Maintainable

In this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby speaks with Michael Feathers, Director at R7K Research & Conveyance and author of " Working Effectively with Legacy Code ." Michael shares his unique definition of legacy code, emphasizing that legacy code is essentially code without tests. This foundational idea highlights the critical role of automated testing in refactoring and maintai...

Robby speaks with Justin Searls, Co-Founder at Test Double. Hear Justin's experience digging into technical debt, learn why software is like a sedimentary rock, and more. Helpful Links Follow Justin on Twitter Test Double Ruby gem: Suture Justin's Legacy Code talk at Ruby Kaigi Justin on Github Connect with Justin on LinkedIn [Book] Growing Object-Oriented Software Guided by Tests Subscribe to Mai...

Robby speaks with Patricia Aas, Programming CTO at TurtleSec AS about how programming and security are intertwined. Helpful Links Turtlesec Connect with Patricia on LinkedIn More about Patricia Patricia on Twitter Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts. Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community Loving Maintai...

Please tune in to this enlightening episode of Maintainable, where we're joined by Nate Berkopec, Owner and Ruby on Rails consultant at Speedshop. This episode is a deep dive into the world of software performance, specifically honing in on Ruby on Rails. Nate kicks things off by walking us through the intricacies of measuring software performance. It's not just about numbers; it's an art and scie...

Robby speaks with Victor Rentea, an independent technical trainer and Lead Architect at IBM based in Romania. Victor talks about teaching other engineers about legacy code, calling yourself an "expert", and what to do when you're rushed to deliver features but are dealing with refactoring challenges. Helpful Links: Victor's website Follow Victor on Twitter Connect with Victor on LinkedIn [Book] Th...

This week's guest on Maintainable is Sandro Mancuso, Software Craftsman & Co-Founder of Codurance. Robby and Sandro cover topics like how to avoid technical debt, what skills make for a successful software consultant, and more. Helpful Links: Follow Sandro on Twitter Sandro's Book The Software Craftsman: Professionalism, Pragmatism, Pride Keyboard Katas  A Case for Outside-In Development Subscribe...

This week we're excited to have Bryan Liles, Senior Staff Engineer at VMWare, on Maintainable. Robby and Bryan chat about representation in the industry, how to use your job title to your advantage, and more. Helpful Links: Bryan on GitHub Follow Bryan on Twitter Follow VMWare on Twitter Pragmatic Programmers Book Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" where...

This week's episode features Liz Keogh, Lean & Agile Coach and Trainer. Robby and Liz talk about behavior-driven development (BDD), what it's like to be a coach, and more! Helpful Links: Follow Liz on Twitter Visit Liz's website The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Po...

On this week's episode, Robby talks to Colin Jones, CTO at 8th Light. They chat about software consultancy, what it means to be a good guest in someone else's codebase, and more. Helpful Links: Follow Colin on Twitter Follow 8th Light on Twitter Connect with Colin on LinkedIn Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems by Martin Kleppman...

This week Robby interviews the host of the Developer Tea podcast, Jonathan Cutrell. They discuss what constitutes debt, how to build a strong team, and more! Helpful Links: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Developer Tea Podcast Follow Jonathan on Twitter Jonathan on LinkedIn Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts....

This week Robby chats with Karolina Szczur about what people get wrong about technical debt, best practices for documentation for remote developers, and more. Helpful Links: Book: Radical Candor Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts. Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community Loving Maintainable? Leave a rati...

This week Robby chats with Liran Haimovitch, co-founder of Rookout. Liran discusses things like how the term "technical debt" is misused, as well as how to overcome it. Helpful Links: Contact Liran Rookout Book: The Phoenix Project Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts. Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Commun...

Robby speaks to Robert Meaney, Head of Testing & Test Coach at Poppulo. Robert explains the difference between technical debt and testing debt, the importance of observability, and more! Helpful Links: Follow Robert on Twitter Robert on LinkedIn Testability Book Follow Testability Book on Twitter 3X with Kent Beck Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams Subscribe to Maintainab...

Robby speaks with Melissa Eaden, Tech Lead in Quality at Unity 3D. She shares her experience working with legacy code as it relates to testing. Helpful Links: Follow Melissa on Twitter Melissa's blog Melissa on LinkedIn A Vigilante for Quality [Book] Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High Unity Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wh...

Robby speaks with Steve Poling, Senior Technical Consultant at Excelon Development and long-time Software Developer. Steve describes whether he's team rewrite or team refactor, shares his definition of technical debt, and why uniformity of code matters. Helpful Links: Steve Poling on LinkedIn Excelon Development [Book] Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software Reduce Technical...

Robby speaks with Matt Weagle, Engineering Manager at Lyft. Matt discusses how his engineering teams have handled technical debt in small iterations vs. a major rewrite, why a whiteboard is the best tool for architectural challenges, and the most common mistakes he sees when engineers approach legacy code bases. Helpful Links: Follow Matt on Twitter Matt on LinkedIn Some Thoughts on Security After...

Robby speaks with Mariah Howard, Senior Product Manager at Thinkful, to discuss technical debt from a product management perspective. Mariah touches on Google's metrics framework, leading vs. lagging indicators, and technical debt in products outside of the world of code. You'll also learn more about Thinkful's mission and methodology as an online school for engineers. Helpful Links: Thinkful Mari...

Robby speaks with Anne Marie Kirby, CEO & Co-Founder of CoreHealth Global. She shares questions to ask before a software rewrite, evolving 10+ year old code, and proving a business case when pitching software improvements as a developer. Helpful Links: Core Health Follow Anne Marie on Twitter Anne Marie in Forbes Subscribe to Maintainable on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Or search "Maintainable" wherev...

Robby speaks with Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta, a software consultant specializing in PHP. Marco gives his input on different types of technical debt he's seen, working with less experienced developers as a senior, and getting "kicked in the teeth" as a developer. He also shares what great senior devs should spend more time on (hint: It's not writing code). Helpful Links Follow Marco on Twitter Marco...

Robby speaks with Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing and Testing Advocate at Mabl. Lisa speaks about "thinking skills" for developers, why testing professionals should be integrated into dev teams, testing and development cycles, and how to start building automated tests on a legacy application. Helpful Links Follow Lisa Crispin on Twitter Agile Testing Fellow Agile Testing with Lisa Crispin...

Robby speaks with Pim Elshoff, Software Developer at Procurios. Pim explains why developers should improve their communication skills when speaking with management, recalls his biggest mistake as a developer, and gives tips on explaining your side of an argument and how to listen to empathize. Helpful Links Follow Pim on Twitter Procurios Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of S...

Robby speaks with Morgan Senkal, Software Architect at Metal Toad. Morgan recalls a challenging 15-year-old legacy project that was reminiscent of a Stephen King story and explains what to think about when considering a software rewrite. Morgan and Robby keep a running analogy of technical debt and automotive repairs. Helpful links Metal Toad Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: A Pragmatic Guide to Le...

Robby speaks with Eileen M. Uchitelle, Senior Software Engineer at Github and member of the Rails Core Team. You'll hear about Eileen's work upgrading Github from Rails 3.2 to 5.2, how Github prioritized the upgrade, and why teams should get ahead and upgrade to Rails 6. Helpful links Follow Eileen on Twitter Upgrading GitHub from Rails 3.2 to 5.2 Eileen's blog The Success of Open Source by Steven...

Robby speaks with Charity Majors, CTO of Honeycomb about her work as an Infrastructure Engineer, how Honeycomb was created, all about working and testing in production, and why software engineers should be "on call" for their code. Helpful links Follow Charity on Twitter Honeycomb The Honeycomb blog Charity's blog Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Database Reliability Engineering Subscribe to...

Robby speaks with Sahil Lavingia, Founder and CEO of Gumroad. Sahil has been transparent about the challenges of building a company – speaking on VC investments, layoffs, and more. Sahil talks about why he built Gumroad, adjusting development processes when your staff shrinks, working with VCs, and the future of Gumroad, including the pros and cons of potentially open sourcing the product. Helpful...