@defmyfunc blog

Written by @defmyfunc who lives and works in Manchester, UK. You should follow him on Twitter

Posts

Dungeons and Development: Being a better engineering manager through play

July 12, 2022

A quick exploration of why I think playing Dungeons and Dragons, especially as the DM, makes you a better Engineeering Manager, maybe just any job?

'Strategic', 'Tactical' and 'Bad' decisions

March 06, 2020

In many businesses the words 'strategic' and 'tactical' have lost all meaning. Can we reframe them to make them useful? Or are they lost forever?

'#code', '#lowcode' and '#nocode'

January 27, 2020

The history of software development is built on abstractions that allow developers to 'do more'. From 'machine code' to Assembly, through C and on to Python and JavaScript. Abstraction is inevitable, but will it be better?

Defining good Acceptance Criteria

December 02, 2019

Defining good ACs can be difficult, especially if you are undergoing a 'transformation' and are moving from traditional 'requirements' Lets talk about what makes a good AC.

Things I wish I'd been told about engineering management

November 26, 2019

All management is hard, and whilst you get told a lot of things as a new manager, these are things (on top of everything else!) I wish I'd been told. I probably wouldn't have listened.

Integration, integration, integration. An introduction to walking skeletons in the enterprise

October 18, 2019

In my experience, a decent walking skeleton is the most underused technique when teams are trying to de-risk software delivery. In this article I attempt to articulate its value so you want to use it more :)

An analogy to describe software development

August 28, 2019

On 'Why software development is like running a restaurant' and 'What analogy do you use to usefully describe the act of software development?'

Being a little more QA

August 09, 2019

How the future of software development is becoming more QA

How to move to #noestimates

July 01, 2019

Moving to #noestimates and relying on forecasting can be difficult for any person, team or organisation. Here I describe one way I go about it

"The uncomfortable world of constant discovery" or "The difference between Delivery and Product teams"

June 12, 2019

A look at the differences between 'Product' teams and 'Delivery' teams

Serverless Deployment Patterns and Techniques

May 20, 2019

Understanding the best way to deploy serverless architectures and solutions

AI/ML, Healthcare and Observability

April 06, 2019

Some thoughts based on my recent exeperience in the healthcare domain

On T(est)DD, M(onitering)DD, O(bservability)DD and H(ypothesis)DD

March 05, 2019

A summary of my thoughts on TDD (Test Driven Development), MDD (Monitering Driven Development), ODD (Observability Driven Development) & HDD (Hypothesis Driven Development). Phew.

Releasing value in software development

November 22, 2018

An overview of different approaches to breaking down problems into slices

How I use CRC (Class Responsibility Collaboration) Cards every day (Part 2)

March 28, 2018

Even more examples of how to use CRC (Class Responsibility Collaboration) cards in your day to day work

How I use CRC (Class Responsibility Collaboration) Cards every day (Part 1)

March 23, 2018

Some examples of how to use CRC (Class Responsibility Collaboration) cards in your day to day work

Understanding Team Values

February 08, 2018

A description of my 'go to' meeting for understanding the differing values across a team in a low trust situation

Why I like Test Driven Development

January 23, 2018

A short article on why I like Test Driven Development (TDD)