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  • Exploring Factors that Drive Software Engineering Productivity

    Understanding what drives software development productivity is the key to making high-impact investments in engineering productivity, Emerson Murphy-Hill said at QCon San Francisco. He presented the results of their investigation into factors that predict developer productivity and shared what they learned from exploring inequities in software engineering.

  • How to Use Property-Based Testing as Fuzzy Unit Testing

    According to Eivind Jahren, property-based testing is an invaluable tool for its ease of use and effectiveness. It is flexible in what requirements one can formulate and is simple and lightweight enough to put in the hands of software developers to perform iterative testing on a daily basis, less test code is required, and it’s easier to reuse test data generators for complex structured data.

  • Exploring AI's Role in Automating Software Testing

    QA professionals are increasingly turning to AI to address the growing complexities of software testing. AI-driven automation can improve test coverage, reduce test cycle times, and enhance the accuracy of results, leading to faster software releases with higher quality.

  • How Slack Used an AI-Powered Hybrid Approach to Migrate from Enzyme to React Testing Library

    Enzyme’s lack of support for React 18 made their existing unit tests unusable and jeopardized the foundational confidence they provided, Sergii Gorbachov said at QCon San Francisco. He showed how Slack migrated all Enzyme tests to React Testing Library (RTL) to ensure the continuity of their test coverage.

  • How to Use Programming Rules and Guidelines

    According to Arne Mertz, using programming rules and guidelines helps developers work together, as they result in more consistent and better code. However, using them the wrong way can have the opposite result - code that is cumbersome to read or solves problems in suboptimal or even wrong ways.

  • How to Delight Your Developers with User-Centric Platforms and Practices

    By focusing on the users, platform development teams can ensure that they build a platform that tackles the true needs of developers, Ana Petkovska said at QCon London. In her talk, Delight Your Developers with User-Centric Platforms & Practices, she shared what their Developer Experience (DevEx) group looks like and what products and services they provide.

  • Using DORA for Sustainable Engineering Performance Improvement

    DORA can help to drive sustainable change, depending on how it is used by teams and the way it is supported in a company. According to Carlo Beschi, getting good data for the DORA keys can be challenging. Teams can use DORA reports for continuous improvement by analysing the data and taking actions.

  • What Developers Can Do to Continue to Program as They Age

    Trouble seeing, pain, and stiffness are some of the things that can make it harder to program as you age. But there are solutions like changing fonts, using glasses, and rearranging the office layout. Some older programmers' mental concerns included a lack of motivation and cynical feelings. According to Gregory, exercising and getting good sleep help to keep the abilities needed as a developer.

  • Staying Innovative on a Journey from Start-Up to Scale-Up

    As ClearBank grew, it faced the challenge of maintaining its innovative culture while integrating more structured processes to manage its expanding operations and ensure regulatory compliance. Within boundaries of accountability and responsibility, teams were given space to evolve their own areas, innovate a little, experiment, and continuously improve, to remain innovative.

  • Managing High-Performing Software Teams

    High-performing teams expect their leader to enable them to make things better, Gillard-Moss said at QCon London. Independence in software teams can enable decision-making for faster delivery. Teams need empathy, understanding, and guidance from their managers.

  • How a Sustainable Mindset in Software Engineering Can Increase Team Performance and Prevent Burnout

    A sustainable mindset in software engineering matters because software is still primarily built by humans, and we must prioritize their well-being, Marion Løken said at NDC Oslo. Integrating the team more deeply into discovery work, discussing feedback collectively, and fostering a culture of psychological safety helped to engage her team and mitigate burnout.

  • Setting up a Data Mesh Organization

    A data mesh organization: producers, consumers, and the platform. According to Matthias Patzak, the mission of the platform team is to make the lives of the producer and consumers simple, efficient and stress free. Data must be discoverable and understandable, trustworthy, and shared securely and easily across the organization.

  • Data Teams Survey: Lag in DataOps and Value Delivered

    We report on Jesse Anderson's 2024 Data Teams Survey which showed a lag in DataOps capabilities, slow LLM adoption, and a concerning decline in perceived value creation by data teams. It called out the importance of teams spread with data science, engineering, and operations capabilities. We also cover Petr Janda's recent podcast on the need for more engineering rigour for parity with other teams.

  • How to Improve Software Team Performance with Experimentation

    According to Terhi Aho, experimentation is a way of thinking that guides action. By experimenting we can develop ways of working without a major change process. It can help software teams to solve problems in small steps, relieve their workload, and foster self-management.

  • Measuring and Reducing the Environmental Impact of Software

    Software applications often manage big amounts of data; most of them are internet-based applications, and incorporate artificial intelligence. According to Coral Calero, these three aspects improve the capabilities and functionalities provided by software but they have also increased the amount of energy needed. We need to measure energy consumption of software to control its environmental impact.

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