Cutting Corners
I place a big value on personal improvement. Software engineering isn't just about making better tools, processes, and organizations. Those things are important, but at the end of the day nothing works right without talented people, and we as engineers have the responsibility to improve ourselves.
I've made a couple . . .
I'm Bad At Math
I'm not artistic.
I was never a science person.
I just can't listen long enough to learn.
I wasn't born with drawing skills.
These are negative identities. Things we are not. Many at their core rely on the dichotomy of natural versus learned abilities. The framing of almost anything we discuss . . .
Convention and Formalization
The first time I really thought about conventions was about a year into my first programming job. I had a coworker and good friend, Victor, who was looking into our process for adding new power-ups to the game. He asked me to write up a document indicating what needed to be done just to duplicate an existing power-up and put some . . .
Producers and Processes
Production methodologies are overrated. It sounds silly to say it because it's repeated so commonly. Everybody knows it. "Scrum is not a silver bullet" say the supporters AND critics of scrum.
Then producers apply it to every problem anyway. Those of us who know the history of software development can cite . . .
Code Evaluation
Think back for a moment to presentations you've witnessed or conducted in a classroom, a recent programming convention, or a co-worker explaining a concept.
The typical exercise in code evaluation presents a problem in a neat, isolated space, and it looks at one or two dozen lines of code that encapsulates an algorithm. "Look . . .
Exceptionalism
One of the things I ask myself often is how do great programmers separate themselves from good programmers. As a follow up, how does exceptionalism relate to my personal pursuit of sucess?
I think my answer lies in what I think it means to be exceptional. I don't find seniority particularly interesting in of itself, but . . .
Architecture is a Democracy
Today I'm going to throw out some thoughts I've been having about software architecture. Why is architecture so interesting? It's the land of the dreamer, the big picture thinker, the mountain mover. It's implications are great, and all responsibility is held by the one, the chief architect. He or she crafts the . . .
