READ - 2 min

Skip the take-home assessment

Next time you're asked to do a take-home coding assignment for a job application, push back a little.

Agile Principles —1 min read
What's the best way to find areas for agile improvement?

Don't be the hammer only looking for nails.

Agile Principles —1 min read
"Should we use story points for...?": The wrong question.

Getting a useful answer depends on knowing the right question to ask.

Quality Engineering —2 min read
What's the ideal ratio of devs to QAs?

Of course, as a consultant, I can confidently tell you: It depends!

Tech Tools —1 min read
Short-term alternatives to code freezes

Use a code freeze as a reminder that there are still quirks to be worked out, and make an effort to work them out.

Tech Tools —51 min listen
Adventures in DevOps 114: Progressions Through Programming Languages

What are the types of program languages required in DevOps? What are the pros and cons of each?

Coding Practices —2 min read
TDD only makes sense if you already know the outcome... or does it?

If you don't know what your code should be doing, you have no business writing any code anyway!

Tech Tools —2 min read
Rose bushes and story points

Gardening with a 1-year old takes a lot longer. How should this affect our estimates?

Tech Tools —1 min read
Git archaeology

"I never read git history" ... famous last words.

Business of DevOps —1 min read
When is software "done"?

"When will it be done?" they ask. "When can we stop paying developers to maintain this software?"

Agile Principles —2 min read
Optimal processes

Are you still held back by belief in the possibility of an optimal process?

Quality Engineering —2 min read
I just threw away a bunch of tests

I had failed to complete the "refactor" part of "red/green/refactor" several weeks ago, leaving me with some redundant tests that came back to bite me.