Curated Content: April 2021

Articles

There was a bit of a theme this month personally focusing on code reviews, both in my writings, and in my readings. Here are two great articles highlighting the counterpoints to code reviews, what sucks about them, and alternatives. (Spoiler: it's pairing. The alternative is pairing.)

I Probably Hate Your Code Review Process

While I'm bullish on code reviews on the whole like the author, there are many things about them that are sub-optimal. Remember that when looking at your process. You may want to reach for pairing more.

Those Pesky Pull Request Reviews

Jess (I hope I can call her Jess), always puts out great content, and this is no exception. Highlights the ways that queued/async code reviews are anti-patterns for continuous flow, and how to address that.

TDD: Show Your Work Designs

This post highlights a really interesting technique I've used previously for debugging and adding tests to a previously difficult piece of code, by breaking it down and "showing my work" along the way.

Trapped in the Technologist Factory

I disagree with the author of the above that technology isn't improving. I think some things are clear improvements over the status quo. TypeScript over JavaScript. Elixir over Ruby. Rust over C. But on the whole I think they make a lot of really interesting points about the system the industry is designed to build versus the value it purports to or ought to be building.

Write a Good Dockerfile in 19 Easy Steps

A great checklist for working with Dockerfiles. If you work with them, start here.

Books

The Power of Moments - by Chip and Dan Heath

A great read on what makes moments impactful, in life, career, and leadership. More than just an inspirational read, it includes guides to how you can craft more meaningful moments for yourself, your customers, your family, or anyone else you'd care to craft a moment for.

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