Shows
MaintainableSara Jackson: Why Resilience Is a Team SportRobby is joined by Sara Jackson, Senior Developer at thoughtbot, to explore the practical ways teams can foster resilience—not just in their infrastructure, but in their everyday habits. They talk about why documentation is more than a chore, how to build trust in test suites, and how Chaos Engineering at the application layer can help make the case for long-term investment in maintainability.Sara shares why she advocates for writing documentation on day one, how “WET” test practices have helped her avoid brittle test suites, and why she sees ports as a powerful alternative to full rewrit...
2025-07-2253 min
MaintainableJoe Masilotti: Simplify Your Stack, Ship Mobile SoonerIn this episode of Maintainable, Robby speaks with Joe Masilotti, an independent consultant who helps Rails teams ship mobile apps using Hotwire Native.Joe shares his perspective on what makes software maintainable—especially for consultants who need to onboard quickly. He explains why setup scripts often add unnecessary complexity, and how he evaluates a project’s maintainability by how quickly he can go from clone to coding.Robby and Joe also discuss how hybrid mobile development can offer faster delivery, fewer bugs, and better long-term flexibility—especially when teams reuse their existing Rails web views. Joe ex...
2025-05-2055 min
MaintainableMercedes Bernard: Friendly Code Welcomes Everyone InMercedes Bernard, Staff Software Engineer at Kit, joins Robby to talk about what it really means to write code that lasts—and who it should be written for.In this episode of Maintainable, Mercedes shares a thoughtful and practical perspective on working with legacy codebases, managing technical debt, and creating a team culture that values maintainability without fear or shame. Her guiding principle? Well-maintained software is friendly software—code that is understandable and approachable, especially for early-career developers.Together, they discuss how to audit and stabilize older systems, avoid full rewrites, and create consistent developer expe...
2025-04-0849 min
MaintainableNoémi Ványi: Only Fix Problems That Are Actually ProblemsNot every messy piece of code needs a refactor. Noémi Ványi, Senior Software Engineer at Xata, joins Robby to discuss how to develop the intuition to know when refactoring is truly necessary and when it’s just unnecessary churn. She shares her approach to balancing pragmatism and maintainability, how product teams and developers can work better together, and why developer autonomy is key to sustainable software.Drawing from her experience working on both open-source and closed-source projects, Noémi reflects on the unique challenges each presents—whether it's dealing with unresponsive GitHub issue reporters, handling unantic...
2025-03-1142 min
MaintainableKaterina Skroumpelou: Bridging Engineering and Advocacy for Scalable SoftwareAs a product advocate at Nx, Katerina Skroumpelou combines her engineering skills with a knack for connecting with clients. In this episode, she shares how clear documentation, scalable architectures, and a collaborative culture can transform software development for the better.Key Takeaways[00:01:25] Katerina’s Background: Robby and Katerina discuss her career journey, starting in engineering and recently moving into product advocacy.[00:02:29] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software: Katerina highlights key aspects of maintainable software—readability, scalability, and reliability.[00:04:39] Product Advocacy at Nx: Katerina describes her unique role, bridging technical support and customer outreach to ensure clie...
2024-11-0536 min
MaintainableMoriel Schottlender: The Challenges of Modernizing MediaWiki's MonolithWelcome to another engaging episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast! In this episode, Robby sits down with Moriel Schottlender, Principal Software Engineer at the Wikimedia Foundation, to explore the complex journey of modernizing MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. Moriel shares her insights on what it takes to keep an enormous monolithic codebase maintainable while supporting an ever-growing and diverse set of global users. She highlights the importance of modularization, ownership, and the delicate balance between flexibility and stability in open-source software.Key Takeaways[00:00:51] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software: Moriel discusses the three crucial characteristics of well-maintained...
2024-10-2246 min
MaintainableKate Holterhoff: From Front-End Engineering to Developer AdvocacyWelcome to another engaging episode of Maintainable! Robby sits down with Kate Holterhoff, Ph.D., a Senior Analyst at RedMonk and former front-end engineer, to explore the intricate world of software maintenance, documentation, and the future of developer roles. Kate brings her unique perspective from her time as a practitioner at a digital marketing agency, her academic background, and her current role in developer advocacy.Topics Explored[00:00:00] Introduction to Kate's Background: Robby and Kate discuss her journey from academia to front-end engineering and now to being a Senior Analyst at RedMonk. Kate shares how her...
2024-10-1551 min
MaintainableAlan Ridlehoover: Building Robust Systems Through Behavior-Centric TestingAlan Ridlehoover: Building Robust Systems Through Behavior-Centric TestingIn this episode of Maintainable, Robby speaks with Alan Ridlehoover, Senior Engineering Manager at Cisco Meraki. Alan shares his perspective on building well-maintained software by focusing on behavior-centric testing, clear code ownership, and thoughtful technical decisions that stand the test of time.Alan discusses his experience working in both startup environments and large-scale engineering teams, including how he navigates the unique challenges of each. He provides practical advice on managing conditional logic in code, scaling with third-party dependencies, and ensuring that testing strategies remain effective as systems...
2024-10-0848 min
MaintainableSaron Yitbarek: The Balance Between Maintainable Code and Multiple Streams of IncomeIn this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby sits down with Saron Yitbarek, founder and CEO of DiscoLink, to explore the challenges of maintaining early-stage software while balancing multiple streams of income. Saron shares her journey from being a solo developer to hiring her first teammate and the lessons learned along the way about code maintainability and business logic.Episode Highlights[00:05:32] Introduction to Saron's Background: Robby and Saron discuss her startup, DiscoLink, and the initial development of its MVP.[00:10:50] The Importance of Context in Code: Saron emphasizes why understanding the business decisions behind code is...
2024-09-2441 min
MaintainableCassidy Williams: Navigating the Career Jungle Gym in TechIn this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby sits down with Cassidy Williams, Developer Advocate at GitHub, to explore the dynamic nature of a tech career, the delicate balance between clever code and maintainability, and the evolving trends in software development.Cassidy begins by discussing what makes software truly maintainable—starting with the ease of onboarding for new developers. She emphasizes the importance of clear documentation and warns against the pitfalls of writing overly clever code that might be difficult to maintain in the future.They then delve into the challenges of joining an ex...
2024-08-2743 min
MaintainableTanmai Gopal: Unlocking the Potential of Unified APIsIn this episode of Maintainable, Robby Russell sits down with Tanmai Gopal, the CEO and co-founder of Hasura. Tanmai shares his insights into the characteristics of well-maintained software and the importance of a codebase that no team member fears. He emphasizes the need for accessibility and understandability in code, making it easier for developers to work with and iterate upon.Tanmai dives deep into the metaphor of technical debt, urging teams to prioritize product outcomes over best practices. He highlights the value of addressing technical debt contextually and in a way that aligns with product goals.
2024-07-2344 min
MaintainableJames Socol: Building Social Capital in Engineering TeamsIn this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby Russell sits down with James Socol, a Staff Engineer at Fastly, to discuss the art of maintaining legacy code and the nuances of technical debt versus technical depreciation.Key Topics Discussed:Characteristics of Well-Maintained Code: James shares his insights on what defines well-maintained code, emphasizing the importance of continuous maintenance, testing, and encapsulation.Technical Debt vs. Technical Depreciation: James introduces the concept of technical depreciation, distinguishing it from technical debt and explaining how time affects software maintenance.Balancing Old and New Patterns: The discussion explores the challenges...
2024-07-1644 min
MaintainableStig Brautaset: Understanding Alien Artifacts in Legacy CodeIn this episode of Maintainable, Robby chats with Stig Brautaset, Staff Software Engineer at CircleCI. Stig shares his insights on maintaining well-documented but complex legacy code, the impact of team dynamics on software maintenance, and his experiences with the SBJSON library.Stig discusses the characteristics of well-maintained software, emphasizing the importance of team experience, domain knowledge, and risk appetite. He reflects on his own career journey, highlighting the transition from overconfidence to a balanced approach to risk-taking.A significant portion of the conversation delves into Stig's concept of "Alien Artifacts," which describes highly resistant legacy...
2024-06-0446 min
MaintainableMartin Emde - Ruby Central and the Art of Being Tolerant to ChangeIn this episode of Maintainable, our host Robby Russell sits down with Martin Emde, a sage in the Ruby community and the current Director of Open Source at Ruby Central. Together, they weave through the intricacies of maintainable software, legacy code, and the unwavering power of the Ruby ecosystem. Martin, with his wealth of experience, shares tales from the trenches of open-source software development, focusing on RubyGems and Bundler, and how they've evolved to face the challenges of modern software needs.Martin addresses the elephant in the room - complexity in software. He muses on the natural...
2024-04-2352 min
MaintainableEsther Olatunde - AI's Role in Evolving Software Engineering PracticesIn this captivating episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, host Robby Russell delves deep with Esther Olatunde, Senior Product Engineer at Intercom, into the realms of software maintenance, technical debt, and the impact of AI on software development. The discussion kicks off with Esther's insights on what constitutes well-maintained software, emphasizing the importance of quality from both the user's and developer's perspectives. They explore how ease of onboarding for new developers and the ability to swiftly navigate codebases significantly contribute to a project's maintainability.The conversation then shifts towards the nuances of managing technical debt, with Esther...
2024-04-1647 min
MaintainableIrina Nazarova - Investing in Innovation: The Consultancy's Guide to GrowthIn the latest episode of Maintainable, Robby Russell has a fascinating conversation with Irina Nazarova, the CEO of Evil Martians, a name that resonates with innovation and bold strides in the software development world. They dive deep into what it takes to maintain not just code, but also the delicate balance between rapid development and long-term sustainability in the ever-evolving startup landscape.Irina shares her unique perspective on the common traits of well-maintained software, stressing the importance of adaptability and the role of technical debt at different stages of a company's growth. With a background rich in...
2024-03-1245 min
MaintainableJeanine Soterwood - Helping Clients Understand Maintenance WorkRobby has a chat with the Software Development Team Lead at Thoughtbot, Jeanine Soterwood. Unraveling the intricacies of Ruby on Rails, they explore the often overlooked importance of keeping apps up-to-date and maintaining a robust test suite. The conversation weaves through the delicate balance between enticing features and the long-term needs of software maintenance, shedding light on the aspects clients may not find thrilling.Drawing from their experiences in the consulting realm, Robby and Jeanine share valuable insights on being a commendable guest in another team's code base. From deciphering a client's process and team culture to...
2024-01-3038 min
MaintainableJimmy Koppel - Aspects of Good CodeRobby engages in a captivating conversation with the CEO at Mirdin and UpToSpeed, Jimmy Koppel. They delve into the transformative power of evolvable code, shedding light on its myriad benefits and how it contributes to an enriching coding experience. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy's insightful blog post, "The 11 Aspects of Good Code," the discussion unfolds to explore the external qualities of code and the profound impact of crafting code that is not just functional, but a joy to work with. Jimmy shares his vision for UpToSpeed, a platform aiming to revolutionize the onboarding process for software engineers through the strategic...
2024-01-1644 min
MaintainableHila Fish - Maintainable Infrastructure Code, Culture, and DocumentationRobby has a chat with Senior DevOps Engineer, Hila Fish. They start off by discussing the key characteristics of maintainable infrastructure code. Hila shared insights on providing software engineering teams with the necessary space for exploration while maintaining essential guardrails to ensure the stability of production environments. The conversation also touched upon the significance of offering engineers useful metrics and dashboards for measuring load and stress tests. Robby and Hila reminisced about the evolution of roles like sysadmins and DBAs over the decades, highlighting the transformative journey of infrastructure management.A focal point of the episode was...
2024-01-091h 02
MaintainableJacob Aronoff - At Least One Person Who Cares To See It ThroughRobby has a chat with Staff Software Engineer at Lightstep from ServiceNow, Jacob Aronoff. Their conversation delves into the vital signs of a thriving open source software project. They unpack the characteristics of well-maintained open source endeavors, emphasizing the importance of a passionate community behind the project, rather than misleading indicators like GitHub stars. They discuss the nuances of evaluating a project's health through performance metrics, suggesting that a more holistic view that includes the scrutiny of open issues can provide better insights into the project's robustness and responsiveness to community needs. Furthermore, their discussion highlights a c...
2023-11-2146 min
MaintainableOliver Drotbohm - Modulithic ApplicationsRobby has a chat with Oliver Drotbohm, a Staff 2 Engineer at VMware. They explore the essence of maintainable software, pinpointing understandability and modifiability as its foundational pillars. Drawing from Dr. Carola Lilienthal's "Sustainable Software Architecture: Analyze and Reduce Technical Debt," Robby and Oliver dissect the metaphor of technical debt, discussing its historical context and its relevance in today's fast-paced software development environment. Their nuanced conversation balanced the need for making compromises with the risk of over-preparation, emphasizing the critical role that clear documentation of architecture design decisions plays. They further delve into the iterative nature of building s...
2023-11-1441 min
MaintainableCameron Jacoby - Am I Learning From This?Robby has a chat with Cameron Jacoby (she/her/hers), a Senior Full-Stack Engineer at BetterUp, a platform that uses world-class coaching and science-backed solutions that help people grow personally and professionally. The one thing that Cameron says should stand out about code being maintainable is that it should be easy to read and understand. She explains why procedural code can often be easier to communicate with and highlights the importance of having helpful data metrics for most new features one works on.Robby and Cameron also discuss real-world approaches to tracking metrics for monitoring purposes, the...
2023-09-2649 min
IndieRailsRobby Russell - Maintaining Planet ArgonRobby Russell is founder and CEO of Planet Argon, one of the oldest Rails development agencies, now in it's 21st year. Robby shares how he got started in Rails and how he grew Planet Argon to the organization it is today. Some listeners might remember him as "Robby on Rails" from the early Rails era; Robby is also the creator of the popular dev tool, Oh My Zsh. In addition to these, Robby hosts the Maintainable Software Podcast, where he speaks with seasoned practitioners and shares valuable insights into navigating legacy code and technical debt. His passion...
2023-09-1959 min
MaintainableAhmed Wasfy - Thriving as an Engineering ManagerRobby has a chat with Ahmed Wasfy (he/him/his), the Senior Development Manager at Amazon. On the topic of the common characteristics of well maintained software, Ahmed feels that one critical thing is that software should serve a purpose in terms of what values it adds and the trackable business goal it fulfills. He shares some valuable insights about legacy code based on his vast experience and dives into how to approach the management of technical debt so that an engineering team trusts there is a time and place to work on that.Robby and Ahmed...
2023-08-0855 min
MaintainableDaniela Baron - About Those DocsRobby has a chat with Senior Staff Engineer, Daniela Baron (she/her). Daniela starts by listing the following things about the characteristics of well-maintained software; it should be easy for new people to join and get the project running on their laptops just by following the README, it should have conventions in place for what kind of code goes where, and several less obvious aspects like how to integrate with third parties and how to deploy to a test environment.Daniela will share ways to improve the onboarding experience for new developers to a project, examples of...
2023-06-1249 min
MaintainableEric Normand - Grokking SimplicityRobby has a chat with software engineer, trainer, and author of the book Grokking Simplicity, Eric Normand (he/him/his). As Eric reflects on his experience, the first thought he has of well-maintained software is that it’s like a unicorn (Something you can’t find in real life), but on a more serious note, he emphasizes that smaller code bases are easier to maintain and that the maintainability of a code base is also highly dependent on the team of engineers that are working on it.Robby and Eric will dive into the pros and cons of m...
2023-03-1347 min
MaintainableNoah Clark - Maintainable Software is a Team SportRobby has a chat with Noah Clark, a consulting applications developer at Merchants Bonding Company, one the top 15 largest surety writers in the United States. On the top of Noah’s list of things that facilitate the maintainability of software is team dynamics. Well-maintained software can never be achieved by a single individual refactoring code or having grand ideas/visions. It’s made possible by a team coming together and committing to a practice of well-maintained software. He highlights trust and communication between a team and the company they’re developing software for as key. He also advises engineers to avo...
2022-12-1959 min
MaintainableAndrea Goulet - Empathy-Driven Software DevelopmentRobby has a chat with Andrea Goulet, the CEO of Corgibytes, a software development shop dedicated to maintaining and modernizing software applications. Named by LinkedIn as one of the top ten professionals in software under 35, Andrea is the host of the podcast Legacy Code Rocks, is the author of the forthcoming book, “Empathy-Driven Software Development”, has co-founded several successful technology companies, and has taught over 50,000 students how to turn soft skills like empathy and communication into software skills.Through her newest venture, Heartware.dev, she is on a mission to operationalize empathy for tech teams and keynotes freq...
2022-10-1054 min
MaintainableCasey Watts! - CulturesmithingRobby has a chat with Casey Watts!, the Founder at Happy and Effective and the author of Debugging Your Brain. Their conversation begins with Casey calling out engineers who go about the maintainability of their software by just cleaning stuff up instinctually instead of having a deliberately prioritized engineering backlog. He talks about the importance of team leaders giving engineers leeway to choose when to explore and try things, and even take some free time. That enables the engineers to feel more autonomous and have more ownership. Casey also shares strategies for managing technical debt and how t...
2022-08-0844 min
MaintainableShanea Leven - How To Bring Visibility To Your CodebaseRobby has a chat with the CEO and Co-Founder of CodeSee, Shanea Leven. The conversation starts with Shanea’s insights on the relatively unknown shift left movement which, from her own hands-on experience, has been a very great way for engineers to write maintainable and resilient code. The shift left movement emphasizes on moving, understanding, and visualizing code while moving everything closer to development when one is writing their code instead of waiting until things are in production. That has proven to be very helpful as codebases increase in size and complexity because it enables engineers to catch things be...
2022-07-0442 min
MaintainablePodcast Panel at RailsConf 2022Robby was invited to join a panel of several hosts from podcasts at RailsConf 2022 in Portland, Oregon. In their conversation, they discuss podcasting, engaging with our listeners, the state of the Ruby and Rails communities, we also dug into some topics related to maintaining open source projects, opening doors for juniors into our industry and into open source, among other topics.This episode will be cross-posted across several of our podcasts.Hosted by Jemma Issroff, Brittany Martin, Robby Russell, Chris Oliver, Jason Charnes, Andrew Culver, Andrew Mason, Nicholas Schwaderer, and Colleen Schnettler.Podcasts...
2022-05-2742 min
MaintainableBen Halpern - Adventures In Open Sourcing Your Existing ApplicationRobby has a chat with Ben Halpern, the creator of Dev.to and a Co-Founder of Forem, a platform that Dev.to is based on. Ben shares from his experience, that well-maintained software needs to have a clear purpose and context that’s available as one is reading it and within the documentation as needed while also being flexible for future evolution. When it comes to dealing with the common challenge of naming variables and functions when we write, Ben says a glossary is fundamentally important.He then introduces us to Dev.to, shares the story of ho...
2022-04-1847 min
MaintainableAvdi Grimm - Don't Be Too Clingy To Your TestsRobby has a candid conversation with Avdi Grimm, a software developer, consultant, coach, speaker, and author of the books, “Confident Ruby” and “Exceptional Ruby” He is also the creator and head gardener of Graceful.Dev. Avdi’s opinion on well-maintained software is that it’s more about teams than code and the fact that more attention need to be paid on documentation. He emphasizes the value of useful commit messages and conveying the why over the how. He also shares examples of executable documentation. Robby and Avdi dive into what technical debt looks like for different teams and how it ca...
2022-04-1144 min
MaintainableJerod Santo - Having to Maintain Your Own ClevernessRobby has a chat with Jerod Santo, the Managing Editor and Partner of Changelog Media. Jerod helps lead and co-host Changelog’s flagship podcast, The Changelog, and builds all the cool stuff that makes Changelog awesome. Jerod shares his journey from being a typical networking engineer (Infosec) to the experienced programmer that he is today and his programming wisdom from the trenches.Tune in as he highlights the undeniable importance of automated test suites and code readability, describes the arc of an engineer’s career, and talks about the past experiences that make him lean more towards clar...
2022-03-2854 min
MaintainableHeidi Waterhouse: Documentation: The Best Diff is a Red DiffIn this episode of Maintainable, Robby Russell chats with Heidi Waterhouse, Transformation Advocate at LaunchDarkly and contributor to "Docs for Developers." Heidi shares her insights on the crucial role documentation plays in software maintenance, how to manage documentation debt, and why "the best diff is a red diff."Episode Highlights[00:00:53] Heidi's Take on Maintainable Software: Discussing the characteristics of well-maintained software, with a focus on modularity and context-aware decisions.[00:02:16] Documenting Context in Code: The importance of leaving behind the rationale for past decisions to help future developers understand trade-offs.[00:04:09] Stress vs. Creativity: The mental firewall between...
2021-11-0146 min
MaintainableDHH: Celebrating Legacy Software as a Victory and the Story of How Humans Can't EstimateRobby speaks with David Heinemeier Hansson (aka DHH), Creator of Ruby on Rails and CTO of Basecamp / HEY.Disclaimer: Robby sat down with DHH in early March 2021 about ~5-6 weeks before Basecamp's policy changes were announced and the significant impact that had within our community. It's quite likely that some of Basecamp's internal software engineering processes have since changed.In an enthralling episode of Maintainable, host Robby is joined by David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), the original brain behind Ruby on Rails and the CTO of Basecamp & Hey. They embark on a deep exploration of the...
2021-10-0453 min
MaintainableBertold Kolics: Are You Carrying the Weight of Dead Code?In this episode of Maintainable, Robby Russell sits down with Bertold Kolics, Software Quality Manager at mabl, to discuss the critical role of automated testing, the challenges of maintaining legacy code, and the art of pruning dead code from your software projects. With a focus on enabling teams and fostering maintainable software, Bertold provides practical insights into how developers and testers can work together to keep codebases lean, healthy, and efficient.Episode Highlights[00:05:32] Automated Testing as Documentation: Bertold emphasizes the importance of automated tests in documenting application behavior, making them a crucial tool in maintaining a...
2021-04-1251 min
MaintainableDuncan Thorpe: Disrupting the Mammalian Industrial Nail ComplexMaintainable Nails: Bonus Episode 02Robby is joined by eccentric billionaire inventor and voice actor Duncan Thorpe, broadcasting from a secret island off the coast of Northern Europe. Together, they take listeners on a deeply unhinged (yet disturbingly logical?) journey into the tyranny of mammalian nail maintenance and the radical future of nail replacement.🔍 Episode Highlights[00:00:00] Welcome and Introductions: Robby introduces Duncan Thorpe and sets the tone for a conversation that quickly derails in unexpected directions.[00:01:10] Are Maintainable Nails Even Possible? Duncan rejects the premise of nail upkeep entirely, calling it a lie rooted in gen...
2021-04-0122 min
MaintainableLuke Redpath: User Stories Should Prompt ConversationsRobby speaks with Luke, experienced software developer and consultant. They discuss the challenges of being an iOS developer and what effective user stories should look like. Luke also shares how he is navigating the world of looking for full-time employment after a decade of freelancing.For interview practice, Robby asks Luke an interview question that Planet Argon asks prospective Ruby on Rails developers — hear his response!Helpful LinksLuke on TwitterLuke's WebsiteSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in...
2020-10-0552 min
MaintainableMagda Miu: Building a Technical Leadership Career Around TeachingRobby speaks with Magda Miu, Squad Leader Developer at Orange. They discuss the benefits of a healthy pull-request & review process and the unique challenges of mobile device app development. Magda also shares how she transitioned from being a day-to-day code contributor to team leader, as well as her strategies for keeping her technical skills sharp when she is not coding on a regular basis.Helpful LinksMagda on TwitterMagda on LinkedInMagda's WebsiteMagda on dev.toMagda on Medium[Books] Why Motivating People Doesn't Work . . . and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and EngagingPractices...
2020-09-0758 min
MaintainableGant Laborde: Technical Debt — Trading Risk for an AdvantageRobby speaks with Gant Laborde, CIO of Infinite Red. They discuss the unique challenges of maintaining React Native apps and the importance of sync points in an asynchronous work environment. Gant also shares an overview of the types of projects that Infinite Red focuses on and his experience being an open-source maintainer.Helpful LinksGant on TwitterInfinite Red on TwitterGant's WebsiteAI-FYI Website[Book] The War of ArtSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
2020-08-3145 min
MaintainableKaren Lee Rigg: Where Are the Bad Habits Coming From?Robby speaks with Karen Lee Rigg, Engineering Lead at Permutive. They discuss being a good guest in another team's code base and dealing with imposter syndrome. Karen also shares how she moved from the consulting world to a startup working on a product, along with her journey from being a code contributor to a team lead.Helpful LinksKaren on TwitterKaren on LinkedIn[Book] How to Win Friends & Influence PeopleSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord...
2020-08-2448 min
MaintainableGianluca Arbezzano: Technical Debt Beyond Code & Your First Contributions to Open SourceRobby speaks with Gianluca Arbezzano, Sr Staff Software Engineer at Packet. They discuss the value of consistent documentation (and why deciding where to document something is so difficult for developers!), how Gianluca began contributing to open source projects early in his career, and share tips for those who are intimidated about the idea of contributing to open source.Helpful LinksFollow Gianluca on TwitterGianluca's websiteConnect with Gianluca on LinkedIn[Book] Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One by Emily HeywardSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you...
2020-07-1344 min
MaintainableAli Spittel: Junior Developers and Helping Unlock Their PotentialRobby speaks with Ali Spittel – podcast host at Ladybug Podcast, writer, and Faculty Lead at General Assembly. They discuss mentoring Junior Developers, how she built a community around her written content and daily coding puzzles, how to build your writing as a developer, and her experience being a digital nomad.Helpful LinksFollow Ali on TwitterFollow We Learn Code on TwitterAli Spittel's websiteZen of ProgrammingLadybug PodcastFollow General Assembly on TwitterWhat Productivity Looks like to MeSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the di...
2020-07-0647 min
MaintainableRobby Russell: Turning the Mic Around with Kayla ReopelleThe mic is turned around on Robby for this special episode of Maintainable. Robby is interviewed by guest host Kayla Reopelle, a Ruby on Rails Developer at Planet Argon. They discuss the need for more conversations about improving existing code in the community, learning to manage client expectations as a consultant, and when he learned he was a mender, not a maker.Helpful Links:Robby's Maintainable Rails email coursePlanet Argon's Rails Upgrade service[Book] Never Split the Difference by Chris VossOh My ZshFollow Robby on TwitterAbout Robby RussellConnect with Robby on LinkedInConnect with Kayla on LinkedIn
2020-06-291h 11
MaintainableRyan Cromwell: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?Robby speaks with Ryan Cromwell, Technical Director at Sparkbox. They discuss the importance of simplifying deployments, technical debt in the client-services industry, and the traits to seek when hiring software engineers for client-services based work.Helpful LinksFollow Ryan on TwitterSparkbox[Book] Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOpsMichael Feathers on Maintainable[Book] Working Effectively with Legacy CodeSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
Subscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsSpotify
2020-06-2248 min
MaintainableCamille Fournier: How Does a Developer Become a Manager?Robby speaks with Camille Fournier, Head of Platform Engineering at Two Sigma and author of The Manager's Path. They discuss the importance of avoiding overly clever code, onboarding developers to existing software projects and teams, and how to start approaching mentoring others and be a good mentoree. They also discuss topics from her book, like determining if a path toward management is right for you and navigating career growth in a technical role.Helpful LinksFollow Camille on TwitterCamille on MediumThe Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and ChangeCamille's Blog: Elided Branches[Book...
2020-06-1546 min
MaintainableGonçalo Silva: How A Fully-Remote Team Builds and Maintains SoftwareRobby speaks with Gonçalo Silva, CTO at Doist. They discuss embracing continuous improvements, having a healthy level of skepticism about rewrites. Gonçalo also shares how Doist onboards new engineers to their team, along with the challenges of hiring remote junior developers.Helpful LinksGonçalo on TwitterLaws of software evolutionDoistDoist's blogOpen positions at DoistTwist App[Book] Atomic Habits[Book] The Art of LearningSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-06-0144 min
MaintainableTudor Girba: Moldable Development and Software EnvironmentalismRobby speaks with Tudor Girba, CEO and Co-Founder at Feenk. They discuss how engineers work in the decision-making business, what skills are essential to build in engineers, and get an introduction to the concept of Moldable Development and the Glamorous Toolkit.Helpful LinksGlamorous ToolkitFollow Girba on TwitterFollow feenk on TwitterGlamorous Toolkit on Github[Book] Man's Search for MeaningSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
Subscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsSpotify
2020-05-2544 min
MaintainableJeff Haynie: How Can We Make Software Development Better for Dev Teams?Robby speaks with Jeff Haynie, Co-Founder and CEO at Pinpoint. They discuss boundaries around APIs and contracts, useful and less-useful metrics for development teams to focus on, and more. Jeff also gives an introduction to Pinpoint's tooling for software development teams and stakeholders, and shares a story about how he had to reverse-engineer a proprietary application in under 24hours to keep the trains running on time.Helpful LinksFollow Jeff on TwitterFollow Jeff on MediumPinpointConnect with Jeff on LinkedInPinpoint Insights[Book] Hard Thing About Things BuildingSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr...
2020-05-1852 min
MaintainableVladimir Khorikov: 100% Test Coverage is an Artificial MetricRobby speaks with Vladimir Khoriko, Tech Lead, Architect & Author. They discuss all things unit tests – what they are, the four pillars of good ones, examples of low-value unit tests, and more. They also discuss the age-old debate of rewrites vs. refactoring, and how to effectively prioritize maintenance work.Helpful LinksVladimir's books: Use promo code: podmaintainable20 for 20% off!Enterprise CraftsmanshipPainless Unit TestingVladimir's Pluralsight courses[Book] Atomic HabitThings You Should Never Do, Part 1Subscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Ma...
2020-05-111h 00
MaintainableBryan Helmkamp: Don't Let Perfect Be The Enemy of GoodRobby speaks with Bryan Helmkamp, Founder and CEO at Code Climate. Bryan discusses the use of the term "technical debt" now vs. 15 years ago, what he's learned from having thousands of engineering teams use their tools, and the long-term benefits of choosing to build their main application in Ruby on Rails. You'll also get an overview of Code Climate's main products.Helpful LinksCode ClimateThe Code Climate blogBryan on TwitterCode Climate on TwitterSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in...
2020-05-0436 min
MaintainableDr. Aino Vonge Corry: Why Do We Have Retrospectives, Again?Robby speaks with Dr. Aino Vonge Corry, founder of Metadeveloper, technical conference editor, and agile retrospective facilitator. They discuss effective vs. ineffective communication with stakeholders, how to prepare for retrospectives, and why it's important to focus on "What should we do better?" when reflecting on work.Helpful LinksDr. Aino Vonge Corry on TwitterMetadeveloper[Book] Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew WalkerHow to Facilitate Distributed RetrospectivesSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the...
2020-04-2745 min
MaintainableTrisha Gee: Developers Should Invest More Time Into Learning Their ToolsRobby speaks with Trisha Gee, Developer Advocate at JetBrains. They discuss Trisha's role as a Developer Advocate, how open source library maintainers are underappreciated, and how developers can overcome their fear of writing, speaking, and contributing back to the community.Helpful LinksFollow Trisha on TwitterTrisha's blogIntelliJ IDEARubyMind[Book] 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know[Book] Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing by Mar HicksSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable...
2020-04-2042 min
MaintainableSandi Metz: Making is Easy, Mending is a ChallengeIn this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby is joined by Sandi Metz, a renowned programmer, author, and speaker known for her expertise in object-oriented programming and maintainable code. Sandi shares her invaluable insights on various aspects of software development, focusing on writing code that stands the test of time.Episode HighlightsMaintaining Readable Code: Sandi emphasizes that the cost of software lies in its readability. She discusses the importance of writing code with good names and gentle organization, making it easier for future developers to understand.Avoiding Clever Code: Sandi warns against writing overly...
2020-04-1347 min
MaintainableClare Sudbery: Refactoring Should Be Part of Your Daily WorkRobby speaks with Clare Sudbery, Lead Engineer with Made Tech. They discuss how to document and prioritize technical debt with a visual tool, trunk-based development patterns, and the importance of getting fast feedback.Helpful LinksFollow Clare on TwitterIn Simple TermsClare's upcoming workshops and speaking engagementsMadeTechClare on MediumRefactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (2nd Edition) by Martin FowlerDelusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia FineSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the...
2020-04-0650 min
MaintainableKelly Sutton: Custodians of the MonolithRobby speaks with Kelly Sutton, Software Engineer at Gusto. They discuss how to deal with technical debt from the pre-product/market fit era, the benefits of monoliths and knowing when to begin abstracting to micro-services, and the challenges of keeping Ruby on Rails applications up-to-date. Kelly also gives advice for developers who want to convince stakeholders to invest in refactoring projects – a common challenge.Helpful LinksFollow Kelly on TwitterKelly's website[Book] Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. ScottTalk on Desirable TestsSubscribe to Ma...
2020-03-3037 min
MaintainableJonathan Abourbih: Creating a Culture Where It's Okay To Take RisksRobby speaks to Jonathan Abourbih, Engineering Team Lead at the BBC in Voice & AI. They discuss how to conduct blameless post-mortems, what's technical debt vs. bad code, and the challenges of measuring your success as a manager after years of being a developer. Jonathan also shares stories about large Java apps in a pre-Garbage Collection world.Helpful LinksJonathan on TwitterThe Prime DirectiveBBC CareersGoogle's Project AristotleGrowing Object-Oriented Software Guided by Tests by Steve Freeman and Nat PryceThe Power In Agile Talk by Sarah Mei[Book] The Phoenix Project by Gene KimSubscribe to Maintainable on:
2020-03-2343 min
MaintainableJessica Kerr: Software Is Not A Craft (or an Art)Robby speaks with Jessica Kerr, Symmathecist at Jessitron LLC. They discuss why working on existing projects is more interesting than greenfield ones, the overuse and harm of the term "technical debt", and how software is not a craft. Jessica also gives an introduction to being a Symmathecist.Helpful LinksFollow Jessica on TwitterJessica's websiteJessica's blogSymmathecist, Noun by Jessica Kerr[Book] Team Topologies bookArty's suggestion about "escalating risk":[Book] Ecology, the Ascendent Perspective by Robert UlanowiczThe Myth of the Sufficiently Smart Engineer by Aaron Blohowiak[Book] The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg7 Rules for Positive...
2020-03-0940 min
MaintainableJon Thornton: Technical Debt is a Good Thing (Sometimes)Robby speaks with Jon Thornton, Engineer at Squarespace. This discuss examples of good technical debt, implementing a new monolith alongside another monolith (and when to extract to a microservice), metrics to track within your engineering team, and more.Helpful LinksThree Kinds of Good Technical DebtCareers at Squarespace[Book] Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. RosenbergJon on TwitterJon on GithubJon's websiteJon on LinkedInSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-03-0239 min
MaintainableBen Orenstein: "Someday We'll Go Clean That Up" Doesn't WorkRobby speaks with Ben Orenstein, CEO and Co-founder of Tuple, a remote pair programming app. They discuss why saying, "someday we'll go clean that up" doesn't work in reality, the downsides to putting maintenance work into a backlog, and implicit vs. explicit knowledge. Ben also gives an intro to Tuple.Ben on TwitterTupleTuple on Twitter[Book] The Great CEO WithinSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-02-2430 min
MaintainableErnesto Tagwerker: Tracking Technical Debt With Metrics (aka Stink Score)In the latest episode of Maintainable, we're joined by Ernesto Tagwerker, Founder and CTO of OmbuLabs. This isn't just another podcast episode; it's a deep dive into the world of technical debt and Ruby on Rails.Ernesto starts by demystifying technical debt – it's more than just a buzzword; it's a real challenge that can turn your project into a Tar Pit. And, believe it or not, there are actual tools to measure this. We explore these tools and how they can help identify technical debt and communicate the progress of tackling it.Then, we get in...
2020-02-1746 min
MaintainableMarit van Dijk: How Are We Going to Test This?In this episode of Maintainable, Robby sits down with Marit van Dijk, a Software Engineer at bol.com. Marit brings a wealth of experience from her work on complex systems and her involvement in the European testing conference and the Cucumber community. They dive deep into the importance of testing, maintaining legacy code, and the collaborative nature of software development.Episode Highlights[00:01:00] The Role of Tests in Well-Maintained Codebases: Marit emphasizes the importance of clear and intent-driven tests in understanding application behavior and maintaining code quality.[00:01:55] Dependency Management in Legacy Systems: Marit discusses the challenges of...
2020-02-1037 min
MaintainableMike Perham: How Developers Underestimate Long-Term Costs of External DependenciesRobby speaks with Mike Perham, Founder and CEO at Contribsys and author of Sidekiq and Faktory. They discuss the pros and cons of using external dependencies, how Mike built a business off of his open source project, Sidekiq, and the dIfference in maintaining Ruby vs Go software projects.Helpful LinksMike on GithubMike on Twittermikeperham.comContribsysSidekiq[Book] Rising by Elizabeth Rush[Book] The Watch, Thoroughly Revised by Gene Stone and Stephen PulvirentSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the...
2020-02-0336 min
MaintainableEv Haus: Good Code Can Be Easily DeletedRobby speaks with Ev Haus, Head of Technology at ZenHub. They discuss how to get to zero technical debt, metrics an engineering team can measure, good pull-request etiquette, and more.Helpful LinksEv on TwitterEv on LinkedinEv's writing on MediumSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-01-2746 min
MaintainableAdam Tornhill: Prioritizing Technical Debt With Behavioral Code AnalysisRobby speaks with Adam Tornhill, founder of Empear and CodeScene. They discuss the benefits of having clear boundaries between teams, strategies for prioritizing where to start tackling technical debt, and how to improve the onboarding experience for developers new to a software codebase. Adam also shares a rare example of a successful rewrite project.Helpful LinksFollow Adam on TwitterAdam's WebsiteEmpearCodeScene[Book] Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceYour Code as a Crime Scene[Book] Software Design X-RaysAdam's TedX Talk on Code, Crime, ComplexitySubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable"...
2020-01-2042 min
MaintainableM. Scott Ford: Menders In Hiding and the Joy of Legacy CodeRobby speaks with M. Scott Ford, CTO and Chief Code Whisperer at Corgibytes and co-host of the Legacy Code Rocks podcast. They discuss the difference between Makers and Menders, how to prioritize a technical debt backlog, and how to provide feedback to other developers.Helpful LinksM. Scott Ford on TwitterCorgibytesLegacy Code Rocks[Book] Lehman’s Laws of Software Evolution and the Staged-Model[Book] Radical CandorSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-01-1342 min
MaintainableGitte Klitgaard: Making Space For Psychological Safety in Software TeamsRobby speaks with Gitte Klitgaard, Agile Coach and Owner of Native Wired. They discuss how to create space for psychological safety, the importance of sharing mistakes and fuck-ups of the week, and understanding, coping and taking advantage of your Imposter Syndrome.Helpful LinksNative WiredGitte on TwitterGitte on LinkedIn[Book] I Thought It Was Just Me by Brene BrownBrene Brown's Ted Talk on vulnerabilitySubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2020-01-0639 min
MaintainableNathaniel Bibler: Communication Strategies Between Developers and ClientsRobby speaks with Nathaniel Bibler, CTO at Envy Labs. They discuss how to talk about technical debt as a team, navigating communication challenges with clients, and how to be a good guest in another team's code base. If you work – or want to work – at an agency, you should listen to this episode.Helpful LinksFollow Nathaniel on TwitterInsights by Envy LabsNathaniel on GithubConnect on LinkedInSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2019-12-2353 min
MaintainableAbby Bangser: Building Trust In Your Deployment PipelineRobby speaks with Abby Bangser, Senior Test Engineer on the Platform Engineering Team at MOO. They discuss how maintainable code leans on a dependable build and test process, what metrics Moo's platform engineering team measures, and codifying your pipeline – including having pipelines build on a regular basis.Helpful LinksFollow Abby on TwitterCareers at MooTester by ChoiceDeep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal NewportSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community...
2019-12-1630 min
MaintainableViktor Klang: Condensing The Codebase Over TimeRobby speaks with Viktor Klang, Deputy CTO at Lightbend Inc. They discuss how to avoid constant firefighting, effective use cases of TODO and FIXME comments, and how to create a safe space for developers to make mistakes.Helpful LinksFollow Viktor on TwitterViktor's websiteLightbendCloudstateSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2019-12-0953 min
MaintainableBeth Long: Maintainable Code Prioritizes How Humans Interact With ItRobby speaks with Beth Long, Software Engineer on the Build & Deploy Tools Engineering team at New Relic. They discuss the origin of the technical debt metaphor, considering when a rewrite is necessary (spoiler alert – it rarely is), and speak about the limitations of agile across modern engineering teams.Helpful LinksBeth's websiteFollow Beth on TwitterConnect with Beth on LinkedIn[Book] Beyond Human Error by David D. Woods[Book] Sources of Power by Gary KleinSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSpotifyOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in...
2019-12-0234 min
MaintainableEmily Bache: It's Always More Fun to Code with OthersRobby speaks with Emily Bache, Technical Agile Coach at ProAgile. They talk about her experience coaching teams on how to improve the long-term maintainability of their software – including how to still see your direct impact when coaching instead of coding. They also dig into the social aspect of development, mob programming, and how coding is a social activity.Helpful LinksFollow Emily on Twitter[Book] Training From the Back of the Room by Sharon BowmanCoding is Like CookingConnect with Emily on LinkedInProAgileSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastSp...
2019-11-2535 min
MaintainableZee Spencer: How Can We Reduce Carrying Costs?Robby speaks with Zee Spencer, owner of Zinc Cooperative, and programmer at Cohere. They speak about how social systems impact software maintainability, why legacy code is profitable code, and consulting within a timebox constraint.Helpful Links[Book] Mental Models: 30 Thinking Tools that Separate the Average From the Exceptional. Improved Decision-Making, Logical Analysis, and Problem-Solving[Book] Observing the User ExperienceZee on TwitterCohereCohere on TwitterZinc CooperativeSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
2019-11-1838 min
MaintainableAna Nelson: Writing Maintainable Code Documentation with Automated Tools and TransclusionRobby speaks with Ana Nelson, a software developer, writer, improv performer, and creator of Dexy — an open-source tool for writing any kind of technical document that incorporates code.Helpful LinksAna's websiteDexyFollow Ana on TwitterAna on GithubConnect with Ana on LinkedInWhat is Transclusion?The Modern Scholar by Professor Michael D. C. Drout[Book] On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction[Book] The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
2019-11-0437 min
MaintainableDave Aronson: Putting the M in ACRUMENRobby speaks with Dave Aronson, Owner, Consultant (and T. Rex) at Codosaurus.Helpful LinksCodosaurusDave on GithubFollow Dave on Twitter[Video] The Six Key Aspects of Software Quality[Book] The Pragmatic ProgrammerSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2019-10-2844 min
MaintainableMichael Feathers: Be Curious & Chase The Rabbit HolesIn this episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby speaks with Michael Feathers, Director at R7K Research & Conveyance and author of "Working Effectively with Legacy Code." Michael shares his unique definition of legacy code, emphasizing that legacy code is essentially code without tests. This foundational idea highlights the critical role of automated testing in refactoring and maintaining codebases.Michael and Robby dive into common issues developers face, such as low test coverage and the perceived optionality of writing tests. They explore how ego and human nature often influence developers' decisions not to write tests, even when...
2019-10-2132 min
MaintainableJustin Searls: Learn To Understand The RuntimeRobby speaks with Justin Searls, Co-Founder at Test Double. Hear Justin's experience digging into technical debt, learn why software is like a sedimentary rock, and more.Helpful LinksFollow Justin on TwitterTest DoubleRuby gem: SutureJustin's Legacy Code talk at Ruby KaigiJustin on GithubConnect with Justin on LinkedIn[Book] Growing Object-Oriented Software Guided by TestsSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
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2019-10-1451 min
MaintainablePatricia Aas: Intersection of Programming & SecurityRobby speaks with Patricia Aas, Programming CTO at TurtleSec AS about how programming and security are intertwined.Helpful LinksTurtlesecConnect with Patricia on LinkedInMore about PatriciaPatricia on TwitterSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you by the team at Planet Argon.
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2019-10-0733 min
MaintainableVictor Rentea: Never Separate The Refactoring From The DeliverableRobby speaks with Victor Rentea, an independent technical trainer and Lead Architect at IBM based in Romania. Victor talks about teaching other engineers about legacy code, calling yourself an "expert", and what to do when you're rushed to deliver features but are dealing with refactoring challenges.Helpful Links:Victor's websiteFollow Victor on TwitterConnect with Victor on LinkedIn[Book] The Business of Expertise[Book] Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman[Book] Extreme Programming Explained[Book] Refactoring (2nd Edition)[Book] The Software CraftsmanClean Coders Training VideosYoutube: Best Talks by Victor RenteaSubscribe to Maintainable on:
2019-09-2334 min
MaintainableSandro Mancuso: Technical Debt is Anything Preventing You From Developing FastThis week's guest on Maintainable is Sandro Mancuso, Software Craftsman & Co-Founder of Codurance. Robby and Sandro cover topics like how to avoid technical debt, what skills make for a successful software consultant, and more.Helpful Links:Follow Sandro on TwitterSandro's Book The Software Craftsman: Professionalism, Pragmatism, PrideKeyboard Katas A Case for Outside-In DevelopmentSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our r...
2019-09-1637 min
MaintainableBryan Liles: Create an Issue for EverythingThis week we're excited to have Bryan Liles, Senior Staff Engineer at VMWare, on Maintainable. Robby and Bryan chat about representation in the industry, how to use your job title to your advantage, and more.Helpful Links:Bryan on GitHubFollow Bryan on TwitterFollow VMWare on TwitterPragmatic Programmers BookSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to...
2019-09-0939 min
MaintainableLiz Keogh: The Power of Asking, "Can You Give Me An Example?"This week's episode features Liz Keogh, Lean & Agile Coach and Trainer. Robby and Liz talk about behavior-driven development (BDD), what it's like to be a coach, and more!Helpful Links:Follow Liz on TwitterVisit Liz's websiteThe Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George SpaffordRefactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin FowlerSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help...
2019-09-0236 min
MaintainableColin Jones: Software Consulting: Being a Good GuestOn this week's episode, Robby talks to Colin Jones, CTO at 8th Light. They chat about software consultancy, what it means to be a good guest in someone else's codebase, and more.Helpful Links:Follow Colin on TwitterFollow 8th Light on TwitterConnect with Colin on LinkedInDesigning Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems by Martin KleppmannRefactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin FowlerSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord Community
2019-08-2637 min
MaintainableJonathan Cutrell: Healthy Teams Know How to Eradicate FearThis week Robby interviews the host of the Developer Tea podcast, Jonathan Cutrell. They discuss what constitutes debt, how to build a strong team, and more!Helpful Links:Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanDeveloper Tea PodcastFollow Jonathan on TwitterJonathan on LinkedInSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you by the team at Planet...
2019-08-1946 min
MaintainableKarolina Szczur: The Importance of Documentation for Remote DevelopersThis week Robby chats with Karolina Szczur about what people get wrong about technical debt, best practices for documentation for remote developers, and more.Helpful Links:Book: Radical CandorSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you by the team at Planet Argon.
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2019-08-1235 min
MaintainableLiran Haimovitch: The Benefits of ObservabilityThis week Robby chats with Liran Haimovitch, co-founder of Rookout. Liran discusses things like how the term "technical debt" is misused, as well as how to overcome it.Helpful Links:Contact LiranRookoutBook: The Phoenix ProjectSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you by the team at Planet Argon.
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2019-08-0524 min
MaintainableRobert Meaney: Building Software That is Easy to TestRobby speaks to Robert Meaney, Head of Testing & Test Coach at Poppulo. Robert explains the difference between technical debt and testing debt, the importance of observability, and more!Helpful Links:Follow Robert on TwitterRobert on LinkedInTestability BookFollow Testability Book on Twitter3X with Kent BeckAgile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile TeamsSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow...
2019-07-2944 min
MaintainableMelissa Eaden: It's Never a One Person JobRobby speaks with Melissa Eaden, Tech Lead in Quality at Unity 3D. She shares her experience working with legacy code as it relates to testing.Helpful Links:Follow Melissa on TwitterMelissa's blogMelissa on LinkedInA Vigilante for Quality[Book] Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are HighUnitySubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you...
2019-07-2248 min
MaintainableSteve Poling: The Real Enemy is MurphyRobby speaks with Steve Poling, Senior Technical Consultant at Excelon Development and long-time Software Developer. Steve describes whether he's team rewrite or team refactor, shares his definition of technical debt, and why uniformity of code matters.Helpful Links:Steve Poling on LinkedInExcelon Development[Book] Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented SoftwareReduce Technical Debt by Using Unit Tests as DocumentationSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on...
2019-07-1532 min
MaintainableMatt Weagle: What Will It Enable Us to Do in the Future?Robby speaks with Matt Weagle, Engineering Manager at Lyft. Matt discusses how his engineering teams have handled technical debt in small iterations vs. a major rewrite, why a whiteboard is the best tool for architectural challenges, and the most common mistakes he sees when engineers approach legacy code bases.Helpful Links:Follow Matt on TwitterMatt on LinkedInSome Thoughts on Security After 10 Years of GmailA Taxonomy of Yak Shaving[Book] The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier[Book] Release It!: Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software by Michael T. Nygard[Book] The Phoenix Project, A Novel about IT, DevOps...
2019-07-0828 min
MaintainableMariah Howard: How To Discuss Technical Debt With Product ManagersRobby speaks with Mariah Howard, Senior Product Manager at Thinkful, to discuss technical debt from a product management perspective. Mariah touches on Google's metrics framework, leading vs. lagging indicators, and technical debt in products outside of the world of code. You'll also learn more about Thinkful's mission and methodology as an online school for engineers.Helpful Links:ThinkfulMariah on LinkedInGoogle HEART framework[Book] Design Thinking[Book] The Principles of Product Development FlowSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the...
2019-07-0130 min
MaintainableAnne Marie Kirby: Selling the Upside of Improving your Codebase to ManagementRobby speaks with Anne Marie Kirby, CEO & Co-Founder of CoreHealth Global. She shares questions to ask before a software rewrite, evolving 10+ year old code, and proving a business case when pitching software improvements as a developer.Helpful Links:Core HealthFollow Anne Marie on TwitterAnne Marie in ForbesSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our reach.Brought to you...
2019-06-2422 min
MaintainableMarco "Ocramius" Pivetta: What Senior Devs Should Spend More Time On (It's Not Writing Code)Robby speaks with Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta, a software consultant specializing in PHP. Marco gives his input on different types of technical debt he's seen, working with less experienced developers as a senior, and getting "kicked in the teeth" as a developer. He also shares what great senior devs should spend more time on (hint: It's not writing code).Helpful LinksFollow Marco on TwitterMarco on Github[Book] Effective Java by Joshua Bloch[Book] Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!: A Beginner's Guideby Miran LipovacaSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercast...
2019-06-1746 min
MaintainableLisa Crispin: Agile Testing & Technical DebtRobby speaks with Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing and Testing Advocate at Mabl. Lisa speaks about "thinking skills" for developers, why testing professionals should be integrated into dev teams, testing and development cycles, and how to start building automated tests on a legacy application.Helpful LinksFollow Lisa Crispin on TwitterAgile Testing FellowAgile Testing with Lisa CrispinDevTestOps CommunityThe Nightmare Headline Game by Elisabeth Hendrickson[Book] Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams[Book] More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team[Book] More Fearless Change[Book] A Practical Guide to Testing...
2019-06-1039 min
MaintainablePim Elshoff: Refactoring How Engineers Communicate With ManagementRobby speaks with Pim Elshoff, Software Developer at Procurios. Pim explains why developers should improve their communication skills when speaking with management, recalls his biggest mistake as a developer, and gives tips on explaining your side of an argument and how to listen to empathize.Helpful LinksFollow Pim on TwitterProcuriosDomain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software by Eric EvansThe Developer's Model for Talking to Managers at WebCamp Zagreb 2018Subscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable...
2019-06-0341 min
MaintainableMorgan Senkal: Using Epics to Improve Code Quality Within SprintsRobby speaks with Morgan Senkal, Software Architect at Metal Toad. Morgan recalls a challenging 15-year-old legacy project that was reminiscent of a Stephen King story and explains what to think about when considering a software rewrite. Morgan and Robby keep a running analogy of technical debt and automotive repairs.Helpful linksMetal ToadSeven Languages in Seven Weeks: A Pragmatic Guide to Learning Programming Languages by Bruce TateBlack House by Stephen KingSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable...
2019-05-2724 min
MaintainableEileen M. Uchitelle: Upgrading Ruby on Rails At Github And How To Stay UpdatedRobby speaks with Eileen M. Uchitelle, Senior Software Engineer at Github and member of the Rails Core Team. You'll hear about Eileen's work upgrading Github from Rails 3.2 to 5.2, how Github prioritized the upgrade, and why teams should get ahead and upgrade to Rails 6.Helpful linksFollow Eileen on TwitterUpgrading GitHub from Rails 3.2 to 5.2Eileen's blogThe Success of Open Source by Steven WeberSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating...
2019-05-2034 min
MaintainableCharity Majors: Deploys Are Just The BeginningRobby speaks with Charity Majors, CTO of Honeycomb about her work as an Infrastructure Engineer, how Honeycomb was created, all about working and testing in production, and why software engineers should be "on call" for their code.Helpful linksFollow Charity on TwitterHoneycombThe Honeycomb blogCharity's blogSapiens: A Brief History of HumankindDatabase Reliability EngineeringSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.Join the discussion in the Maintainable Discord CommunityLoving Maintainable? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help grow our...
2019-05-1334 min
MaintainableCoraline Ada Ehmke: The Role Of Empathy In Engineering TeamsRobby speaks with Coraline Ada Ehmke, Principal Engineer at Stitch Fix and author of The Compassionate Coder. Coraline speaks about the social side of coding and empathy in open source and legacy projects. Robby and Coraline also walk through some possible scenarios on development teams and how to handle them with empathy.Helpful links:Follow Coraline on TwitterCoraline's websiteThe Compassionate Coder by Coraline Ada Ehmke and Naomi FreemanPatterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin FowlerThe Ruby Way by Hal Fulton & André ArkoSubscribe to Maintainable on:Apple PodcastsOvercastOr search "Maintainable" wherever you s...
2019-04-2929 min