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Pair programming pearls & perils

February 17, 2019, 4 minutes to read

If pair programming was easy, and universally better than working individually, we’d all be doing it all the time. But we don’t. Most people I met need to make a conscious effort to pair and stay paired. All the while saying they “like it” and “need to do more of it”. How come?

Facebook is more than selfies

February 3, 2019, 3 minutes to read

Should we all just #DeleteFacebook? I mean, throughout 2018 they demonstrated just how dirty a business they’re inside. And honestly, when was the last time you enjoyed your timeline? But Facebook has become a communication platform unlike any other in history, and one that’s difficult to simply toss away.

Good feedback gone bad

January 1, 2019, 4 minutes to read

Feedback, oh, feedback. The holy grail of management, leadership and any self-respecting, self-aware employee or freelancer in pursuit of greatness. Many a book was written on why and how to deliver and how to receive it. But is good feedback universally good?

Mathematics is not optional

November 20, 2018, 3 minutes to read

This question keeps returning: do we need kids to learn this much mathematics? And does it have to be obligatory at the matura? In other words, how much is mathematics useful for an average adult, who doesn’t use it professionally? Turns out, a lot.

Learn divide & conquer by washing dishes

November 14, 2018, 2 minutes to read

You wouldn’t think washing dishes has something to teach you about programming, would you? In fact, you’re likely to despise it and either let your partner do it, or bought yourself a machine to take care of things. But a sink full of dirty plates is not unlike a difficult, multi-faceted problem to tackle in a hairy codebase.

Programming with a thesaurus

October 28, 2017, 2 minutes to read

Source code needs to read like a book, with characters introduced in proper order and the plot unfolding logically for the reader to follow. Naming is key. The right word used in the right place—a function, class, variable name—will help avoid many a bug. That’s where a thesaurus will come in handy.

It's his job

May 24, 2017, 3 minutes to read

Perhaps it is. But does he know it? Have you told him? In teamwork, as in marriage, implicit expectations create tension that’s bound to explode at some point. Disarming that bomb is as easy as saying “could you?”

Teamwork is lesser work

February 19, 2017, 5 minutes to read

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts—that’s not true. Not universally, at least. Science has known this since the 19th century, that a proper team working together will often deliver less, and of lesser quality, than if the same individuals were working on their own. It’s high time we question the holy grail of “teamwork” to see exactly where it works and where it fails.

Too long in one job

February 5, 2017, 2 minutes to read

“What have you learned from maintaining your own code?” is a pretty decent question to ask candidate programmers. Many people we interview have never stayed longer in a job than 2-3 years. That’s enough to build something of size, but often leave without seeing whether it’ll stand the test of time.

Talking like you own the place

May 7, 2016, 2 minutes to read

“Last year we acquired [company] and …” I was chatting with my friends about some recent business of the company I’m part of. They looked at me funny and interrupted “you keep saying ‘we’. That’s sooo unusual.”