Curated Content August 2024
August was another good month for content.
It was also the month I realized and was very disappointed in the fact that I hadn't written a meaningful post in over a year. So I am getting back at it.
Articles
Ignite - Rethinking code generation with project patching
Zach Daniel's the creator of the Ash Framework in Elixir nailing one of the problems that has really ground my gears in the Elixir ecosystem (not unique to them), given the choice of using generators:
Often times, instead of changing how the underlying tool works, the generators will be modified and you end up with a sort of “best-practices-drift”
He also goes in and creates something that goes much of the way towards something I've wanted to create since reading about automated large scale refactoring at Google, via Software Engineering at Google.
After talking with Zach at ElixirConf 2024 he let me know that you could also structure these in such a way that they are idempotent and could be replayed over and over again. This tells me I need to look into using this ASAP.
As an aside, if you're operating in other ecosystems, I think it's worth looking into what Zach is doing with Ash.
No blockers
Mike Bowler isn't someone I had come across previously, but he had a number of great posts this month.
The first one in the lineup, No blockers, is one that I find myself having to essentially unpack and explain constantly for folks, especially those that are new to my team or organization, because like Mike says here:
It’s become a meaningless phrase for most of the people who are using it. They’re not thinking about whether they really are blocked, they’re just indicating that they’ve stopped talking: “No blockers”.
Because when you dig in as he note:
Almost certainly you’ll get a list of reasons that is mostly made up of real blockers that the team doesn’t think of as being blockers.
Extremely relevant for managers or other organizational leaders. Worth the read.
And big thank you to Mike for writing this one, as well as the following. Saved me multiple blog posts. Now I can just point to these instead.
Understanding the users
Almost every assumption we’d made about how they would use the software was wrong.
This is something I continuously see new software teams get wrong, and even experienced ones make mis-steps on.
Actually watch your users use the software you build.
It will open your eyes.
The Great npm Garbage Patch
Really interesting research from Phylum Research Team showing that there are already a lot of known problems with the npm ecosystem, and the recent addition of trying to make open source sustainable using crypto only makes everything much, much worse for everyone.
Ensemble Programming
A quick intro to ensemble programming, because while Woody Zuill gives great talks on it, and has written a great book on the topic, sometimes you need a quick version you can give to a team to help them understand then high level overview.
And this one has it all, including a quick video showing what a day in the life of a physical ensemble/mob team looks like.
Why doesn't everyone do XP?
Nat Bennett over at Simples Machines with another great article asking why everyone doesn't do XP. This one actually was written in March, but wasn't one I got around to reading until now.
Answering the question:
The question comes up sometimes, "If XP is so great, how come it hasn't taken over the world?
I think Nat dives into a number of great reasons for it, and it's worth a read, but if you want the TLDR, they're right on the money with the immediately following answers:
My answer to that is basically:
- Distribution completely dominates product
- Nobody gives a hoot about profit
Books
Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel - Tom Wainwright
Not a tech book, but a great book about society, the lack of efficacy in drug criminalization policies, and the difficulties of running businesses (which are only amplified by running businesses of an illegal nature).
In short it looks at the international drug trade through the lens of economics and traditional business, and policy effects on it. An entertaining piece of non-fiction.
Starter Villain - John Scalzi
On the other side of the spectrum, Starter Villain is an easy and fun piece of science fiction set in the present. I don't want to spoil anything for those who read it, but it follows the divorced and down on his luck last living heir of supervillain.
Conference Talks
August was ElixirConf 2024, and so I saw a bunch of conf talks. I'm not covering them here. They get their own post, just like last year.
Podcasts
No podcasts this month.
Microposts
This one has the problem that the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent, but is something I believe true.