A few tips on how to block noise and focusing on developing quality software

1. How to code in the
XXI century without
losing your head
@rene_olivo

2. The problem with
programming today

3. Noises that stop you from
delivering a
quality product

4. Quality Product
● Uses the Agile methodology to meet the product needs in a series of timely
deliveries
● Can be easily reproduced in dev and production environments
● The codebase is well written and organized which allows changes to be
implemented with ease
● Is resilient to changes through testing
● Is built with the precise amount of craftsmanship that suits the product scope

5. Types of noise
● Your programming language sucks
● If you are not using this new framework you are doing it wrong
● Your code is not optimized
● Your code editor and keyboard layout suck
● TDD is dead
● OOP is dead, long live Functional
● Tabs, 4 spaces, and semicolons are the work of the devil
● If you don't know math you are a bad programmer

7. "Your programming
language sucks" noise
● People will always be chewing on you because of your
programming language choice. Block that noise.
● Learn when to use the appropriate language for the
appropriate task.

8. "Out with the old, in with
the new" noise (p1).
● Implementing new technologies makes you a digital frontier
pioneer.
● Less resources.
● Less tutorials and documentation.
● Harder to put together a team of experts.
● There won't be any "best practices" available.

9. "Out with the old, in with
the new" noise (p2).
● Unknown challenges after moving on from the "todo" example.
● What's good for Google, Facebook, or Microsoft may not be good
for your project or startup.

10. "Optimization" noise
● Don't over-invest on optimization.
● Learn about cache, load balancing, replication, and other
High Availability techniques.
● Learn about queuing systems and how to connect apps
through messaging pipes.

11. "Your code editor sucks"
noise
● Code is not meant to be written at the speed of light, it's meant to
be read with ease.
● Don't fall for the console editors hype, your code editor is fine.
● Learning a new keyboard layout will take time and will yield
nothing.

12. "TDD is dead" noise
● Stop being lazy, testing is necessary.
● More unit testing, some integration, less E2E.

13. "OOP is dead" noise
● People have been killing OOP since the 90s, it's not
going to die. OOP has its flaws, but it's the best we have.
● Use functional where it makes sense, don't overuse it.

14. "Tabs VS Spaces" noise
● Use a linter and a code editor that supports lint files.
● Find a lint file that suits your project and team and stick
with it.

15. "Math Envy" noise
● Programming has more to do with Cervantes and less to
do with Newton.
● Mastering math helps you solve math problems with
ease.
● Math tasks are sparse.
● Data structures are heavily used.
● Algorithm knowledge is more helpful.

16. Thanks for listening.