Tips to keep your software engineering features balanced — Have you ever heard of the Waterbed Theory? I’m assuming you’re all familiar with waterbeds. Waterbeds may be quite amusing, but the main issue (at least with the inexpensive models) is their stability. If you sit on one side of it, the other side gloriously rises up to compensate. You…

Brought to us by the inventor of AngularJS (and a few of his friends), Qwik seems to be the O(1) JS framework we were all waiting for. Now, it’s worth mentioning. Qwik won’t solve all of your problems. if you’re working on a data-intensive application that is only available to…

Don’t wait for the postmortem to learn from your mistakes — We all know that planning is important. Those who fail to plan are planning to fail. Or so the saying goes. There’s just one problem. Even if we plan, we plan while implicitly assuming the “happy flow.” We ignore our innate biases, the environment…

Behind all APIs resides a lower-level cousin, a different kind of beast: the ABI — Application Binary Interface — Why Should You Care? Well, I don’t have a very good answer here other than my belief that learning the ins and outs of our profession makes us better developers. It also tends to awaken our curiosity, which is always a good thing. What Are ABIs? To understand ABIs, let’s remember for a second what an API…

How to move tasks from backlog to done — Do you also experience backlog limbo? What the Hell (Pun Intended) is Backlog Limbo? Yeah, not the game/dance. I mean being stuck with a task that neither gets deleted nor handled. The problem with backlog-limbo tasks is that they seem to occupy a space in the back of your mind constantly. Constantly nagging, reminding you that something needs…

Managing your life and your software more effectively — The first part of this series was about the importance of being proactive. Without it, nothing gets done. But if you’re already taking action, you gotta make sure you’re taking the right kind of action. Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, called this habit “Put…

Lead complex software projects effectively — Those with a keen eye might find this title familiar. It’s inspired by “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” I used to think that book was a cliche until I read it myself. …

Designing a better way of thinking — How many of you use a todo-list? I assume most of you do, in some form or another. But what about checklists? They are far more useful than you think. The Checklist Manifesto If you’re not using checklists, you’re essentially counting on your working memory to keep things in check. That may be…

It’s okay to be good enough — Perfectionism. Nowadays it’s often displayed as a badge of honor. So much so, that it’s considered a “good” negative quality to mention during interviews, as it tends to be associated with diligence and hard work. Perfection, however, comes at a cost. The Good Enough Mother and Your Code You might be scratching your head right now. Motherhood…