Developers are known to have an inner drive to always find better solutions to their problems, but there is a predominant dilemma going on in today’s tech market: Developers are keen to learn new programming languages and frameworks while companies aren’t willing to invest heavily into knowledge with ever decreasing half-life. This dilemma can be resolved. Spoiler: New technology is not always the answer.

1. ODEAN
TO BORING
TECHNOLOGY

2. ALEXEY KOVTUNETS
Developer Advocate
die kartenmacherei
SEBASTIAN HEUER
Developer Advocate
die kartenmacherei
ODEAN
TO BORING
TECHNOLOGY

4. LEARNING A NEW
LANGUAGE DOES
NOT MAKE
YOU BETTER.

5. source: https://dev.to/rly

6. WHO ARE WE?
REWRITE EVERYTHING
TO NEW FRAMEWORK
WHAT DO WE WANT?
HYPE DRIVEN DEVELOPERS

7. –Robert "Uncle Bob" C. Martin, The Churn
New languages aren’t better; they are just
shiny. And the search for the golden fleece
of a new language, or a new framework, or a
new paradigm, or a new process has
reached the point of being unprofessional.
It’s time to stop the wasteful churning over
languages, and frameworks, and paradigms,
and processes.
It’s time to simply get down to work.
”

8. WHY?

9. DEVELOPER
IS FEELING
UNHAPPY

10. DEVELOPER FINDS
A NEW JOB WITH
SOME SHINY TECH

11. AFTER ONE YEAR
DEVELOPER FEELS
UNHAPPY AGAIN

12. COMPANIES:
DEVELOPERS LEAVE
BECAUSE WE DON'T
OFFER THE
TECHNOLOGIES THEY
WANT TO USE.

13. VICIOUS CYCLE
developers
think they
need to learn
new tech
companies
put new tech
into their
offerings
because they are unhappy
with their current job
because they want to
attract developers

14. https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#work-job-change-timelines-by-geography

15. https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#work-how-long-do-developers-expect-new-coworkers-to-take-to-be-productive

16. SWITCHING
TECHNOLOGIES
WILL NOT MAKE
YOU HAPPIER.

17. WHAT MAKES YOU
HAPPY?

18. WHAT DEVELOPERS WANT
• PERSONAL GROWTH
• BE INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING
• START FROM SCRATCH TO "GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME”
• WORK ON RELEVANT PROBLEMS
• STAND OUT IN DEVELOPER MARKET

19. https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018#work-how-do-developers-assess-potential-jobs

20. WHAT COMPANIES WANT
• FOCUS ON BUSINESS VALUE
• PREDICTABILITY
• EXPERTS AVAILABLE

21. WHAT DEVELOPERS WANT WHAT COMPANIES WANT
PERSONAL GROWTH
BE INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING
START FROM SCRATCH
WORK ON RELEVANT PROBLEMS
STAND OUT IN DEVELOPER MARKET
FOCUS ON BUSINESS VALUE
PREDICTABILITY
CONFIDENCE
EXPERTS AVAILABLE

22. WHAT CAN COMPANIES DO
IN ORDER TO GIVE
DEVELOPERS A BETTER
PLACE TO WORK WITHOUT
OFFERING NEW
TECHNOLOGIES?

23. INVOLVE
DEVELOPERS
EARLY

24. COMMAND &
CONTROL

25. COMMAND &
CONTROL

26. AUTONOMY

27. INTRINSIC
MOTIVATION

28. LET DEVELOPERS
TALK WITH
BUSINESS

29. Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
” – Agile Manifesto, Principle No. 4

30. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL
SETUP

31. https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/

37. WE BELIEVE THAT
THOSE 17.3% OF
DEVELOPERS ARE
WRONG.

38. PROJECT JOURNEYDecide for
Technology/Language
Understand
the problem Write Code

39. HOW IT NEEDS TO BEDoes new technology
significantly help you in
solving the problem?
Design the
Architecture
Decide for
Technology/Language
Understand
the problem
Write Code

40. Overcome new
Tech Obstacles
Design the
Architecture
Decide for
Technology/Language
Understand
the problem
NEW OBSTACLES

41. SHINY NEW
TECHNOLOGY
operating costs tools for that new
technology
unknowns
tests
deployments
unknown unknowns

42. Boring Tech Hype Tech
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns

43. Boring Tech Hype Tech
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns

44. Boring Tech Hype Tech
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns

45. Boring Tech Hype Tech
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns
known
known
unknowns
unknown
unknowns

46. SUMMARY

47. BENEFITS OF USING KNOWN TECH
• ALL THE QUIRKS ARE KNOWN
• PREDICTABLE PERFORMANCE
• MATURE ECOSYSTEM

48. WHY LEARN NEW TECHNOLOGIES?
• LEARN NEW CONCEPTS THAT YOU CAN APPLY TO
EXISTING TECH STACK
• UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES
SOLVING THE SAME PROBLEMS. BE UP TO DATE.
• ADD MORE TOOLS TO YOUR BELT

49. WHEN TO LEARN NEW TECHNOLOGIES?
• LOW RISK
• LOW COMPLEXITY
• LOW DEPENDENCIES
• LOW URGENCY
• TECHNOLOGY IS MATURE

50. WHAT DEVELOPERS WANT WHAT COMPANIES WANT
PERSONAL GROWTH
BE INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING
START FROM SCRATCH
WORK ON RELEVANT PROBLEMS
STAND OUT IN DEVELOPER MARKET
FOCUS ON BUSINESS VALUE
PREDICTABILITY
CONFIDENCE
EXPERTS AVAILABLE

51. PERSONAL GROWTH
BE INVOLVED IN DECISION MAKING
START FROM SCRATCH
WORK ON RELEVANT PROBLEMS
STAND OUT IN DEVELOPER MARKET
FOCUS ON BUSINESS VALUE
PREDICTABILITY
CONFIDENCE
EXPERTS AVAILABLE
WHAT DEVELOPERS WANT WHAT COMPANIES WANT
BUILD CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS
FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
CONSIDER TECHNOLOGY A DETAIL
HIRE FOR CORE VALUES, NOT TECHNOLOGIES
DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
OFFER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
BE PRAGMATIC
MEETING HALFWAY
ESTABLISH AUTONOMY
ATTENTION TO PROCESS

52. LEARNING A NEW
LANGUAGE DOES
NOT MAKE
YOU BETTER.

53. SOLVING RELEVANT
PROBLEMS MAKES
YOU BETTER.

54. ALEXEY KOVTUNETS
@sk_ai
SEBASTIAN HEUER
@belanur
THANK YOU!
@inside.kartenmacherei