Robby engages in a captivating conversation with the CEO at Mirdin and UpToSpeed, Jimmy Koppel. They delve into the transformative power of evolvable code, shedding light on its myriad benefits and how it contributes to an enriching coding experience. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy's insightful blog post, "The 11 Aspects of Good Code," the discussion unfolds to explore the external qualities of code and the profound impact of crafting code that is not just functional, but a joy to work with. Jimmy shares his vision for UpToSpeed, a platform aiming to revolutionize the onboarding process for software engineers through the strategic use of AI tools, offering a glimpse into the future of seamless integration for new team members. 

From the nuances of recovering the programmer's intent through well-crafted code to intriguing references to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycles," this episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about the art and science of coding. Unlock the secrets of creating code that not only meets technical requirements but also enhances the human experience of programming. Discover the unique blend of philosophy and practicality as Jimmy and Robby explore the fascinating world of code evolution, drawing on diverse insights from literature, AI, and the shared wisdom of seasoned developers. 

Whether you're a coding enthusiast, a seasoned developer, or someone intrigued by the intersection of technology and human expression, this episode promises to be an engaging journey through the nuances of software craftsmanship and the quest for code that stands the test of time. Tune in to gain a fresh perspective on the intricate dance between programmers and their creations, and learn how the pursuit of excellence in coding can truly be a pleasurable and rewarding endeavor.

• Make It Stick
• How Learning Works

• The 11 Aspects of Good Code
• The Secret History of Information Hiding by David Parnas
• The Advanced Software Design Course by Mirdin
• Jimmy's Blog
• Jimmy’s Website

Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and soon, other frameworks. 

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications. 

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! Check them out!

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Robby has a chat with Senior DevOps Engineer, Hila Fish. They start off by discussing the key characteristics of maintainable infrastructure code. Hila shared insights on providing software engineering teams with the necessary space for exploration while maintaining essential guardrails to ensure the stability of production environments. The conversation also touched upon the significance of offering engineers useful metrics and dashboards for measuring load and stress tests. Robby and Hila reminisced about the evolution of roles like sysadmins and DBAs over the decades, highlighting the transformative journey of infrastructure management.

A focal point of the episode was Hila's experience leading a large migration project from Bitbucket Cloud to a self-hosted Gitlab within a tight six-week timeframe. She emphasized the importance of rigorous testing in both development and production environments, effective communication with stakeholders and the team, and other critical aspects of successful project management. The discussion extended to personal and professional development, with Hila underlining the importance of regularly evaluating one's values against those of the employer and the value of self-retrospectives. 

The challenges in hiring for potential versus expertise in an industry that demands a combination of both were explored. The episode also featured insights into DevOpsDays TLV, Hila's involvement in tech events, and valuable tips for overcoming the initial fear of speaking at such events, accompanied by her own unconventional journey to delivering her first talk. It’s going to be an interesting episode, so don’t miss out.

• Hila on LinkedIn
• Open-Source - Open Choice
• Technical Documentation - How Can I Write Them Better and Why Should I Care? By Hila Fish
• Terraform
• Helm
• GitLab
• Bitbucket
• DBAs
• DevOpsDays TLV

Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and soon, other frameworks. 

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications. 

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! Check them out!

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Robby has a chat with Staff Software Engineer at Lightstep from ServiceNow, Jacob Aronoff. Their conversation delves into the vital signs of a thriving open source software project. They unpack the characteristics of well-maintained open source endeavors, emphasizing the importance of a passionate community behind the project, rather than misleading indicators like GitHub stars. They discuss the nuances of evaluating a project's health through performance metrics, suggesting that a more holistic view that includes the scrutiny of open issues can provide better insights into the project's robustness and responsiveness to community needs. 

Furthermore, their discussion highlights a critical, yet often overlooked, aspect of open source software: the project's own dependencies. Jacob argues that understanding these dependencies is crucial before adopting an open source solution, as it could have far-reaching implications on the stability and security of one's own project. They also take a deep dive into the organizational dynamics of the OpenTelemetry community, examining its structured approach to scaling and sustaining the project over time. Their discussion then transitions into the philosophical debate of balancing between the extremes of premature abstraction and delivering a fully opinionated software project. 

Jacob shares his penchant for “building in the open”, advocating for transparency and community involvement in the development process. He provides valuable advice for both newcomers looking to contribute to open source projects and maintainers seeking to attract new talent. In a personal touch, he extends his gratitude to Robby for creating Oh My Zsh, sharing his own journey in developing a custom theme for it. 
 

Moreover, Jacob expresses his preference for pure functional languages, hinting at the broader discussion around programming paradigms and their influence on open source software development. Stay tuned for that and more!

• Killers of the Flower Moon By David Grann and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams

• Jacob on LinkedIn
• Lightstep from ServiceNow
• Jaronoff97 on GitHub
• Jacob's Website
• Jacob on Twitter

Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and soon, other frameworks. 

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications. 

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! Check them out!

Subscribe to Maintainable on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.

Keep up to date with the Maintainable Podcast by joining the newsletter.

Robby has a chat with Oliver Drotbohm, a Staff 2 Engineer at VMware. They explore the essence of maintainable software, pinpointing understandability and modifiability as its foundational pillars. Drawing from Dr. Carola Lilienthal's "Sustainable Software Architecture: Analyze and Reduce Technical Debt," Robby and Oliver dissect the metaphor of technical debt, discussing its historical context and its relevance in today's fast-paced software development environment. 

Their nuanced conversation balanced the need for making compromises with the risk of over-preparation, emphasizing the critical role that clear documentation of architecture design decisions plays. They further delve into the iterative nature of building sustainable software, advocating for a build-feedback-repeat cycle to ensure that the right product is being developed. 

Their discussion pivots to the strategic use of microservices, unpacking the circumstances that justify their implementation and the inherent tradeoffs. An overview of the Modulithic project for Java Spring presents a modern approach to modular software development. They round off with a sneak peek of Oliver's book, "Modulithic Applications with Spring," while also touching upon the inherent challenges of writing technical literature in an industry where change is the only constant. Tune in and enjoy!

• The Creative Act: A Way of Being By Rick Rubin

• Oliver's Book - Modulithic Applications with Spring
• Oliver’s Website
• Oliver on Github
• Oliver on Twitter X
• Oliver on LinkedIn

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Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and soon, other frameworks. 

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications. 

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! Check them out!

Subscribe to Maintainable on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.

Keep up to date with the Maintainable Podcast by joining the newsletter.

Robby has a chat with Colin Campbell, the Director of Engineering at Tucows. Colin delves into the professional ethos of software development, emphasizing that the caliber of an engineer’s work is a reflection of their daily habits. He stressed the importance of humility for software engineers, arguing that it is crucial for continuous improvement and effective teamwork. He also talked about the strategic approach of doing nothing during Sprint Zero, suggesting that thorough planning and groundwork are essential before diving into actual code deployment.

The conversation transitions to the practical aspects of the craft, sharing insights from his experience of refactoring the OpenSRS platform at Tucows. Colin expresses a strong stance against total rewrites of systems, except when transitioning to new platforms, advocating for the incremental and strategic improvements using the Strangler Fig pattern. He also describes the satisfaction derived from identifying and rectifying “code smells” through refactoring, underscoring this practice as a source of professional fulfillment. 

Moreover, he provides a glimpse into the life of platform engineers, detailing the intricacies of supporting application developers and the necessity of being decisively focused when addressing specific programming tasks, hence being “ruthless” to the ticket at hand to ensure quality and efficiency. For that and so much more, tune in to the episode on your favorite podcast platform.

• The Creative Act By Rick Rubin

• Colin on LinkedIn
• https://www.tucows.com/
• https://tucowsdomains.com/
• https://opensrs.com/
• https://martinfowler.com/bliki/StranglerFigApplication.html

Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and soon, other frameworks. 

It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications. 

Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time! Check them out!

Subscribe to Maintainable on:

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• Overcast
• Spotify

Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.

Keep up to date with the Maintainable Podcast by joining the newsletter.

Subscribe to Maintainable on:

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Robby has a chat with the Author of Sustainable Web Development with Ruby on Rails, Dave Bryant Copeland (he/him/his). Dave is a Senior Software Engineer and speaker. Reflecting on his experience, Dave believes that well-maintained software is software that people understand what it does, how it works, and that it can be changed. He starts off by highlighting the challenges that developers face when trying to retrofit software with more testing.

He also shares his expert insights on how software engineers can navigate design decisions while ensuring that they speak up if a proposed feature is difficult to build, test, and maintain. When it comes to software engineers getting advice from experienced practitioners, Dave says that the engineers should make sure they understand their own context and biases. He introduces us to his book and shares a very interesting story about the disappointment he got after building and releasing a frontend in Angular. Stay tuned for more!

• The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

• Dave's book - Sustainable Web Development with Ruby on Rails
• Website - https://naildrivin5.com/

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Robby has a chat with Cameron Jacoby (she/her/hers), a Senior Full-Stack Engineer at BetterUp, a platform that uses world-class coaching and science-backed solutions that help people grow personally and professionally. The one thing that Cameron says should stand out about code being maintainable is that it should be easy to read and understand. She explains why procedural code can often be easier to communicate with and highlights the importance of having helpful data metrics for most new features one works on.

Robby and Cameron also discuss real-world approaches to tracking metrics for monitoring purposes, the benefits of using feature flags, especially within internal-facing software applications, the struggles engineering teams have with maintaining a staging environment, how being on-call is one of the fastest ways to ramp up one’s debugging skills and build intuition as a software engineer, and so much more. Stay tuned!

• Personal Website - https://www.cameronjacoby.com/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronjacoby/
• Stitch Fix - https://www.stitchfix.com/
• BetterUp - https://www.betterup.com/

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Robby has a chat with Adriana Villela, a Senior Developer Advocate at Lightstep. Adriana highlights that well-maintained software should be software that one can understand when they go into the code even if they’re not super familiar with it. She shares why she values being a serial refactorer and describes what beautiful code should look like. Adriana views debuggers as her best friends because as she says, “I do find maintaining documentation very difficult. That’s where a debugger comes in very handy so that he can step through the code to figure out what is going on”

She will share a story about joining a software project that required a lot of refactoring, why asking for forgiveness is often easier than asking for permission, her involvement with the OpenTelemetry project and the standardization of observability protocols, and how to think about observability on a practical day-to-day level as a software engineer. She will also introduce us to Lightstep and what being a Senior Developer Advocate role is like, and dive into trace-based testing, why every software engineer should develop a trace mindset, the complexities of tooling we have today versus what was available a few decades ago, and what her podcast, On-Call Me Maybe Podcast, is all about. Stay tuned for all that and more.

• Implementing Service Level Objectives by Alex Hidalgo

• https://oncallmemaybe.com/
• Adriana on Twitter - @adrianamvillela
• Mastodon - [email protected]
• Adriana on LinkedIn
• Adriana on Instagram - @adriana.m.Villela
• Linktree - https://linktr.ee/adriana_villela
• SLOconf
• VIDEO: SLOconf 2023 - Translating Failures into SLOs - Ana Margarita Medina and Adriana Villela
• Abby Bangser: Building Trust In Your Deployment Pipeline

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Robby has a chat with Ahmed Wasfy (he/him/his), the Senior Development Manager at Amazon. On the topic of the common characteristics of well maintained software, Ahmed feels that one critical thing is that software should serve a purpose in terms of what values it adds and the trackable business goal it fulfills. He shares some valuable insights about legacy code based on his vast experience and dives into how to approach the management of technical debt so that an engineering team trusts there is a time and place to work on that.

Robby and Ahmed discuss how to strike a good balance between new feature development and incremental improvements, challenges that large organizations face when recruiting a lot of engineers in a short period of time when there are no local domain experts, the Ageism bias in the software engineering industry, Ahmed's coaching work under TheThrivingEM.com, and how to approach your first 90 days in a new role. There is that and so much more software engineering wisdom to gain from this episode, so make sure you tune in.

• Mastery by George Leonard

• TheThrivingEM.com
• Ahmed's Instagram
• Ahmed's LinkedIn

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Robby has a chat with Independent Python Instructor and Consultant, Naomi Ceder (she/her/hers). Naomi values clear organization, separation of concern and capsulation, visibility instrumentation, and tests when it comes to creating a legacy piece of code that will be continuously useful. She will talk about the importance of weighing up the costs of using 3rd party tools vs rolling your own solution, working in small teams through a career, and what to consider when weighing up a rewrite vs refactoring.

They will discuss her involvement in the Python Foundation and what a foundation typically offers to a community on the global and local levels. Naomi will tell us about her book, The Quick Python Book, 3rd edition, and give us an overview of who the ideal audience is for it. For those of you who want to become technical writers, she will share considerations for how you can get more involved in open-source communities.

• Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber
• Paula by Isabel Allende

• https://www.naomiceder.tech/
• https://www.manning.com/books/the-quick-python-book-third-edition
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomiceder/
• https://mastodon.art/@naomiceder

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