All software products face this choice. Martin Fowler explains it as follows “You have a piece of functionality that you need to add to your system. You see two ways to do it, one is quick to do but is messy – you are sure that it will make further changes harder in the future. The other…

Ask any programmer whether he likes to write new code or maintain existing code. You can be sure he will choose – write new code. Ask him the next question, which of these is harder? The answer will be – maintain existing code. Ask any software company what they want and most will answer Growth. Ask them how…

Here is a simple puzzle. There are four cards on a table. The cards have numbers on one side and are either colored red or green on the other. What cards would you turn over to verify the rule – If a card has an even number, then the other side is green. What was…

I have been involved in software development as a hobby/profession for the last 30 years. The most significant change that I have seen is the acceptance of rapid iterations as the key to delivering high-quality software quickly. The faster the iterations the better it is. Continuous delivery is the new buzz-word. I am constantly looking…

Agile has swept over the development world. It has become so popular because it works. One of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto is “Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.” You get your user story, quickly get working software and iterate based on feedback. How…

Coaches train athletes/sportspersons to improve their performance. Companies train developers to improve their performance. Are we missing out something when we train developers? How do coaches improve the performance of athletes and sportspersons? Coaches train them on skills specific to their sport / events. Footballers get trained on dribbling and shooting, batsmen on their stance…

At one point in my career, I used to do all final interviews for developers in an organization (Tally Solutions Private Limited if you are curious). Everybody was astonished by the dramatic improvement in the quality of programmers joining. I will let you in on the secret. When I was a kid I used to love Asterix. I…