So I gave a talk at Bilbostack 2024
Hey folks, it's me again! I know it's been a while since my last newsletter issue. I wanted to write again, but needed an excuse – and I can't think of a...
Pessimism-driven development
A sad but realistic starting point for everything we do: Things can go wrong and will go wrong. Do you know this cool new feature? Unfortunately, users won't...
The minefield of software development
Read this comfortably at https://afontcu.dev/minefield More often than not, we build software based on hope. We plan the features we want and how we’re gonna...
Marginal gains: In favor of continuous improvement
We overestimate what we can achieve in a short period. But, at the same time (no pun intended), we underestimate a long-term improvement process. It's pure...
Embracing unknown unknowns
Hi, folks! It's been a while since my last issue, but here I am again with some random thoughts about… you know, a little bit of everything. Stay safe! (btw,...
Blundering your software
Software development is like a chess game. I like chess. It is a game where principles are paramount and easy to understand. Still, their implications are...
Be predictable, my friend
Hi mate! It’s been a while since I sent you an email. Not sure if I can say “Happy New Year” or if it’s already too late into January. Anyway! I wanted to...
Software development, autonomy, and constraints
Hi folks! It’s been a while since my last article. You know, hard times, a pandemic and all that. But finally, the long wait has come to an end. Here’s a new...
Challenge your assumptions
The status quo is dull. Following is a list of stuff I noticed we tend to accept blindly. 1. Why do we work in two-week iterations? Who decided ten working...
You say slow
I've been told I was going slow in every project I ever participated in. Every. Single. One. You end up developing a hard skin on the subject. It is not...
Fear
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. Except when they are. You read books, posts, watch videos, whatever, and that’s cool....
The goal of software development
Why would anyone give money to me to type weird stuff on a computer? Why would anyone do it? I mean, let’s face it. We, programmers, are picky. We want to...
Ron, the shoemaker
Ron is the manager of a small shoe factory. And he's quite good at it, I must say. An excellent small shoe factory manager. Over time, Ron came to the...
Back to Basics
Sometimes we face hard choices, where there’s no clear path or direction. Actually, we might not even have a clear goal. You’ve probably been there before....
A small increment
Someone was pleased with us last week (“us” as in “my team”). Turns out, we deployed a contrived new version of a form they were using. Among other stuff,...
All power to the Teams
Some random thoughts about software development teams: Teams should be the core entity. The primary unit of work within an engineering team. Teams should be...
"But, wait. So you don't write unit tests?"
Recently I’ve been asked how I approach the unit vs. integration vs. e2e debate I’ve answered it twice below: Short answer I don’t really care about names....
Beware the feedback loop
I know, I know. Feedback loops rock the stage. But. Not long ago we agreed that software development is just about feedback loops. Not sure if we actually...
I know testing is important, but
…but, but, but. In a perfect world, we’d face charges for writing untested code. Buuut we are not there yet. We all “know” testing is important. But… ”…but...
It's all about feedback loops
What if everything in software development is about creating feedback loops? Gimme examples Okay, okay. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of examples and some...