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Refactoring Yourself As A Developer: Ryan Taylor - Cocoa Camp - September 25, 2010

Analysis yourself as Developer

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Mohibur Rahman
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39 views29 pages

Refactoring Yourself As A Developer: Ryan Taylor - Cocoa Camp - September 25, 2010

Analysis yourself as Developer

Uploaded by

Mohibur Rahman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Refactoring Yourself As A Developer

Ryan Taylor | Cocoa Camp | September 25, 2010

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION | CONFIDENTIAL


改善 Kaizen
Japanese philosophy
Focus upon continuously making small improvements

Change (kai) to become good (zen).

High-level cycle:
Identify and eliminate waste and inefficiency
Clean up and reorganize after the changes
Standardize the resulting improvements

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Self Relevance

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


“ An investment in knowledge always
pays the best interest.”

– Benjamin Franklin

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Grow Your Knowledge Portfolio
Our knowledge of current technology is an
expiring asset

Be diverse, don't limit yourself to one


technology

When the willingness to learn and evolve ends,


so does your career

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Set Personal and Career Goals
Setting yearly goals is a healthy practice

Challenge yourself to:


Earn a promotion
Reach a financial landmark
Contribute to a book
Speak at a conference
Learn a new technology

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


“ Any fool can write code that a computer
can understand. Good programmers
write code that humans can understand.”

– Martin Fowler

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Be Passionate About Your Craft
Software development is both an art and an
engineering discipline

Technology will change, but craftsmanship is


timeless

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Be Passionate About Your Craft
Take pride in your code
Always seek to improve your architecture
Push for self-documenting, well commented code
Maintain consistency and readability
Sign your work

Challenge yourself on new projects

Mentor your peers

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Are you a better developer now than you
were six months ago?

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Software Maintenance

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


“Everything should be made as simple as
possible, but not simpler.”

– Albert Einstein

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Keeping Things Simple
Complexity is easy to achieve

Keeping a design simple can be surprisingly


difficult

Only design for "real" requirements


Never add functionality before it is scheduled
Only 10% of the extra stuff will ever get used, so you
are wasting 90% of your time

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Managing Software Entropy
Software Entropy
Defines the measure of disorder in software systems

A few laws have been suggested:


A computer program that is used will be modified
When a program is modified, its complexity will
increase

Complexity leads to:


Software that is more difficult to maintain
An increase in the total cost of ownership

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Watch for “Broken Windows”
One broken window leads to many broken
windows...

Crack down on the little stuff to prevent the big stuff

Take immediate action to prevent further damage

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Code Refactoring
The process of improving code without
changing its overall result

Refactoring is not:
Adding new features
Fixing bugs

Good times to refactor:


As requirements begin to change
After a code review

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Code Refactoring
Targets for refactoring:
Code duplication
Poor architecture
Outdated knowledge/logic
Performance issues

Leverage unit tests and test harnesses to


prevent new bugs from being created

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Communication

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Justifying Maintenance
How do you justify allocating time for software
maintenance to a project manager or client?

Explain that risk and cost increase when proper


maintenance is not performed

Use the surgery analogy


Catch it early = simple surgery
Catch it late = dangerous surgery and costly

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


“The problem with communication is the
illusion that it has occurred.”

– George Bernard Shaw

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Best Practices
In general:
Use email so there is a paper trail
Avoid hallway conversations
Respond to messages promptly
A quick “I'll get back to you later" response is better than
nothing at all
Keep your audience in mind

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Best Practices
With your development team:
Assign a platform lead to coordinate communication
Create a wiki to track wireframes, specs, and issues
Leverage a version control system
Include a detailed message with each commit
Configure it to send out change notification emails
Schedule regular status meetings

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Best Practices
Actively seek feedback:
At minimum, request a code review after each project
Approach people that you have worked closely with
and ask them to be honest
Maintain an open mind
Your critics are never 100% wrong
Debate is healthy if both sides are open to change

Take responsibility:
Admit your mistakes
Offer options, not excuses

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Time Management

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Estimating Tasks
Crucial part of software development
Helps prevent surprises down the road by forcing you
to think about things up front

When asked for an estimate, always respond


with “I’ll get back to you.”

Explicitly declare assumptions

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Estimating Tasks
Unit of measurement is important in
expressing accuracy
6 months vs 26 weeks vs 130 days vs 1,040 hours
Rough Precise

Leave your ego out of the equation:


Don't try to impress others with a low number and
then drop the ball
Give good, honest estimates
Add some padding to be safe

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Work/Life Balance
It is very important to balance your
professional and personal lives

The best developers find a way to sustain


balance and avoid burnout

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


“If one oversteps the bounds of
moderation, the greatest pleasures cease
to please.”

– Epictetus

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION


Thank you.
Ryan Taylor | [email protected] | www.boostworthy.com

© COPYRIGHT 2010 SAPIENT CORPORATION | CONFIDENTIAL

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