The document discusses the challenges of software development, emphasizing the importance of balancing speed, quality, and cost while maintaining core values such as agility and maintainability. It highlights the necessity of building the right software through principles like managing technical debt and following guidelines, rather than strict rules, to ensure better coding practices. The presentation advocates for continuous improvement and reflection in programming to enhance software maintainability over time.

1. Beyond Fast, Good And Cheap
Alan Stevens
Finding our values in the face of uncertainty

2. Contact Me
Slides: speakerdeck.com/alanstevens
Email/IM: alanstevens@gmail.com
Website: halanstevens.com
Twitter: @alanstevens

3. nerdhiveindustries.com

4. II. The Problem
III. Values
V. Rules
I. Backstory
IV. Principals

5. I. Backstory

6. I Hate Crappy Code

7. The Real World

8. Constraints

9. Priorities

10. Values

11. II. The Problem

12. The Project Triangle
Fast
GoodCheap
pick any two

13. Fast

14. Good

15. Cheap

16. How do we balance building the
right thing with building it well?

17. Building the right thing is always
a higher priority!

18. I'm never in favor of writing
code poorly, but I am in favor
of writing code to reflect your
current understanding of a
problem even if that
understanding is partial.
Ward Cunningham
“Ward Explains Debt Metaphor”
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardExplainsDebtMetaphor

19. Can we verify that we are building
the right thing?

20. The tests specify requirements
in a way that does not require
human interpretation to indicate
success or failure.
Jim Newkirk
Test Driven Development in Microsoft .NET

21. Building it right has a
minimum acceptable
threshold which must
be met

22. Once you get your systems to
work, you still have to go back
and clean up the wreckage left
behind by the victorious battle.
“Uncle” Bob Martin
“The Rush”
http://blog.objectmentor.com/articles/2009/06/26/the-rush

23. You are not done until the
victorious code has been
cleaned, polished, and oiled.
“Uncle” Bob Martin
“The Rush”
http://blog.objectmentor.com/articles/2009/06/26/the-rush

24. The Last 10% is 50% Of The Work

25. How do we guarantee baseline
design without impeding
productivity?

26. Image credit : FlyoverPeople.net
III. VALUES

27. The *ILITIES
Agility
Testability
Readability
Reversibility
Changeability
Flexibility
Maintainability
Coined by Kevlin Henney

28. Prevention is the best cure

29. Continuous Improvement

30. “With every mistake, I must
surely be learning”
George Harrison

31. As applications mature, they should
become more maintainable, not less.

32. Avoid Complacency

33. IV. Principles

34. Value Developer Cycles
Over CPU Cycles

35. Do the simplest thing that
could possibly work

36. Follow the “Boy Scout Principle”

37. Manage Technical Debt

38. I thought that rushing software
out the door to get some
experience with it was a good
idea, but that of course, you
would eventually go back
Ward Cunningham
“Ward Explains Debt Metaphor”
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardExplainsDebtMetaphor

39. as you learned things about that
software you would repay that
loan by refactoring the program
to reflect your experience as you
acquired it.
Ward Cunningham
“Ward Explains Debt Metaphor”
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardExplainsDebtMetaphor

40. Enable Change

41. Build Architectural Seams

42. At least build fault lines

43. V. Rules

44. the code is
more what
you'd call
"guidelines"
than actual rules

45. a developer's career is spent
pursuing better and better
answers to the question
"where should this code go?"
Jeremy Miller
On Writing Maintainable Code
http://codebetter.com/blogs/jeremy.miller/archive/2006/12/06/On-Writing-Maintainable-Code.aspx

46. Where should
this code go?

47. Don’t Repeat Yourself
&
Separation of Concerns

48. D RY
Don’t
Repeat
Yourself

49. See it once: do it
See it twice: notice it
See it a third time:
Abstract It!
The Rule of Three

50. Separation of Concerns

53. High Cohesion
&
Low Coupling

55. When you finally realize what
your program is doing, you
have to go back and make it
look like you knew that all
along.
Ward Cunningham
“Mastering the Craft of Programming”
http://railslab.newrelic.com/2009/09/15/ward-cunningham-aboutus-org

56. Make it look like it was easy
to write this program, even if
it wasn’t.
Ward Cunningham
“Mastering the Craft of Programming”
http://railslab.newrelic.com/2009/09/15/ward-cunningham-aboutus-org

57. Make it look
like it was
easy to write.

58. Thanks For Listening!
Email/IM: alanstevens@gmail.com
Blog: http://halanstevens.com
Twitter: @alanstevens

59. Slides: speakerdeck.com/alanstevens
Email/IM: alanstevens@gmail.com
Website: halanstevens.com
Twitter: @alanstevens
Thanks For Listening!