Category Archives: Software Pills

Why Testing in Production is Essential for Modern Software

In the realm of software development, testing is a crucial practice that ensures the reliability, performance, and correctness of applications. While traditional testing strategies often emphasize environments like development and staging, an increasingly advocated practice is testing in production (TiP). This concept might initially sound counterintuitive or risky, but when executed properly, it can leadContinue reading “Why Testing in Production is Essential for Modern Software”

The Importance of Empathy in Software Development

Software empathy emphasizes the importance of developers understanding the user’s needs and the purpose behind the code they write. By connecting with the users’ experiences, developers can create software that is intuitive, maintainable, and effective. This approach leads to better collaboration, innovation, and ultimately, higher-quality applications that resonate with users.

Compact C# Code: Syntactic Sugar Explained

In modern software development, code compactness enhances readability, maintainability, and reduces technical debt. C# has introduced features like pattern matching, expression-bodied members, and primary constructors that streamline code, improve performance, and foster collaboration. These syntactic sugar elements allow for more expressive coding, contributing to greater efficiency in development processes.

Introducing Technical Credit

A younger banker, fearing rejection due to past bankruptcy, is praised by an older banker for repaying every debt with integrity and resilience. This dialogue sparks thoughts of technical debt in software projects. Like financial debt, technical debt requires repayment, but technical credit represents investments for long-term gains. Managing debt measures a team’s technical credit, crucial for software stability and efficiency.

Treating Software Anemia

DDD proponents argue against anemic models, caused by minimal behavior in classes. While not a disease, software anemia hampers adaptability, akin to Damocles’ sword. Prioritizing behavior over properties aligns with real-world entities and enhances modeling. For instance, password reset functionality should be approached behavior-centrically for better readability and maintainability. (Word count: 64)

When Coding, Think Like a Lawyer

Software engineering shares many traits with traditional engineering including systematic approaches, design, planning, problem-solving, and quality assurance. However, ‘Big Upfront Design,’ now viewed as ineffective, sets software development apart. The role of a software architect in providing technical leadership, strategy, and risk mitigation, coupled with software engineers’ coding and problem-solving skills, underpin successful software creation. An analogy is made to law, where software engineers need deep domain knowledge, as lawyers do, to deliver more effective end products. However, thinking like a lawyer when coding can provide distinguishing benefits.

Practical Reason in Software Development

In software engineering, the startup dilemma lies in the difficulty of creating a top-notch product while ensuring company survival. Effective software writing stems from understanding one’s business, occasional ad hoc decisions, and frequently swaying from the norm. It emphasizes pragmatism and practicality over adherence to idealistic principles.

Multiple Units Good, One Unit Bad

The microservices architecture, while innovative and beneficial for distributed applications, is no panacea, necessitating the reconfiguration of application communication and infrastructure. Like the wheel needing flat roads, it presents challenges and isn’t suitable everywhere. Its comparison with traditional monolithic architectures highlights the importance of a balanced, adaptable approach in software development.

A Quick Cost/Benefit Analysis of Monoliths

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a fan of monoliths per se but I’m against the common idea that monoliths are the absolute evil regardless. There was a time, and it was less than a decade ago, in which software developers (and architects) were subliminally suggested that the best way to build scalable web applications was to createContinue reading “A Quick Cost/Benefit Analysis of Monoliths”