Vague musings about software design in the age of Generative AI. At least it's relatively short: blog.jbrains.ca/permalink/in...

My answer is always the same. I'll take predictable over powerful every time.

Very similar experience shared by others. Like when you talk about devs with product mindset or being impact-driven. CTOs and CPOs don’t want you to mess with the org chart. OKRs are easier to play with.

This last year I have been searching for a new job during several periods. I can undoubtedly affirm that showing experience and a strong mindset in a combination of XP+LeanSwDevelopment+"good agile"+... principles and practices is MUCH more of a disadvantage than a benefit in 99% of the companies 🙃

This writing doesn't affect reality any more than any writing does; that is to say, indirectly, but considerably.

One of my many concerns about the intensive use of LLMs is how it will impact the communication BETWEEN humans. IMO some recommendations for using with LLMs are anti-patterns in the scope of a human communication (e.g. using imperative language, avoiding "please", etc.) 🫣

Excited to be running the 2-day Refactoring deep dive for a new UK client next week. Easily one of the most valuable and undervalued skills in software development. Also, one of the most misunderstood. codemanship.co.uk/refactoring....

Just published a new post: “Perverse Incentives, Predictable Results.” How factory-style thinking destroys collaboration, quality and flow. www.eferro.net/2025/11/perv... Reposts appreciated!

La falta de protección de gente mayor ante estafadores o comerciales sin escrúpulos que te llaman y tienen tus datos me provoca cabreo y tristeza al mismo tiempo.

"Starting now, you’ll be able to make a career out of un-LLM-ifying applications." Psst 🤫, don't tell everyone! www.oreilly.com/radar/job-fo...

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

We get the best results from "AI" coding assistants when we: * Take small steps * Test, review and refactor continuously * Use version control to keep our code shippable * Integrate continuously * Cleanly separate concerns If only there was somewhere we could learn these skills!

"Solo los individuos aislados pueden ser dominados totalmente" ("Sobre la naturaleza del totalitarismo", Hannah Arendt)

The job of a programmer is to manage exactly two things: uncertainty and complexity. Code is sometimes an asset and sometimes a liability, but itself has no meaning outside the context of those two factors.

If people want to read more, I suggest starting here: "We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically." bsky.app/profile/oliv... 11/

We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?

🔴 La Justicia europea dicta que todos los países de la UE deben reconocer un matrimonio homosexual celebrado en otro Estado miembro social.elpais.com/a5jpg4

Some folks say that they decided to focus on code correctness instead of maintainability. It's the darndest thing, though. Code that's hard to change tends to be broken, too.

the sensation of being a passenger of an extremely drunk driver who refuses to pull over or even stop accelerating

Are you sick of failing unit tests during #refactoring? We should be able to rearrange the code without altering the behavior. But how can we ensure this if our tests fail? Let's redefine the unit, focus on testing behavior and join me in the #sociable test revolution! www.canva.com/design/DAG4l...

New blog post: "Fifty Shades of OOP." Put in a surprising amount of research for this one! lesleylai.info/en/fifty_sha...

El 1, 2, 3, 9 y 10 de diciembre de 10.00 a 14.00 hora peninsular haremos una edición en abierto en C# de nuestro curso de Code Smells & Refactoring 🚀 codesai.com/cursos/refac... 50% de descuento para particulares de colectivos poco representados. No te lo pierdas! Escribe a [email protected] 💌

If you've done a lot of practical demonstrations of development techniques like e.g., refactoring or CI or TDD, you will likely have experienced someone saying "No, I can't see that working" after they've literally just watched you do it.

A theme that really stood out at @gradle.com's DPE Summit conference is that while developers feel productive using GenAI for coding, this isn't necessarily translating into more features/fixes/customer value for organisations. So I wrote a blog post about it gradle.com/blog/develop...

El 1, 2, 3, 9 y 10 de diciembre de 10.00 a 14.00 hora peninsular haremos una edición en abierto en C# de nuestro curso de Code Smells & Refactoring 🚀 codesai.com/cursos/refac... 50% de descuento para particulares de colectivos poco representados. No te lo pierdas! Escribe a [email protected] 💌

People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.

And if it turns out that we need to be reckless, then I can respect that strategy, but for our collective mental health, I believe that needs to become a conscious choice and not merely a pattern that we fall into because we don't feel safe to explore the alternatives.

The trouble, of course, is that nobody wants to hear about the wisdom of slowing down. There's a reason we have to shout about it: this isn't Common Practice and it isn't a widely-shared impulse. We have to train ourselves to appreciate the wisdom of going at all prudent speed.

I understand the impulse to try to drive the car on two wheels, but it was never safe and you always took the risk of crashing. In some environments, that risk is worth it, but in many environments, you don't actually need to go at breakneck speed the whole time.

I try not to be quite so blunt about this these days, but I stand by the overall message: you have probably been trying to go too fast. And I get it. No blame, really! If you don't have at least one impatient customer, then you have a hobby and not a business, right? :shrug:

When I introduce mutation testing to teams on the Code Craft training workshop, it's invariably one of those "How did this not occur to us before?" moments. "Is our code broken and we don't know it?" Let's break it and see if any of your tests fail.

To light a candle is to cast a shadow.

Only in silence the word, Only in dark the light, Only in dying life: Bright the hawk's flight On the empty sky.

No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.

There's a point, around the age of twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.

TDD is more important than ever

With agentic AI and modern LLMs, anyone can now create apps. While AI-generated code improves, developers remain crucial. Many developers dislike writing tests, which leads them to rely on AI for test generation. However, trusting AI to test its own code is problematic.

<Grumpy mode> I'm close to make another "You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means" talk, this time on "socio-technical." </> sessionize.com/s/trond-hjor...

cekrem.github.io/posts/progra... via @ruthmalan.bsky.social

Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.

Think Tetris! Delay decisions to see the bigger picture. Small, frequent releases with built-in quality are key to minimizing waste and maximizing impact. #LeanSoftware #SmallSafeSteps

El 1, 2, 3, 9 y 10 de diciembre de 10.00 a 14.00 hora peninsular haremos una edición en abierto en C# de nuestro curso de Code Smells & Refactoring 🚀 codesai.com/cursos/refac... 50% de descuento para particulares de colectivos poco representados. No te lo pierdas! Escribe a [email protected] 💌

As our systems get ever more distributed, devs are spending more and more time fighting fires other teams started. Here's a simple, but powerful, technique for catching integration fires before they spread. codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/1...

True value in software isn't solely about new features. Protecting current value, reducing costs, and, crucially, avoiding unnecessary costs are equally important. #ValueDriven #CostAvoidance

SIX new chapters (6 to 11) have been added to the MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) release of our “Effective Behavior-Driven Development" book. They cover Formulation, the practice of turning concrete examples into business-readable specs hubs.la/Q03L7kXM0 #BDD #Cucumber #Specflow #Reqnroll

There does seem to be a correlation between suggestibility and confidence in AI predictions. "Notably, paranormal beliefs and positive attitudes about AI significantly increased perceived validity, reliability, usefulness, and personalization of AI predictions." arxiv.org/abs/2408.06602

Un estudio realizado en Alemania muestra que los chatbots de IA generativa aconsejaban a las mujeres solicitar salarios significativamente inferiores a los de los hombres con perfiles idénticos arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10491

For every Refactoring workshop booking, I get 41 Code Craft and TDD bookings. IMO, refactoring is the second most important skill for software developers, but evidently the least understood or valued. codemanship.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/r...

Limiting Work in Progress is still the most efficient way to improve flow of value

I continuously take things back to ground truth: the code as it is now, the tests I specified, the test run results we just got, linter output, mutation testing results etc. I don't let the model tell me it's raining. I go outside and look :-)