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Adrià Fontcuberta
Adrià Fontcuberta

622 Followers

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Nov 9, 2021

The minefield of software development

More often than not, we build software based on hope. — We plan the features we want and how we’re gonna build them. And we assume we’ll be able to get them and that they will work as expected. “We need to do X; it will drive more sales”. “We need to do X; it will reduce support tickets”. “We need…

Software Development

4 min read

The minefield of software development
The minefield of software development
Software Development

4 min read


Sep 23, 2021

Marginal gains: In favor of continuous improvement

We overestimate what we can achieve in a short period. At the same time, we underestimate a long-term improvement process. — It’s pure maths First, think of any process you’d like to improve. Say… time-to-market in a given company. Or % of churn. Or lead time for a given team. Or average speed in a 100km bicycle ride. Imagine you want to improve any of them by 20%. 20% faster, 20% safer, 20% better…

Software Development

3 min read

Marginal gains: In favor of continuous improvement
Marginal gains: In favor of continuous improvement
Software Development

3 min read


Jul 22, 2021

Embracing unknown unknowns

Once upon a time in 1869, a Russian scientist named Mendeleev was obsessed with ordering all elements present in nature. The typical Russian scientist obsession. — He wrote down a card for each known element (63 by that time) and attempted to sort them out by several criteria. Mendeleev noticed the properties of elements were systematically related to their atomic mass. …

Software Development

4 min read

Embracing unknown unknowns
Embracing unknown unknowns
Software Development

4 min read


Jan 13, 2021

Be predictable, my friend

There are many virtues a team can show. But I’ve come to realize that it boils down to this: — If I wanted a team to be better, I’d ask them to be predictable. “What does ‘predictable’ even mean, Adri?” you might ask. I’m not a dictionary, but I’ll try to answer. I understand predictability as “the ability to produce a stable flow of value per unit of time by…

Software Development

2 min read

Be predictable, my friend
Be predictable, my friend
Software Development

2 min read


Jul 24, 2020

You say “slow”

I’ve been told I was going slow in every project I ever participated in. — Every. Single. One. You end up developing a hard skin on the subject. It is not easy, though. It requires time and strong convictions. The truth is, “slow” is a big word. It is also a facade. You say slow But this is all I hear: “We’re fighting against unrealistic expectations ( and…

Software Development

3 min read

You say slow
You say slow
Software Development

3 min read


May 14, 2020

The goal of software development

Why would anyone give money to me to type weird stuff on a computer? — Why would anyone do it? I mean, let’s face it. We, programmers, are picky. We want to work on what we please. We want to go to expensive conferences. We feel entitled to call the shots. I guess one of the reasons is that we produce software — eventually. Yet…

Agile

2 min read

The goal of software development
The goal of software development
Agile

2 min read


Mar 18, 2020

Back to Basics

Sometimes we face hard choices, where there’s no clear path or direction. Actually, we might not even have a clear goal. — NOTE: This post was first published in my newsletter. Subscribe to receive my posts a week earlier, right to your inbox 🚀 You’ve probably been there before. Think about it. Situations where the line dividing “the right call” and “a fucked up mess” seems blurry. On such occasions, the temptation…

Agile

3 min read

Back to Basics
Back to Basics
Agile

3 min read


Feb 20, 2020

A small increment

Someone was pleased with us last week (“us” as in “my team”). — NOTE: This post was first published in my newsletter. Subscribe to receive my posts a week earlier, right to your inbox 🚀 Turns out, we deployed a contrived new version of a form they were using. Among other stuff, there was an input to introduce the bank account. …

Agile

3 min read

A small increment
A small increment
Agile

3 min read


Feb 5, 2020

All power to the Teams

Some random thoughts about software development teams — NOTE: This post was first published in my newsletter. Subscribe to receive my posts a week earlier, right to your inbox 🚀 Teams should be the core entity. The primary unit of work within an engineering team. Teams should be cross-functional: all needed roles should be there — and when…

Agile

3 min read

All power to the Teams
All power to the Teams
Agile

3 min read


Dec 17, 2019

“But, wait. So you don’t write unit tests?”

Recently I’ve been asked how I approach the unit vs. integration vs. e2e debate. I’ve answered it twice below — NOTE: This post was first published in my newsletter. Subscribe to receive my posts a week earlier, right to your inbox 🚀 Short answer I don’t really care about names. Write tests that provide a higher degree of confidence in your application. Write a test before writing the “production” code that should…

Software Development

2 min read

“But, wait. So you don’t write unit tests?”
“But, wait. So you don’t write unit tests?”
Software Development

2 min read

Adrià Fontcuberta

Adrià Fontcuberta

622 Followers

Words matter – Software product development, Front-end, UX, design, lean, agile and everything in between. https://afontcu.dev

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