I want to create value in the world. That’s why this blog is public, my code is open-source, my newsletter is free. This means almost none of the value I create returns to me. It’s a tradeoff — the cheaper it is, the more value the world gets, and the less money I get. That’s … Read moreDouble Loop of Value
Sometimes my calendar looks like an LA freeway: 100% utilization, ultimate deadlock. This is not one of those times. November through January are quiet at my current job, no big launches or deadlines. I can take a breath. My instinct is to fill it. Sign up for more! Commitments! Deadlines! Quick, pull in the next … Read moreEnabling Gaps
I often say that software these days is complex. But is it? In Cynefin terms, it’s more like an airplane than a family: it’s complicated. Given enough expertise, all the code, lots of data, and enough time, we could analyze the causal structure of any particular system behavior. We can reason about complicated systems. When … Read moreSoftware is Complicated, Given Enough Time
Here’s what I know so far, from a lay-developer’s perspective (no AI or ML experience). So you’re a coder, and you’ve been asked to integrate with ChatGPT. What do you need to know? ChatGPT is an example of a Large Language Model (LLM). LLMs are a kind of machine learning (call it AI if you … Read moreA Developer’s Starting Point for Integrating with LLMs
Resilience is coping with unexpected events and environmental change. To have resilience, you need slack. Slack in software development lets people do the little tasks that keep the work moving smoothly. That helps with everything you didn’t know you needed the software to do.
what a spherical cow can teach us about task prioritization in software teams
There once was a little app, proudly running in a container. The container let the app have its favorite operating system and libraries, all snug and separate. The little app shared a container runtime with its friend, a firefly. Sometimes the app’s code would crash (through no fault of the code, of course; must have … Read moreWhy we use kubernetes
A viable system continues to function in a changing environment. We want our companies—and some teams—to be sustainable this way. How does your team contribute? Does your team have all the components of a viable system… and should it? Stafford Beer (1926-2002) coined the Viable Systems Model to describe what it takes. A Viable System … Read moreThe Viable Systems Model, and where my team fits
One day a baby app was completed. It was so excited to run! But where would it run? and how? Its problems are only just beginning.
When I make a toy app for my own learning, I start small and add one feature at a time, each time figuring out some new piece about the framework or language I’m working in. There’s a point in adding features where they start to make each other harder. One time I made a Cat … Read moreKeep your experiments separate