Crafting Code Podcast

When one of the hardest things in our industry is naming things, it is easy for us to disagree on what words mean as language changes over time and space. The terms 'craftsmanship' and 'engineering' are some that we struggle with and fight over. In this episode, Dave and Allan discuss the concept of semantic drift, what these terms mean to us, and how these terms and our job titles affect how we are perceived. If a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, then we'd better understand what that thorny flower truly is.

A cross-functional team is one that has all the necessary people to build and ship a product without having to wait on people outside of the team. But having those people on the team isn't the whole story; how the team works together (or not) matters. In this episode, your hosts discuss the Product Discovery Double Diamond concept, using techniques like '5 Whys' to dig into problems, and letting teams own their problem space. These ideas have helped us move from mere outputs to outcomes and real impact.

Practices co-evolve with activities. As we (as in industry) increasingly use AI tools, how will this change our existing practices and what new ones will emerge? In this episode, Allan and Dave discuss practices that we've found valuable and what our experiences have been like incorporating AI into our work thus far. We cover some tried-and-true practices that seem to pair well with AI and speculate about changes we might see in others.

Most software engineers work on teams sharing their code with others. Yet significant portion of people in our industry never elevate their level of code collaboration beyond code reviews (often in the form of pull requests). Allan and Dave have mentioned pairing and mobbing many times, but in this episode they finally talk about what those ways of collaborating actually look like. Listen in as we explore the spectrum from sharing a codebase to parallel coding and beyond.

Software patterns are sort of like recipes which offer solutions for particular problems. Familiarity with patterns allows you to speak at high levels of abstraction, communicating a lot of information without having to dive into specific details. In this episode, your hosts share a bunch of patterns, explaining what each one is for and the consequences of using them. Along the way, we point out places where pattern language gives us insight for choosing which of these solutions we want to use.

In order to create really great software, we need more than just coding knowledge. This is why most teams are structured to include and benefit from people with other specialties. What do we expect from these other disciplines, and what should they expect from us? In part two of this two-part episode, Dave and Allan discuss our interactions with operators, testers, architects, and more.

In order to create really great software, we need more than just coding knowledge. This is why most teams are structured to include and benefit from people with other specialties. What do we expect from these other disciplines, and what should they expect from us? In part one of this two-part episode, Dave and Allan discuss our interactions with product managers and user experience designers.

Humans need feedback in order to do their jobs well. Unfortunately, because feedback can often feel negative, it can be difficult to both give and receive feedback. In this episode, Dave and Allan discuss the importance of feedback and share some concepts which have helped us improve. Hopefully some of the ideas will help you to either give better feedback or open yourself to receiving it.

Knowing your audience is good advice for APIs, not just public speaking or selling your ideas. Providing separate APIs for different purposes can make each one much easier to manage, especially when it comes time to roll out updates. In this episode, your hosts discuss how we like to categorize our APIs, how we deal with versioning, and why you might want to follow these patterns too.

Utilizing the skill acquisition models from our previous episode, we can begin to explore how our level of expertise affects us when collaborating with others. Dave and Allan share the 'Dreyfus Squared' concept from Dan North and then expound on it to explore the troubles that novice developers can have and why experts may not be the best at teaching them.