Oct 15, 2020Layers, Complexity, and TrendsThere is a short post that I cherish called: Complexity Has To Live Somewhere. Sometimes engineers need to be reminded that if everything was simple, clean, and easy, we wouldn’t be getting paid. It is our job to create the interfaces, the abstractions, and the patterns that place the complexity…Software Development3 min readSoftware Development3 min read
Oct 9, 2020Space RequiredThere is a unique failure mode that I have experienced: trying too hard. I never saw this one coming, and I never expected it. “Trying too hard” means that you have a tight grip over each aspect of every project. The biggest symptom I have experienced from this failure mode…Software Engineering2 min readSoftware Engineering2 min read
May 1, 2020Choosing What Problem To HaveMost of our engineering decisions these days are about choosing which problems you want to have. For me, this realization came off the back of the popularization of the CAP theorem. Learning that the natural constraints of a distributed system force you to pick availability or eventual consistency, means you…Software Development3 min readSoftware Development3 min read
Apr 25, 2020Modals Are The WorstThis is my “Hot Take” for the front-end world. I truly think modals are bad. Bad for the end user, and a crutch that too many developers and UX folk rely on. Let’s start with the users because they matter most. We have implemented modals to take over the whole…Software Development2 min readSoftware Development2 min read
Apr 4, 2020Choices: Engineering, Organizations, and ConstraintsI have not found a better distillation of the gordian knot that is modern software development. There was a time when one person could, effectively, have the entire computer in their mind and produce good software. That time is long since past. Due to the technical and economic choices we…Software Development5 min readSoftware Development5 min read
Mar 26, 2020Front-End: Declarative vs Objective-OrientatedI’ve always been far more of a programmer than a designer. I don’t think I’ve ever personally liked anything I’ve designed on the web. It’s been good enough, sometimes, and other times not so much. But I find myself squarely on the side of the designers on this one. First…Front End Development2 min readFront End Development2 min read
Feb 20, 2020Code As CommunicationI’m fond of saying that code has no value until it is running in production. I still believe that is a correct and important statement. But I want to qualify that statement to say that code has no performative value until it is running in production. No one’s job is…Software Development1 min readSoftware Development1 min read
Feb 2, 2020Engineering Speed is a SymptomI think the speed of a team is the result of a function, it is the symptom of a working environment. It doesn’t happen by simply standing up and demanding that people work faster. Engineering teams deliver quickly when they have confidence. I don’t mean individual self-confidence, or a level…Software Development5 min readSoftware Development5 min read
Jan 14, 2020My Own (New) Management ReflectionsI’m nearing the six month mark in my $latestGig, and my role has turned into a product and people management role. I was hoping this would happen, but not before I got to fully build something myself. Such is life, ruining a well formulated plan. I’ve done the customer-facing part…Product Management2 min readProduct Management2 min read
Nov 14, 2019What Is My Culture?I just finished Ben Horowitz’s “What You Do Is Who You Are”. I want to focus on the biggest lesson I took from the book about creating your own culture. I sum it up in this way; there is a specific belief or outlook you have, that others do not…Culture Change5 min readCulture Change5 min read
