The Birth of Legacy Software – How Change Aversion Feeds On Itself

Here's a common pattern that I see play out very often in software teams: There is a need to change the existing system behavior to accomplish new functionality.  The software engineer looking at the task realizes that the existing design isn't well suited to the change needed. They suggest design changes and refactoring, as part … Continue reading The Birth of Legacy Software – How Change Aversion Feeds On Itself →

Abstractions Are In The Eye Of The Beholder

One of the most common debates I see, is on the right level of abstraction to use when coding. The line between over-engineered and unnecessarily-verbose is a very fuzzy one, and is the source of never-ending debates. Unfortunately, this debate is unlikely to ever get resolved. For one simple reason. The correct answer is both … Continue reading Abstractions Are In The Eye Of The Beholder →

Alert Fast

A dichotomy I often see in many different teams and projects, is the dilemma between “failing fast” and “failing gracefully.” Here’s a simplified example of what I see far too often, and gets to the core of the dilemma. public String generateGreeting() { try { return “Hello ” + getName(); } catch (Exception e) { … Continue reading Alert Fast →

SSH Considered Harmful – Why You Should Be Using Persistent Sessions

No, there hasn't been any new vulnerability found in SSH, nor am I denying the usefulness of SSH as a building block in the dev toolchain. This article is about why you shouldn't be (and how you can avoid) using raw SSH sessions for development work. Here’s a little story. I spent many years working … Continue reading SSH Considered Harmful – Why You Should Be Using Persistent Sessions →