Here I share contemplations on data-oriented design, team leadership, agile methodologies, and assorted subjects occupying my thoughts.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect or represent the positions of any companies I work for, collaborate with, invest in, advise, or any other associated entities.

Lie 3: Software Is the Platform

 Posted on 2022-06-02  |  2 minutes  |  268 words  |  

Truth: hardware is the platform “Software does not run in a magic fairy aether powered by the fevered dreams of CS PhDs” – Mike Acton (2014 - CppCon) Instruction sets: Different hardware architectures have different instruction sets, which are the set of basic operations that the processor is capable of performing. For example, an x86 processor has a different instruction set than an ARM processor, so code that is written to run on an x86 processor may not be compatible with an ARM processor without modification. [Read More]
three big lies  data oriented design  software development  hardware platform  instruction sets  memory architecture  endianness  performance characteristics 

Lie 2: Code Should Be Designed Around a Model of the World

 Posted on 2022-05-17  |  2 minutes  |  267 words  |  

“Solving problems you probably don’t have creates problems you definitely do.” – Mike Acton (2014 - CppCon) Truth: Code should be designed around the data, not some idealized model. World modeling is a common approach in programming that involves trying to solve problems by drawing analogies or telling stories, rather than using more concrete, engineering-based methods. While this approach may seem appealing at first, it often leads to problems that are harder to understand and maintain in the long run. [Read More]
three big lies  data oriented design  programming principles  problem-solving approach  world modeling  engineering-based methods  data transformations  software design paradigms 

Lie 1: Code Is More Important Than Data

 Posted on 2022-04-02  |  2 minutes  |  251 words  |  

“Everything is a data problem. including usability, maintenance, debug-ability, everything.” – Mike Acton (2014 - cppCon) Truth: Your main responsibility is to transform data, not designing code, solve the data transformation xproblem and nothing else. As a programmer,it is your main responsibility to transform data effectively and efficiently. This involves not only designing code, but also understanding the problem at hand and the context in which the data exists. Keep in mind that the purpose of all programs and their components is to transform data from one form to another, and that the code is simply a tool to achieve this goal. [Read More]
three big lies  Data oriented design  programming principles  data transformation  code design  problem solving  data-driven approach  software development mindset 

The 3 Big Lies Introduction

 Posted on 2022-03-28  |  1 minutes  |  139 words  |  

The Lies Code is more important than data. Code should be designed around a model of the world. Software is a platform. Data-Oriented Design (DOD) is a software development approach that focuses on optimizing data structures and algorithms for performance, rather than abstractions or code size. In a 2014 talk at CppCon, Mike Acton identified “three big lies” that can lead to suboptimal design decisions: the assumption that abstractions are free, the belief that memory is always slow, and the idea that smaller is always better. [Read More]
three big lies  code vs data  data-oriented design (dod)  abstractions  memory optimization  performance  scalability  software development 

Bring Your Spears

 Posted on 2021-09-11  |  2 minutes  |  375 words  |  

As a business leader, it is important to have a clear understanding of the level of support and commitment among your team members. One effective way to gauge this is through the military technique of asking for spears after a presentation. This technique involves giving a presentation on a particular topic or plan, and then asking for volunteers to “step forward with their spears,” meaning to show their willingness to actively support and participate in the plan. [Read More]
bring your spears  leadership  team commitment  military technique  presentation  teamwork  feedback  business strategy 

Remote Work Is Here to Stay

 Posted on 2021-08-08  |  3 minutes  |  526 words  |  

Remote work is here to stay for developers, but we can do better. Despite the many arguments against remote work, it is clear that it is an increasingly popular option for developers. However, there are still valid concerns that need to be addressed in order to make remote work more effective and efficient. One of the main arguments against remote work is the lack of supervision. While it is true that day to day supervision is limited and stifling, the output of a developer is still measurable and transparent. [Read More]
remote work  developers  work trends  remote communication  collaboration tools  isolation  technical difficulties  productivity  work flexibility  work/life balance 

Microservices Done Wrong

 Posted on 2019-08-12  |  2 minutes  |  308 words  |  

Microservices are not inherently evil. My two cents is that people often use them on small projects because of fashion and not necessity. Monolith First at the very least, and find out how far you can get with Cookie Cutter Deploys before you reach for them. That said, you probably have decided (or a manager did for you) that you are going to use microservices to build the next great thing. [Read More]
microservices  software architecture  programming pitfalls  software development practices  Monolith First  Cookie Cutter Deploys  software design mistakes  best practices 

Mistakes, Failures and Progress

 Posted on 2019-02-22  |  2 minutes  |  238 words  |  

The last few weeks of work have been an embarrassing cavalcade of mistakes. The majority of this project was well worn territory for me, with a few new problems sprinkled in. With new unique problems you have to dive in and start someone, every starting point I picked ended up being a black hole of misery and wasted time. We have since recovered, but the experience reminded me of a few brilliant TED talks about exactly these topics…

[Read More]
mistakes  failures  progress  learning from failures  TED talks  trial and error  risk management  engineering principles