Anvesh Kumar

One criticism of "strict TDD" is that you're not allowed to add tests after the code's complete. I don't recognise this version of "strict" TDD. If the tests I'm left with from TDD-ing code aren't giving me that warm, fuzzy feeling, I'll explore more, maybe write more tests (or refactor to data-driven or property-based tests if it really has to work, or grab a colleague and do guided inspections if it really, really has to work, or even a proof of correctness if it really, really, really has to work. Whatever gives me sufficient warm fuzzies, basically). As far as I'm aware, after ~25 years of doing and teaching TDD, that's allowed. Not just allowed, in fact, but recommended. 5/5 on Tripadvisor. Would go again. And likewise, if I think, going forward, I don't need some of these regression tests, I'll remove them or consolidate etc. The tests that drive our design often correspond to good regression tests, but certainly not always. More work usually needs to be done. Once the design's in place from TDD-ing the code, we're in the realms of something called "testing", where tests we add are expected to pass first time (though they might not, and that's a good reason to do it). Oh, and this is probably a good time to mention mutation testing. I'll routinely mutation test new or changed code and if that throws up gaps in my regression tests, I'll fill them.

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If you're free tomorrow afternoon/evening check out the London Clojurians talk I'm giving about working with data in Clojure. Clojure's data ecosystem is super active and there have been tons of developments in the last few months we're excited to share: - 🤖 better integration with pure-JVM ML models - 📶 the new tablecloth columns API - 📊 the (very) beginnings of a new approach to visualizing data with a grammar-of-graphics style API - 🐍 python inter-op (not new, but something that isn't as well known) And lots more. I'll go over how to explore a few realistic datasets and gain insights using basic ML models and time series analysis, all in Clojure. Also it's free! https://lnkd.in/gkPXJwnY

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For Week 2 of Coding with Callie's Deploy in Public Challenge, we're continuing our journey, this time with Terraform! 🌐 I've dived into Terraform, an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool by HashiCorp. Terraform is incredibly powerful, enabling you to define, provision, and manage infrastructure using a declarative configuration language. Here are some key benefits I learned using Terraform: Automation: Streamlines infrastructure provisioning and management. Consistency: Ensures consistent environments through code. Efficiency: Reusable modules to simplify complex setups. Version Control: Infrastructure as code enables tracking and reverting changes. Scalability: Easily manage and scale AWS resources.

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Your dev team is under resourced Spoiler - it always will be Don't get trapped thinking if you just had two more (or fifty more) devs you'd be able to work through the backlog and get ahead. The problem is that teams try and filter and prioritise *down stream* on outputs. 100's of outputs. Try filtering and prioritising *up stream* on strategic outcomes that matter to the business (and across the business).

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*Bracing myself for the response I might get for asking this* Software Engineers: Would you ever consider working on an EQUITY ONLY basis (ie no salary, just owning a portion of the business, the value of which would increase as it progresses and scales)? Assuming: - The product is really interesting and so is the work - The product is in the "tech for good" space and would be a really positive contribution to parts of society - Seed funding is confirmed to be coming with several backers keen & they will able to offer a salary in the near future - The product is super early stage, you would be writing the software from the ground up, but the concept, design and business model once funding is received are all solid I know that there will be many who would never consider this under any circumstances and I totally get why, but just curious to hear if any of you would if it was for a product you believed in enough? And would you look at it on a full-time basis or a part-time basis? It's something I got asked about and so I thought I would throw it out to Linkedin to see what you all think rather than assuming that I know the answer on your behalf. #startup #founder #softwareengineer

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What is a TypeScript Engineer? I keep seeing this pop up in recruitment posts, which means clients are asking for it...right? Has this replaced the FullStack Engineer, which, lets be honest, meant a NodeJS developer. That was back in the good old days when it was only NodeJS. Now we have Bun, Deno, Hono and more. Or perhaps its asking for a Javascript developer...whatever that means in todays world of a thousand js frameworks and evolving ES standards. Or are they actually asking for a Java developer, because someones used Gen AI along the way and it got confused between Java and Javascript (*shudders*) Are they seriously in need of a type system engineer, thats kinda niche. It's hard enough trying to explain what you do as a job to "normal" folk as it is, without this level of obfuscation. How would you even explain this when asked "What do you do?". Do kids nowadays needs to consider themselves experts in everything inside package.json to land a job? When will the industry move beyond this fixation on specific languages? I get it, it's an important consideration, but asking for Typescript Engineers...it's not going to help you find the devs you actually need.

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“I’ve been saying this for a whole year and no one listens, then the CEO said the same thing last week and everyone is acting like it was the most brilliant thing they ever heard” A QA engineer said that at a company I worked for in the past and it cracked me up because it’s so true of life in general. People are quick to dismiss advice that doesn’t come from a “high authority” or “reputable source”, that's just how we are wired to filter information. But if you hire really smart, proactive people and then reduce their voice to a whisper, your company is going to suck. This is why important that leaders do three things: 1. Listen to your employees and help amplify their voice → If you spot a great idea, give credit and then use your clout to push it to make it happen 2. Make them a higher authority, put them in charge of things, expand their remit → It doesn’t matter if you hire the top talent in the world if you box them in a tiny space or put them under management of someone who is not qualified to understand the output of their work. 3. Ensure you have clear values, mission and vision so it’s easy to spot what the great ideas are. → A great idea in Apple may not be a great idea in Amazon. Two companies, two very different values, that’s why it’s important that everyone in your company understands what the north star is, so they know what the metric for good idea is. 

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TDD is expensive Like many other niche technologies Delivery of software is not only a technical problem It’s logistical and people problem as well It can be using Kotlin in Java company It can be adding a better database engine It can be applying Event sourcing to all systems You can say all of those are great But there are a couple of non-technical problems 🧠 Knowledge The whole team must know the new solution They need space to learn and practice You may get training from an expert Both cost money and time 🚦 Risk You face the bus factor What if the devs will leave? (they will) How will you maintain the niche solution? How much will it cost to hire or train a replacement? 👩 Hiring Adding new technologies narrows the pool of hires The more niche you go the harder is to find a good fit The longer hiring process will strain delivery You'll have to balance with higher salaries ☯️ Alignment What about your current team? 80% of them like tests but aren’t fans of TDD What will you do? Force them to learn or let them go? The culture will take a hit and retention will sink What can you do instead? Keep it simple Keep it boring Focus on the basics Drive incremental improvement Find alignment before picking new tech Get excited about the features and business If you don’t need to fix niche problems You get more time to deliver value

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Great to see that CDDO / GDS have updated their guidance page on the use of Progressive Enhancement on UK Government services 😍 https://lnkd.in/esuSVb29 Keep fighting the unnecessary bloat that JavaScript has brought to the modern web! ✊ #a11y #accessibility #webperf #progressive #enhancement

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