Open source software has changed computing and the world, and many of you would love to contribute. Unfortunately, many people are daunted by what they imagine is a high barrier to entry into a project. I commonly hear people say that they’d love to contribute but can’t because of three reasons: “I’m not a very [...]
How software gets done 
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Process
Featured Post
by Timothy Jeffcoat | Comments
5 Things I Learned About Business Negotiating from Watching Movies
Tim got a college degree to prepare him for a life in business. Then he realized that he could have saved a lot of time in learning about deal-making by watching movies, instead.
14 Ways to Contribute to Open Source without Being a Programming Genius or a Rock Star
by Andy Lester | Comments
Capacity Planning on a Cocktail Napkin
by Charlie Martin | Comments
Normally, after eight hours on my feet with an audience, I’m both exhausted and wired; what I really want is to fall face down on my bed until I recover enough to order room service. I was in Chicago teaching a course in web-systems architecture, and several of my students insisted I come with them [...]
Less Process, More Discipline
by Charlie Martin | Comments
It started, as these things often do, with someone coming into my office. We’re close to shipping a product after a long struggle with all the usual issues – hardware difficulties, operating system bugs, personnel changes – but we’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel without the chug-chug of an [...]
Making Your Tech Conference Presentation, and Experience, Not Suck
by Andy Lester | Comments
Tech conferences are incredibly expensive, and not just in dollars. Even free conferences like BarCamps incur the expense of the attendee’s time. Taking time off from work or family is a hassle at the very least, and it’s time that isn’t billable. The draw of the conference boils down to those 45 minute sessions, and [...]
A Call for Strong Opinions in Software Development
by Jason Cohen | Comments
Software frameworks are so opinionated all of a sudden. I love it; we need more of it. The Agile Manifesto was one of the first clear examples of opinionated expression. No hedging, just clear trade-offs, like valuing “working software over comprehensive documentation.” If there’s a question between creating a requirements doc or writing a human [...]
6 Tips for Beginning App Developers
by Donald Baker | Comments
App stores have drastically changed the traditional view of how to market software. User ratings and reviews can steer a mobile application in a completely different direction than the developer originally intended. The community has never had so much direct control of the development process of proprietary software. Here are some tips for developers starting [...]
25 Agilists to Follow on Twitter
by Matt Heusser | Comments
With only 24 hours in a day, you certainly can’t follow every person on Twitter, or even all of the people who claim to be experts in Agile software development. What I provide below is meant to be a starting point. This is not a list of Capital-A Agilists, at least, not strictly speaking a [...]
What Do You Mean, “Agile”?
by Lisa Morgan | Comments
Being “agile” is a modern badge of honor. If you’re agile, you’re cool: progressive, team-oriented, and customer focused. You produce better quality way faster than the turtles mired in 500-page requirements documents. You rule because you’re agile. But how agile are you, really? In discussion forums, agile developers bash waterfall, saying it’s archaic, siloed, and [...]
Requirements: Not Just for Application Projects
by Brenda Kerton | Comments
Talk about requirements and most people jump to the requirements work done for business application projects. But what about internal IT improvement projects or infrastructure projects? Applying a reasonable and light requirements discipline inside IT often faces more resistance than with business automation projects. Let’s take a look at the high-level types of requirements that [...]
