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Software engineering lessons from production, raw and honest from the heart — almost 20 years of them. Jump to a year in the sidebar, or browse categories and curated collections.
6 articles from March 2025 · show all
Sprint vs Shape Up vs Kanban
Whenever I talk about sprints, someone mentions Shape Up. So you have 9 week sprints – what's the difference?
Why sprints
For the past few months I've been introducing sprints into a chaotic startup that's been growing so fast everyone's got whiplash. Since August, 5 engineers turned into 12. I think it's starting to work.
What I mean by "tests can be slop"
Tests may look like slop, but make them clear, not clever. Best practices are key: Test outcomes, not code. Name with intent. Keep tests independent. More straightforward tests beat fewer abstract ones.
AI writes good tests, actually
I've been using AI to write tests and it works surprisingly well! Here's how.
Principles of high output engineering teams
A few engineering principles I aim to instill in every team I join. Lead or not.
Talk to more users sooner
Debate less, ship more.