Paul Michaels

I don't often post things like this but I'm seeing a lot of misinformation around TDD and it not working or is a failure. I've been responsible for implementing or pushing TDD for over 15 years now and have gone through various different frameworks, and methods. When I joined SRL there was a growing bug problem, and zero worth unit, integration, or UI tests. Over the last three years Martin Thorne, Steve Pugh, Olufemi Adesina, Kathryn Beggs, and latest recruit Maude Williamson have worked diligently to create Unit, Integration and Cypress UI frameworks in place. The coverage for each is on average over 80% and continues to improve. It is the responsibility of developers to test their own code and is often the first line of defence against poor requirements. We're now averaging +1 bug/month reported from clients, and usually these are P3, P4s, or disguised scope creep. Simply put TDD DOES work - but as with any skill if you've not got genuinely experienced people then it's going to be a mess. *Ahem* Agile my eyes are on you.

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Top tip for "No Code" integration solutions: Only use them if it can be done internally (i.e. someone in the business is has the technical ability to build and manage them) and the monthly platform bill is < £500. If you are paying a third party to build no code integrations - you may as well get them custom built so that you avoid the high ongoing fees and scalability issues that come with a no code platform. As the business scales you'll reach a point where it is more cost effective to do this anyway.

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Why do I favour practices like developer testing, TDD, refactoring and continuous integration? It's to enable rapid & sustained evolution of production-ready software. The odds of delivering the right thing in a single pass are so remote that many iterations are likely required. And even when we hit the bullseye, it's almost always a moving target. Not least because putting software into an environment has a tendency to change that environment and the problems we need to solve.

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I think I'm coming to realise that one of my more unusual traits as a programmer - and one that has led me to preferring processes like TDD, is I'm obsessed with how code *looks and feels* before I can even make it work. My design process is more "how do I want to express this concept" than "how do I execute this task". Once I find the right form for a concept, I then work backwards and drive out tests that help me make it work. I think a lot of people do the opposite, and try make something work before finding its form. This is reflected in the phrase "working, readable, fast - in that order", but I think I've landed on "expressive, working, fast" ordering now. I'm not making a particular value judgement here - but I think finding the shape in everything is an aesthetic tactic you need if you're going to build software other programmers will consume. It's the design work.

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Some updates to my #FeatureFlags demo app (https://lnkd.in/eQd23gfU) - I've added an "Explain" view that outlines why a particular variant was chosen (based on the current context and rules). This is a companion piece to my feature flags book (read it at https://lnkd.in/ehxiy6bY).

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TDD haters are everywhere. For more than a decade, I have dealt with them, and I still do. The curious thing is that I could classify TDD haters into two categories: Group 1 - Practiced TDD for several months and several projects and they still don’t see the value. Group 2 - Tried TDD for two weeks and claimed it is garbage, unnecessary, and anti-agile. Here is another curiosity, based on my own empirical observations: Group 2 represents 99% of all the TDD haters I have to deal with.

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I once seen a post which suggested that junior developers should think about the question they’re wanting to ask before asking it. That if they think it’s stupid they shouldn’t ask it. I couldn’t disagree more. Better to ask the silly question than suffer in silence. No judgements here, even if it’s something basic like centering a div or how to correctly use a washing machine. (Btw - I still haven’t figured either of those out 🙄). Ask a silly question or not ask a silly question? That’s the question.

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You have to act now whilst the dev team is still asleep. You can still get 10 articles for free on the new Penfriend whilst they’re curled up in bed. Such is the beauty of timezones. It’s 5am for them. It’s free article’s time for you. Appdev dot penfriend dot ai BUT BE AWARE. When they wake up. It’s go time baby. PRICES GO UP. Dev gets moved to live. And the v2 of Penfriend will be available for everyone to buy. This is literally your last warning to lock today’s pricing in forever. I won’t tell you again. Be the early worm. Get the free articles. Lock in the investment. Edit - 15:50 GMT. You have 12-15 hours before dev moves things over. This is the last update you'll get from me. THE LAST ONE.

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Developers hate documentation, we know the pain... Engineers hate documentation, and there's a reason. Return on investment of their time writing document is very low. Luckily, we specialise in building developer docs, API docs pipeline so that engineers can focus on what they love. Send me a message if you want to build automated API docs pipeline to free up your developers from writing docs.

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I'm observing a team writing code as an ensemble without TDD. I am selfishly delighted in the confirmation of how valuable TDD is to me as I use it. The team is implementing a new function that's doing list of list manipulation and returning something. They are all over the place with naming things, creating objects, streaming, mapping, flattening maps, return object, variables, naming...so many squirrels. Too many squirrels to even really focus on "what's the simplest first thing we could do?" TDD is so much more than writing a test first. It's a framework that helps me focus, prioritize, structure, and order my thoughts. Test Driven Development is an immensely helpful design and focus tool. I should also note, that I am beginning of working with this team and meeting them where they are. #codelife #devlife #TDD #testdrivendevelopment #unittesting #designthinking #problemsolving #structuredthinking #focus #mindset #toomanysquirrels #codingchaos

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Should every #juniordeveloper focus on the number of connections they have on LinkedIn? This was the debate from last nights workshop. What do you think? Is this the networking strategy you are employing? Does it work? Is it worth it? Fyi, there are 2x workshops for #developers on my course. Visit the Crushing Digital website for more details.

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When people ask me why I got into dev, I always say "well, it all started with a crazy idea". That's pretty much the ethos that I go by with everything I do; in fact the best projects I work on are the ones where the client says "well, I'm not even sure this is possible, but...". So yes, we do the standard stuff like eCommerce and databases, but we also do some really interesting stuff with connectivity, AI intergration, and interactive elements that people didn't even know were possible until they see it for the first time. No matter how big or small, it always starts with that one idea, that one feeling that gives you the urge to reach out and see what's possible. Now you've got that idea, let us help you put the rest of the pieces together to create something really cool: nathan@snookdigital.co.uk #TechSupport #WebDevelopment #webdev #plugins #customdev #anythingispossible

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Here's why I think refactoring as you go is a myth 👇 I think the theory behind this is great - truly. I really do think that teams should be empowered to refactor code as they go, keeping the code base tidy and better than when they got there. But this doesn't work well for every team, and I'd wager this doesn't work well for most teams. Even though I love the concept, I think there's an implementation challenge. And it's because of this reason: Not everyone is aligned on what the business priorities are. This single thing can turn little helpful refactors into development nightmares. I've spent a decade in startups prior to Microsoft. 2 years were as an intern across 6 internships and 4 different companies. 8 years were at one company that I was part of growing from 8 people to 250-300 people. I've (un)fortunately seen some sh*t. I've watched refactoring go COMPLETELY off the rails because developers just made the decision to go do it. It completely crippled teams that were blocked behind an avalanche of refactoring that went on for months. Fixes couldn't go in because "it would need to wait until after the refactor". And it's not like this only happened one time or by one person. If you're reading this going: "That sounds like a TERRIBLE way to refactor! That was improperly scoped. Deliver it in pieces! How could you let that happen!" Or maybe: "That's not what refactoring is. Refactoring is not rewriting. That's a rewrite. You're mixing these things up" ... that's literally my entire point, so thank you for drawing attention to it! I love this idea in theory but in practice it's dangerous as heck UNLESS you have a team that's completely aligned on: - What priorities are - What the team values - How to hold each other accountable - How to communicate clearly with stakeholders Otherwise, we get developers pulling at the yarn to clean things up. But then they have one more thing they need to do. Then another. And then then perhaps the team isn't holding them accountable in the standup. And maybe the product owner feels intimidated or lacks experience to be able to push back. Now we're buried in what's effectively rewriting large portions of an application and having to decide if we cut the losses because apparently there's no way to deliver the remaining parts incrementally. I am not making this sh*t up. I am telling you it because it's real. And I'd rather be real with you and have you debate me in the comments about why you can make this work. Because good: you're thinking about the risks of this and how to implement it successfully instead of just latching onto it being a nice idea. Strive for continuous refactoring! Seriously! Please do! But I urge you not to gloss over the risks that can be associated with it. In extreme circumstances this could completely destroy projects, product launches, and even companies. ---- 📨 Sign up for my email newsletter! 🗣️ Share with your network! #SoftwareEngineering #Coding #Programming

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MVPs shouldn't go to the bin, unless the business pivots to something else. Way too often I've seen agencies & devs building MVPs in a 'poor' way (and that's a nice way of putting it), because 'who cares, it will go to the bin anyway when you get PMF and fundraise'. I disagree. There's absolutely NO reason that your MVP should go to the bin, unless your business model or product change dramatically. And even then, a lot of boilerplate (like signup, subscriptions management, emails, etc) - can and should stay the same. If done right, that should be a given, with 0 extra effort on the dev side. If someone's quoting you to do a poor job, don't work with them. You can stay agile & lean (as a startup should) without compromising on quality, and forcing yourself to rewrite the next version of your app. When you're investing in something, especially at an early stage when money is tight, it's important to NOT buy garbage.

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𝙑𝙐𝙀 Whilst the majority of roles that come across my desk tend to pair C# .NET back end with a React or Angular front end, there are a few roles recently that are focusing on Vue instead. I’m not completely sure if there has been a shift in what companies are prioritising, but there are definitely some features of Vue that have made it more attractive. Vue Vapor mode being one of them. Something that will enhance performance whilst maintaining the current script setup syntax with the composition API. Another is by the buy in into the Vue certificate. With Over 2000 devs and companies having already invested into the program. There are also a range of other new features including a Stable Suspense Component, Conditional Props and Vue Router Data Loaders. In my network, what features of Vue do you like? Have you noticed a shift in people favouring Vue? #software #development #vue 

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Cloud providers provide a service. Programmers use that service. Why do job adverts for programmers say they need to be _experts_ in one particular provider? It's like advertising for a van driver and saying they want experts in Ford Transit Mk. III's.

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❓ Developers - how do approach starting a new role❓ I'm thoroughly enjoying my new role and as expected, there is lots to learn. I've been taking notes, pairing, asking questions as well as signposting areas I need to delve into further, but it got me thinking, are there any strategies/opportunities I'm missing? So, I thought I would open the question out to my network. How do you approach starting a new role? #womenintech #careerchanger #developer #advice

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If you want to become a great software engineer... you might need to start doing your housework Lots of good thoughts in this talk bringing many ideas I couldn’t articulate front and center Technical Debt is not a cause but the effect of Technical Neglect. You can’t focus on everything, to focus is to attend to one thing exclusively. And therefore neglect / not attend to something else. In much the same way that when we cook to eat we make a mess that needs cleaning, so to does the act of building require tidying up 🧹. Working in a code base is not free unless your Middle Eastern mom/wife bless her soul is cleaning up after you. Software is not kick-able and our mind attends to hard kick-able 🦵 things better than ideas. Neglect is the absence of something happening, you only notice it when it’s debt kicks you Maintenance is a requirement for physical things that wear and tear, our interaction with code with our limited attention causes us to changes things without attending to other things, that is the wear and tear of software Prioritizings new requirements over technical work is a bit of an oxymoron, what are new requirements made of pixie dust? It’s all technical work. Fixing bugs isn’t maintenance, you don’t fix bugs you find them they were already there. Tidying up is. In software we use metaphors, because we don't have matter. metaphors is our matter, but metaphors by definition is similar not exact. Legacy tells you where you spend your time on. If you’re a having a design meeting, the system you built has veto on your decisions References the book your Code is a Crime scene When we're writing new code we have skill issues, we don't know how it should look like, we write what the tutorial looks like, so we incurs some debt, that's fine, we're borrowing, the problem is if we neglect. So why do we neglect, well in analogy to tech debt it would be the equivalent of not having a payment plan. The problem is unmanaged technical debt we could have a payment plan, but that's the managed technical debt, we may have an unmanaged technical debt problem, parts that are not in the payment plan The reason why software engineering has a tech debt neglect problem is because it's composed of people who don't like to do their housework.

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An easy way to assess a freelance developer's competence is by telling them EXACTLY what you're assessing for. It sounds so simple and obvious, yet many hiring managers (technical and non-technical) fail to do this. Some see interviews more like an interrogation, designed to catch the candidate out, but it's rarely a useful approach. Instead, tell your candidate about your project goals, customer outcomes, and the specifics of how you're assessing them. For example: "We're creating a service that helps users manage their healthcare and medication better. We're building a WebApp that uses A.I. to support user needs. Tell me about any relevant experience you have: - Building WebApps - Building using A.I - Plus, any healthcare experience " Encourage the candidate to first set the scene, and tell you about the project they were working on and what the outcome was. From here, ask them to work backwards, explaining the role they played, what tools and tech they used, and how they collaborated with others. Follow up with simple questions such as: "Tell me how you ensured you understood the brief?" , "How did you validate and test your solution?" , "On reflection, would you have used different tools, or built in a different way". In my opinion, you don't actually need to understand the in-depth technicalities to assess whether someone can help you or not. Since you're being very clear about what you want, all the candidates have an equal opportunity to sell themselves. Simply repeat this process with 3 or 4 candidates and I'll bet you'll know purely by feeling who is still most suitable for your project. After all, the one who can clearly articulate their capabilities is the one who is most likely to understand and deliver against your needs. Hiring freelance developers doesn't need to be complicated. ---------- Adrian G Ward - A technical partner to startups and SMBs. I've hired over 100 and interviewed over 1000 developers, if you need help hiring, give me a shout. #freelancers #developers #hiring #interviews

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