Agile Is Not A Silver Bullet, Part 1
Hopefully this headline got your attention. I considered trying to come up with a hashtag like #NoTDD or #NoEstimates that seem to be popular these days. I opted for a (hopefully) catchy title instead. The purpose of this post is not to bash agile methods or to somehow suggest that we should not be following…
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What We Mean When We Say “Software Engineer”
It’s very easy to throw terms around in our (or any) industry. In our hurried culture, we latch onto words or phrases that may not fully encapsulate their original intent. I’m afraid that is what has happened to the label of “software engineer”. And it has not been without consequences. I believe the real, working…
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Development Teams Need a Coach
I was talking with a colleague recently who is part of an organization that has recognized that their development processes, culture maturity, etc., was holding them back. The conversation went something like this… “As a developer, I would see Don’t Panic Labs as a dream job given the emphasis and adherence to consistent software design…
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Where Are They Now?
We are not a lifestyle company. This is a sentiment I made clear at a recent Don’t Panic company meeting. It’s not that we have anything against companies where employees settle in for their entire careers, but that’s just not who we are (or ever aspire to be). I’m not saying anything new here. This…
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Lab Reaction: #NoTDD
This post is coauthored by Andy Unterseher. In his post titled “#NoTDD“, Eric Gunnerson of Microsoft laments the challenges surrounding TDD. He makes some very good points that demonstrate that TDD is not a silver bullet for most teams to achieve a high-quality design. The key failure outlined in the article is that dogmatic TDD…
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7 Years Later: A Reflection on Nebraska Global
April was the seventh anniversary of the launch of Nebraska Global. While we spend a lot of time internally reflecting on our progress and strategy, we have never really shared it in a public forum or blog post. Like a lot of startups, we tend to be focused inward and not as concerned with how…
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Falling Short on Training Software Developers
I worry daily about the software we rely on in our daily lives. One need only look at the problems our airlines have had and the disruptions they have caused in our lives. I feel like there is significant risk that we will be crushed under the weight of technical debt in this software. As…
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Back To Basics: Why We Love MSMQ
Note: This post was co-authored by Chad Michel. Clever == Complexity I often say this because I wonder if we would be better served by simply using “old” technology and focusing on being better software designers. I really think we can accomplish this without becoming masters of the latest frameworks (although it is hard to…
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Funability, Part 5: A Layered Approach to Quality
Note: This post was co-authored by Chad Michel. The rest of this 5-part series can be found here: Part 1 – What and Why Part 2 – Leverage Your Leadership Roles Part 3 – Maximizing Productivity Part 4 – Processes Can Be Fun We’ve now come to the last post in our series on…
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Funability, Part 4: Processes Can Be Fun
Note: This post was co-authored by Chad Michel. The rest of this 5-part series can be found here: Part 1 – What and Why Part 2 – Leverage Your Leadership Roles Part 3 – Maximizing Productivity Part 5 – A Layered Approach To Quality In the fourth part of our series, we will be…
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