We are Principled: 8th Edition
Steadily Adding Value
We estimate with diligence.
...more.
We do not let fear or pressure make us promise what we can’t deliver.
Craftsmanship
We are Principled: 7th Edition
...more.We work at a sustainable pace.
We do not burn out. —from the 8th Light Principles of Steadily Adding Value
We are Principled: 6th Edition
We take responsibility for the correctness of our code by testing it thoroughly.
We do not tolerate preventable defects. —from the 8th Light...more.
We are Principled: 5th Edition
We teach anyone with a willingness to learn.
We do not hoard our knowledge or practices. —from the 8th Light Principles of...more.
There are Ladies Present
Oh! I think I get it!
I'm likely to take some heat for what I'm about to write; but I think I finally understand something...more.
We are Principled: 4th Edition
We embrace differences of opinion and personality.
We do not allow our current practice to impede improvement. —from the 8th Light Principles of...more.
We are Principled: 3rd Edition
We humbly demonstrate our expertise by delivering quality software.
We do not inflate our abilities or claim expertise where we have none. —from...more.
The Frenzied Panic of Rushing
Last week I wrote a blog entitled The Startup Trap in which I lamented the unfortunate tendency of developers in a startup to cast...more.
We are Principled: 2nd Edition
We always apply our best efforts to complete our work.
We do not make excuses. —from the 8th Light Principles of Steadily Adding...more.
An Open and Closed Case
I awoke this morning to see a twitter conversation about the Open-Closed Principle. The tweeter was complaining that it didn't make a lot of sense....more.
The Pragmatics of TDD
So my last blog: The Startup Trap raised quite a ruckus. Amidst the various shouts of agreement and support, there was also a group...more.
The Start-Up Trap
- You have joined a new startup.
- You are a multi-talented mega-being.
- You can work 60, 70, 80 hours per week to get the job...more.
We are Principled: 1st Edition
We continually master a variety of technologies and techniques.
We do not let unfamiliarity dissuade us from using the best tools. —from...more.
JIT or AOT Learning?
Our jobs as creators and maintainers of software systems are heavily wrapped up in our ability to learn. Generally we need a base level of...more.
Investing In Our Tools
As developers our workspaces are important to us. As software craftspeople, our tools are part of who we are. How many times do we settle...more.
The Principles of Craftsmanship
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I think 8th Light Inc. is a remarkable company. The company was founded, and is run,...more.
The Humble Craftsman
There is another side to Ted Neward's blog; and it's a side that I agree with. I believe Ted's overall thesis and analysis was...more.
I Wanna Party Like It's 2001
Last week I had the privilege of attending the first ever Innovation Games Summit in Silicon Valley.
Counting Mistakes
Have you ever watched an interview with a successful product creator?
I have, and lots. Typically the interviewer will ask what mistakes...more.
The Laborer and the Craftsman
In a recent blog Ted Neward made this remarkable statement:
I'm criticizing because this is what "software craftsmanship" gets us: an imposed segregation of...more.
Humble Pursuit of Mastery
I have been reading on blogs and tweets the sentiment that "software craftsmanship is elitism". This perception is formed around comments of code, process,...more.
How to be a great pair
The absolute best code I’ve ever written was when I’ve been most compatible with my pair.
It wasn’t that long ago, and I was relatively...more.
Call for Translators
Two years ago, when Agile Alliance started a translation project for their manifesto, I was fortunate enough to be one of the...more.
Design Craftsman Swap
My first ever craftsman swap was with Relevance a little over a month ago. I went to Durham for a week and Relevence's Kevin...more.
In Search of Diversity
In the year 627 AD, a Buddhist monk was concerned with the translation quality of Chinese Buddhist scriptures; he decided to take a trip...more.
Why Frameworks?
Frameworks are about efficiency and effectiveness. They save you time. By forcing common conventions, a framework helps solve common issues like view rendering, asset...more.
The New CTO
“So, what did you think of that?” I asked as we sat down at our regular table in the cafeteria. As I scanned the other...more.
The Clean Architecture
Over the last several years we’ve seen a whole range of ideas regarding the architecture of systems. These include:
Thinking Differently About the Single Responsibility Principle
When the Single Responsibility Principle is taught among developers, one aspect - the responsibility - is harped on the most. But what counts as a...more.
You're Going To Be Wrong
Being wrong sucks. Unfortunately, being wrong is a fact of life for developers. Personally I have chosen the wrong technology for the task at hand,...more.
Effective Leadership Through Communication
Being a professional developer means that you are responsible for delivering software on time that works. It's a satisfying job - you solve the...more.
Oh, it's not that hard
Scenario: We are sitting in a planning meeting and a business stakeholder asks one simple question. “How hard would that be?”
What...more.
Deliberate Practice
“Education comes from within; you get it by struggle and effort and thought.”
— Napoleon Hill
We all know...more.
NO DB
In the United States, in 1920, the manufacture, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages was prohibited by a constitutional amendment. That amendment was repealed thirteen...more.
Questions and Developers
Have you ever had a question you wanted to ask, but didn't?
Have you ever asked a question then immediately regretted asking it?
Have you...more.
Apprenticeship Over College
I interviewed a bright young woman today who is graduating from high school this spring among the top of her class. Despite having several...more.
Why is Estimating so Hard?
Consider the Gettysburg Address:
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated...more.
After the Disaster
There’s a disaster coming. I don’t know when. I don’t know what. But it’s coming, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it; but...more.
Craftsmanship Begins With You
What does it take to be a professional?
This week, we held series of events to kick off the launch of the 8th Light Florida...more.
Learn a New Language
We're already a quarter into the year. Have you learned a new language yet?
In Pragmatic Programmer, one of the 70...more.
A few fallacies, for your consideration
Lately I've been fascinated with the idea of logical fallacies, and especially problems in arguments that may at first glance seem reasonable.
...more.
What Careless Code Says
There is a certain type of bug that, when it appears as a result of my code, causes me deep embarrassment.
This...more.
Reinvent the Wheel
There's an old adage, don't reinvent the wheel. In other words, don't fix what isn't broken. But sometimes that's precisely what we need to...more.
Warming Up
Many of us admire other professionals, such as musicians and athletes. We even emulate them in our own profession by practicing. What about that...more.
Craftsmen, Painters, and Monks
Once there was an emperor who wanted to make a temple in his capital holier and more elegant. His servants looked far and wide...more.
14 Ways to Make Remote Audio Better
I can’t stand bad audio. It makes me want to chew off the end of my big toe.
I started my career...more.
Service Oriented Agony
I sat down with a group of developers today to do a retrospective on a project. They told me that project management has been complaining...more.
The Ruby Colored Box
I recently read a blog about a guy who had a bad interview. The blog was well written and pretty funny. He metaphorically described...more.
Fecophiles
→
I got an interesting email yesterday. It contained the following paragraph describing an email he had sent to his co-workers about a refactoring...more.
8 Things You Ought to Know If You Do Not Know Anything About Hiring A Software Developer
“The one absolutely solid place to store your capital today — if you know how to do it – is in software developers’ wallets.”
...is...more.
The Letter
We need to become a self-regulating and self-policing profession. The stakes are simply too high to allow software to remain in the current ad-hoc limbo...more.
Flipping the Bit
There’s a bit you need to flip in your head. It’s just one bit. In this blog we’ll call it “THE BIT”. Some...more.
Doing a Good Job
What is our job, and how can we do it better?
For a while, I've wanted to write a blog about what it means...more.
Software Craftsmanship Manifesto? Duh!
"The Manifest for Software Craftsmanship is obvious!" "How could you not agree with it?" "Duh!"
SCNA: Why Salespeople should attend!
The 2011 SCNA (Software Craftsmanship North America) conference concluded just a few days ago, and there was a large audience...more.
Name Configuration Management Analysis Blog
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 22:1
I...more.
Simplicity of Teamwork
I remember in my times as a restaurant worker that the management would always give us these rhyming platitudes that were after-school-special cheesy. One...more.
Confession of a Web Developer
I have a confession to make.
For the first five years of my professional career, I was a .NET programmer. The first...more.
Crafting Coffee
At 8th Light, we brew coffee like we brew code - with passion, enthusiasm and dedication.
You could call it a daily...more.
The Ways of Practice
At 8th Light, the value of practice is undisputed. Effort devoted to honing your craft pays dividends time and time again.
In...more.
The Value of Practice
One of the habits that’s valued highly at 8th Light, and should be valued by professional developers everywhere, is the habit of practice.
...more.Rolemodel Recap Day 3
My third and final day began with another breakfast graciously provided by Ken’s wife and a walk around Ken’s land. The house and studio...more.
Rolemodel Recap Day 2
My second day at role model found me pairing with Tim Irwin. Tim described this project as being “all about the data.” It...more.
Rolemodel Recap Day 1
I spent the last three days on a Journeyman trip to visit Ken Auer and his team at Rolemodel Software in Holly...more.
Speech is silver; silence is golden
Some time ago, I was stumped by a spec failure. Having decided that I’d spent enough time on it, I asked a colleague over...more.
Presence, Part 1
Hi, my name is Doug and I don’t own an iPhone and I don’t plan on buying one anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong,...more.
I have an apprentice
After 3 long years of searching, and several rejections (you know who you are), I finally have an apprentice. I’ve asked him to blog...more.
Goals for the growing the market of quality development
Many small software contracting companies (boutiques) have been popping up in the last few years with our company, 8th Light, featuring among them.
...more.Qualifications of a Craftsman
The lovely wall you see before you is the wall of my son’s bedroom, freshly stripped of wallpaper. Note the beautiful drywall exposed in...more.
Relevance Craftsman Swap Day 4
Today was my last day at Relevance, pairing again with Stuart Sierra. Along with Alan Dipert, we arrived at a solution for our data...more.
Relevance Craftsman Swap Day 3
Day 3 at Relevance began, as the previous days, with the company standup. Stuart Sierra, of clojure.test and Practical Clojure fame, was my pair...more.
Relevance Craftsman Swap Day 2
Today was my second at Relevance for our craftsmanship swap. Chris and I continued work on the project we began to work...more.
Relevance Craftsman Swap Day 1
I’m honored, humbled and excited to represent 8th Light, Inc. on it’s most recent Craftsmanship Swap, with Relevance in Durham, North Carolina....more.
International Craftsman Swap Day 4
Oh how fast a week goes, especially when it's short. Did you know that Midsummer is arguably the biggest holiday in Sweden? And did...more.
International Craftsman Swap Day 3
After attending tonights got:ruby I became obsessed with and started installing rvm. It worked swimmingly.
I’m looking forward to getting my development...more.
International Craftsman Swap Day 2
Before I get into some of the details of day #2 at eLabs, let me dispell a few myths about Sweden that my American...more.
International Craftsman Swap Day 1
Today was day one of my Craftsmanswap with eLabs developer Anders Tornqvist, and so far they have treated me with the hospitality and graciousness...more.
JRuby Helps Us Craft Quality Software
“It's kind of a Frankenstein.” We’ve used this phrase more than a few times to describe the architecture and technology used to design a...more.
Makin’ Somthin’
Today (March 15th, 2010) is my Grandfather’s 90th birthday. We celebrated with him this weekend in Pike County, IL. I spent quite a bit...more.
The Hammock
Our secret is out. A recently published photo revealed it hanging lazily in the corner of our office: a hammock. Why would an office...more.
Stubbing :new Considered Harmful
Hi my name is Eric, and I have made a mess. There I said it. I’m not proud of it, but I believe a...more.
Zeroth rule of Professionalism
This blog post serves as a response to the article Software Testing Craft by Markus Gärtner, which can be found in the first...more.
A Software Craftsman’s New Year’s Resolutions
There is so much to learn in this field, and the many new languages, frameworks, and APIs that are developed every day only add...more.
Thoughts from a Boutique Software Shop
Michael Feathers recently wrote about boutique software shops. He drew a parallel between master chefs and software shops and made a few...more.
Why Software Development is a Craft
Craftsmanship has been used as a metaphor for software development. Pete McBreen argues in his book “Software Craftsmanship” that craft is a better metaphor...more.
Bug free or Free Bugs
I will not charge a client for a bug fix. Not a penny. If I make a mistake, it is my professional obligation to...more.
Obtiva Craftsman Swap Day 5
Today turned out to be little coding and quite a bit of retrospective. I was able to pair with Nate Jackson for a little...more.
Obtiva Craftsman Swap Day 4
Dave Hoover and I got back to the Mad Mimi feature implementation first thing in the morning. Dave had left a failing...more.
Obtiva Craftsman Swap Day 3
I spent my day pairing with Dave Hoover on Mad Mimi. The first thing I noticed during our pairing session is that...more.
Obtiva Craftsman Swap Day 2
Every week, Obtiva sets aside time for what they call Hackfest. Everyone is encouraged to take some time over lunch to work on some...more.
Obtiva Craftsman Swap Day 1
My initial impression of the Obtiva office is the relaxed atmosphere. It consists of a big, open work area with lots of pairing stations....more.
Ethical approach to Software Bugs
Software bugs are errors or omissions in the work we create. They are our mistakes as software developers. I would like to take a...more.
Material Consciousness in Software
Software is not made with designs and ideas, but with code. Code is the raw material. Code is the only means we have to...more.
Software Journeyman program
8th Light and Obtiva have partnered up to provide a journeyman program. Traditionally, a journeyman program is when a master craftsman hires a journeyman...more.
History of the Software Craftsmanship Manifesto
I would like to prelude this with an assurance that this is not the history of the software craftsmanship. Rather, this is just a...more.
One Take on Configuring Rails Routes and asset_host
We recently had an interesting requirement surface. In anticipation of the release of a number of demo environments, our customer requested that system configuration...more.
Observing a Craftsman
My path in becoming a craftsman was not through conventional academics. I did get a Bachelor degree in Computer Science. During those years of...more.
How Jim got started programming
I was looking for a new major after deciding chemistry (and lab work in particular) probably wasn't for me. So I decided to try...more.
Software Craftsmanship Group
I'm pleased to announce the inception of the Software Craftsmanship Group. http://groups.softwarecraftsmanship.org. The first meeting is October 13th at 7pm in 8th Light's...more.
Fidelity Life Case Study
As craftsmen, we're proud of our work. Yet it's rare that we get the opportunity to show off what we do for clients. Fortunately...more.
Customer Interaction
At 8th Light, they follow a practice of training people through an apprenticeship period. As it is nearing the end of my apprenticeship, my...more.
Definition of Software Craftsman
Craftsman Clarification: There has been some discrepancy in the use of the term “Software Craftsman”. Rather than going into details about various uses of...more.
Own Your Tools
I spent a lot of time with my grandpa growing up. He has spent much of his retirement ‘fooling around’ in a workshop he...more.
Maturing the Manifesto
There has been an interesting discussion happening about adding a 5th value statement to the Agile Manifesto. Uncle Bob Martin proposed this addition...more.
How Paul started coding
Whenever I would visit my grandmother growing up, one of the highlights was she had space invaders on her computer. Once, my Uncle Don...more.
How Doug got started programming
When I was about 11 or so I bought a Color Computer III at a garage sale. I started typing in some basic programs...more.
Developing against web browser navigation
I find while writing web applications that I end up redefining what it means to go “back.” This means where I want the user...more.
Some Thoughts on Software Defects
Software defects are a part of software. This is a negative subject, but I don’t want to seem like the software I write is...more.
Promises Promises
I have three step-children and I rarely promise them anything. It’s not because I’m a horrible father, but because a promise is a fundamentally...more.
Wake up and code!
The other day, I was with my team at an interview for an internship. After we had asked the candidate some questions, he started...more.
Agile Production Support: Final brush strokes
There is no perfect software. At least I have never seen it. Bugs and minor feature changes are indications people are using your software....more.
Emotional Iterations
After all the cards are written and estimated, it is time for the customers to pick the first iteration, for which they need a...more.
Peer Pressure
One of the famous studies on peer pressure was the Stanford prison experiment, conducted by a team of researchers led by then Psychology...more.
Lessons Of A Craftsman: Are You Test Driving, Or Just Writing Tests?
Recently I wrote the beginnings of a blackjack game in Java, and I found myself making a common error. The Java gameplay mechanic uses...more.
Shake Things Up
The most widespread and common greeting in the American culture is the handshake. Handshakes are shared between anyone meeting for the first time, and...more.
No Really, We Do that?
I’m a bit overdue on blogging, so in lieu of the normally brilliant and insightful commentary on the state of…er something…I usually put here...more.
Craftsmen are like Babelfish
Show me a software craftsmen and I’ll show you someone who can program in any language if they had to. From time to time...more.
Jack and Jill
Once upon a time there live a young girl named Jill and her next door neighbor Jack. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. When Jack...more.
Building a City
What is building software like? The common belief is that software is like engineering. Most people seem to think that building a software system...more.
Beware the Freebie
It is unavoidable. Every story must go through these milestones of life in order. A story cannot be estimated if it has not been...more.