programming

A collection of 24 posts

programming

Outside in Test Driven Development

Outside in Test Driven Development (TDD) can be an easier way to learn and apply test driven development, especially as a junior engineer.

elixir

Essential libraries for Elixir developers

When you're new to a programming ecosystem it can be hard to know where to start. Here's a list of libraries to you get going.

elixir

Feature Flagging in Elixir with FunWithFlags

Feature flags are an indispensable tool of modern software engineering. Start using them easily in Elixir thanks to @tompave's FunWithFlags.

programming

Strong Style Pairing and Mobbing - The Smart Keyboard

One of the most powerful approaches to pairing or mobbing is “strong-style”. To utilize this style, you just need one simple rule: In order for an idea to go from your head into the computer, it must go through someone else’s hands. The navigator in a traditional pair (or

fundamentals

Adding the Stopwatch to Level Up as a Software Engineer

By adding the stopwatch, you can understand the effects of time on your software quality. Then use the understanding to improve faster.

fundamentals

From a Random Walk to Conscious Improvement in Software Engineering

You're not satisfied with how quickly you're improving as a software engineer. Make the shift from a random walk to conscious improvement.

elixir

Starting Browser Testing for Phoenix LiveView with Wallaby

Browser testing can be a powerful way to build confidence in your codebase, and it's easy to get started in a Phoenix app with Wallaby.

programming

Maintaining Momentum as a Software Engineer

Maintain momentum by creatively slicing up deliverables, pairing, or punting work that doesn't need done immediately.

continuous-integration

Merge One PR Per Day

If you’re getting one PR merged into the mainline branch every day you're secretly practicing continuous integration.

programming

Pairing - Not Just for Writing Code!

Pairing is a powerful collaboration tool, and it's not just for writing code. It's a powerful asset in any stage of the software development lifecycle.

architecture

Volatility and Software Architecture

Change is the only constant. But without further framing this particular truism isn’t very useful for informing how you ought to architect your system.

continuous-integration

Shifting Compliance Left with Licensed and GitHub Actions

Ensuring compliance with open source software licensing can be challenging for software engineering leaders, but there are great tools available in open source that can help you to get started.

programming Featured

Finding Collective Ownership of the Codebase

Code is not mine, it’s ours. Through that our code is mine. There's something incredibly harmful about an individual owning a piece of code. When I say owning a piece of code I mean they feel like they have a right, above and beyond the rights of

programming

Writing Code as if Deep Work is Impossible

If you work in your own office, and regularly have uninterrupted stretches of deep work, congratulations, you and your organization are doing many things right. But consider for a moment if that’s the situation for everyone on your team. And then consider if it’s likely to stay true

learning-rust

Learning Rust

I've written before about the advantages of being a polyglot programmer, but it's been a bit since I've really been excited about learning a new language. Rust has changed that recently.

fundamentals Featured

The Shippocratic Oath

Do no harm, and move quickly!

pull-requests

9 Common Pull Request Failure Modes

9 ways to get pull request reviews wrong, and how to fix them.

programming

Expanding Your Horizons as a Polyglot Programmer

Learning multiple programming languages and putting non-trivial projects into production using those new languages has been one of the most powerful tools for me personally to expand my abilities as a software developer. It will help you to do the same. Why? Exposure to new ideas, paradigms, and ways of

fundamentals

You Have a Personal Software Process

You probably haven't thought about it, and you almost certainly couldn't articulate it to another engineer.

developer-experience

Improve Developer Experience with pre-commit

Git offers a powerful tool in your arsenal with its hooks, but sharing hooks with your team is something that's painful at best. Enter pre-commit. It allows you and your team to setup and share the same set of git hooks regardless of language, and have them version

developer-experience

asdf - Version Manager of the Future

Any software engineer can benefit from working in multiple languages. asdf will help make managing the languages easy.

programming

Elixir Mocking Library Options

There are many options in the Elixir ecosystem for mocking. There are a few that stand out in my mind as nicer than others. Especially Mimic and Hammox.

programming

Pull request reviews: There is no alternative!

A bit hyperbolic, but aside from pairing, it seems to me that there is still no alternative to a pull request review.

node.js

Setting Up a Proper Logger in Sails.js

I'm a big fan of the Node framework Sails.js. It's based on Express, but gives you all of the great features to help you be more productive that Rails developers love, and take for granted every day. However, I'm going to come right