A large part of a manager’s role is to make decisions and be responsible for their outcomes. While there is ample advice on how to be successful in many other managerial core areas, such as growing your people, the domain of high-quality decision-making seems less crowded. In this post, I summarize what I have found during my 20+ years as a manager to be a simple and effective way to approach decision-making.
In software engineering, most ideas can be implemented without writing any design document at all. This is particularly prominent in open source communities. For example, the Linux kernel has 35 million lines of code that have been written and rewritten many times over alongside 30 years of mailing list discussions. Linux wasn’t created as a result of a grandiose design document by Linus Torvalds, but it evolved organically in small increments of actual running code.
The XZ Utils backdoor, discovered last week, and the Heartbleed security vulnerability ten years ago, share the same ultimate root cause. Both of them, and in fact all critical infrastructure open source projects, should be fixed with the same solution: ensure baseline funding for proper open source maintenance.
For a software engineering organization to be efficient, it is key that everyone is an efficient communicator. Everybody needs to be calibrated in what to communicate, to whom and how to ensure information spreads properly in the organization. Having smart people with a lot of knowledge results in progress only if information flows well in the veins of the organization. This does not mean that everyone needs to communicate everything – on the contrary, it is also the responsibility of every individual to make sure there is the right amount of communication, not too much and not too little.
People usually associate advanced software engineering with gray-bearded experts with vast knowledge of how computers and things like compiler internals work. However, having technical knowledge is just the base requirement to work in the field. In my experience, the greatest minds in the field are not just experts in knowledge, but also extremely efficient communicators, particularly in writing. Following these 8 principles can help you maximize your efficiency in written communication:
What is the single most common action you repeat over and over when using your computer? Let me guess – opening a new tab in the browser. Here are my tips for opening, switching and closing tabs everyone should know. Opening a tab This one most people know: press Ctrl+T to open a new tab. But did you know that you don’t always need to type an URL or start a web search?
Git is by far the most popular software version control system today, and every software developer surely knows the basics of how to make a git commit. Given the popularity, it is surprising how many people don’t actually know the advanced commands. Mastering them might help you unlock a new level of productivity. Let’s dive in!
When people learn programming they – for completely obvious and natural reasons – initially focus on learning the syntax of programming languages and libraries. However, these are just tools. The essence of software engineering is about automating thought, applying algorithmic thinking and anticipation of the known and unknown. The code might be succinct, but the reasoning behind it can be extensive, and it needs to show in the communication around the code.
The stock market is a powerful globally distributed forecasting system. Last Friday it was forecasting a rosy future as the MSCI World index got to a new all-time high. But it does not make sense. There is no single entity controlling stock prices. They represent the collective best guess of the whole economic world on what the value of each company should be. Historically the market has been pretty accurate. For example, when the news broke about COVID-19 spreading, stocks plummeted in anticipation of a global crisis.
First we make our habits, and then they make us ― John Dryden, poet and literary critic
In software development, the code review process stands as a crucial checkpoint for ensuring code quality, fostering collaboration, and promoting knowledge sharing among team members. Despite the importance, many engineers lack a clear mental map of how effective reviews work. This is my attempt to help code reviews and reviewers improve.
While large organisations scale best by emphasizing asynchronous communications, in-person or video meetings also have their place. As a manager who is involved in a lot of planning and coordination work I’ve noticed that I’ve spent the majority of my working time in meetings in past years. These are my 5 tips to make meetings as efficient as possible.
The key to being productive as a programmer is to have a great code editor. I have been an avid user of Atom since 2014, and its successor Pulsar since now in 2023.
In popularizing Linux containers, Docker brought about a new era of systems design based on these lightweight platforms, rather than heavy virtual machines. However, now that Docker is slowly declining, it’s time to learn about the next generation of Linux container tools.
The perfect home office setup achieves two things: it helps you stay focused for extended periods, allowing you to be in “the flow” and it prioritizes ergonomic design to ensure that long hours at the computer don’t compromise your health.
As a software developer, your core skill is how to improve an existing code base to make the software better iteratively, patch by patch. To be a good software developer you need to: understand the concept of a code patch, know how do code improvements in well sized and properly documented patches, and skillfully use git version control software to manage patches.
The MariaDB server has over 2 million lines of code. Downloading, compiling (and re-compiling) and running the test suite can potentially consume a lot of time away from actually making the code changes and being productive. Knowing a few simple shortcuts can help avoid wasting time.
The main test system in the MariaDB open source database project is the mariadb-test-run script (inherited from mysql-test-run). It is easy to run to and does not require you to compile any source code.
What is the key to being an efficient programmer? Well, the answer is surprisingly simple. Having a setup where you can write and test your code over and over in an uninterrupted flow will dramatically increase your productivity.
This is the biggest and most common mistake I see that prevents people from thinking clearly, and it is also the most difficult one to unlearn.
Of all CI systems I’ve used during my software development career, both as developer and manager, GitLab CI has proven itself to be the overall best system out there.
In over 22 years of working with Linux systems, I have often seen people use excessive force to kill various computer programs, causing unnecessary suffering.
With so many options to choose from and with so many solutions offered by others, each screaming pick me!, people too often lose sight of the actual goal. In the most complex system of them all, life itself, I find it much easier to navigate when the priorities are clear. Money is not number one. It is just a means to an end. In my opinion, the best choice of priorities and in this order are: truth, health and wealth.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviator and author
