Automated testing appears to be essential for delivering high-quality, robust code, especially in an agile environment. It's pretty clear that high performing teams rely heavily on automated testing, and low quality teams don't. However, it's not clear that testing is the cause of robust software. High quality teams would probably
Read moreThere's a quote from Henry Ford that I really don't like: "If I asked customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." And I don't like it for three reasons. First, he didn't say it, it's an apocryphal quote. Second, it indicates a bad understanding of history as
Read moreDevelopment work is blocked when a dependency for that work is unavailable. One of the great challenges in managing a project is identifying all the dependencies in the workflow so that all the work can be done in the order that prevents anyone from waiting for someone else to complete
Read moreBy some estimations, the average lifespan of an enterprise application is about a decade. Forty years after the start of the personal computing revolution, a large portion of enterprise development is replacing legacy systems. The reasons for replacement vary, but two big reasons are the system cannot support the current
Read moreAesthetics: a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. – Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary When designing a product how important are the aesthetics of the product? Is good design anything more than lipstick on a pig? Can the aesthetic
Read moreIt's a common complaint that process interferes with getting work done, and if you ask a developer, they're likely to equate process with meetings. A quick scan of articles about agile written by developers will reveal a whole host of complaints, but everyone will uniformly complain about process and meeting
Read moreComplex systems are assemblies of components that interact according to a fixed set of rules to form a unified whole. Systems theory is the study of complex systems and encompasses perspectives from multiple disciplines. By definition, all digital products are complex systems, so the perspectives of systems theory can shed
Read moreEstimates seem to be the bane of software developers, many of whom would say that estimates are nothing but a waste of time. By observation, estimates are often misunderstood and misused. Developers and development managers in particular often resist providing a completion date, even with conditions, because they know that
Read moreThere's really nothing like a committee to destroy progress and effectiveness within an organization. It's truly a mystery to me as to why companies establish committees to do anything, unless it's actually a nefarious plot to avoid doing things, but I'm reluctant to ascribe to a conspiracy that which can
Read morePeople avoid making decisions for many reasons, but mostly people avoid decisions to avoid the responsibility for the decision. There are four key components to an effective decision. A decision should solve a problem in a clear, sound, and timely manner. These components are best viewed from the perspective of
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