutes of reading

I do "pathing" when I project my work into the future: laying out a sequence of work steps, where each step ends with the code in a shippable state. More than design, and more than planning, pathing is a kind of work-style, and it brings me several benefits. Here in the US, citizens are out in the streets on a quest for equity, and the truth is that geekery just isn’t the main story. If you’re out there working for […]

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Embrace Change: Modern Geekery Practices

Programming, How I Work / / 6 minutes of reading

"Embrace change" is the modern geekery catchphrase for our most basic idea: We change software, therefore we want everything around us to support that: code, technique, tools, controls, tracking, planning, infrastructure, and above all, culture. Before we start, remember, geekery’s not the main story right now. The real embrace of change is happening out there on the streets. I fully support my friends & family out there in their quest for equity. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry.

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Pedagogy In The Trade: Changing Emphasis

Pedagogy / / 7 minutes of reading

I want to start talking about teaching in the geek trades. Today in particular, I want to talk about "emphasis", what our style & materials stresses or underlines about the path to mastery for our up and coming geeks. Black lives matter. Here I sit writing geekery, a sideshow, while my siblings are out there day on day putting themselves at grave personal risk in the quest for equity. I strongly support their efforts. Stay safe, stay strong, stay angry,

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Retrospectives: Variety is Key

Change Harvesting / / 7 minutes of reading

I strongly recommend high variation in both format and facilitator of retrospectives. I don’t hear this take often, and I certainly don’t see it at a lot of shops, but I think it has tremendous merit. Let’s talk it over. I don’t wanna be pro forma, & I know I’ve mentioned this a lot, but I gotta say it again: for me, and for some of you, geekery is a side story right now, when people are out in the

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TDD Tests Are First-Class Code

TDD, Programming, Refactoring, How I Work / / 7 minutes of reading

My standards for TDD microtests are the same standards I have for shipping code, and I follow them in microtests for the same reason I follow them in shipping code: they make me faster. This geekery muse is comfort food, for me and maybe for you, but I want to keep stressing: I fully endorse and support my sibs out there on the street protesting this violent police uprising. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry. Black lives matter.

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Re-Balancing Made, Making, and Makers

Change Harvesting / / 7 minutes of reading

Some years back I realized my most beloved parts of our software movement could be characterized as re-balancing our approach towards the triad of Made, Makers, and Making, and away from a prior focus only on the Made. Let’s schmooze about this. I once again point out: geekery isn’t terribly important right now to me. What’s important is my friends and family out there working on the crisis. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry. Black lives matter. I

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Microtest TDD is Gray-Box

TDD, Programming, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 8 minutes of reading

Microtest TDD is a gray-box testing approach, neither entirely inside nor outside the code it tests. Let’s talk that over. Before we dive in: Black lives matter. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry. Let’s not just embrace change, let’s initiate it. Any step you take helps, provided only that it’s doable, it’s not definitely backwards, and it’s not the last step. In the ’70’s, an important movement developed in testing theory, called "black box" testing. The idea is

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Understanding Incremental Switchover

Programming, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 7 minutes of reading

The incremental switchover approach is my default response to any transformation problem I can’t resolve in an hour. It’s the secret to successful brownfield development, but it’s not widely understood & used. Let’s take some time to understand it. As is my wont, I will again say that geekery isn’t really the most important story right now. I, and I hope you, understand this. Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay kind. Stay angry. Work on equity, when you can, how you

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The RAT: Rework Avoidance Theory

Programming, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 6 minutes of reading

Rework Avoidance Theory, or RAT, is likely slowing your team down more than rework ever would. Let’s talk a little about that today. I am writing these geekery muses in a time of great turmoil, but for the most part they’re not addressing that crisis. They are momentary respite, for me, and hopefully for you. They’re not the main story. Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay angry. Stay kind. Black lives matter. Rework Avoidance Theory is a cluster of related ideas

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Model-View, The Desktop, and TDD

TDD, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 8 minutes of reading

Today, a basic topic: Model/View, the Desktop and TDD. Some geeky respite, and enjoy. We got a lotta work waiting for us after this break. Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay kind. Stay angry. Black lives matter. Demand different. The basic idea behind all Model/View schemes, and there are several of them, is just this: draw a thick line between what your program does and how your program shows what it does. In other words, it’s a compositional heuristic, guidance for

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