I’ve been reading Steven Sinofsky’s Hardcore Software, and particularly enjoyed this quote from a memo discussed in the Zero Defects chapter: You can improve the quality of your code, and if you do, the rewards for yourself and for Microsoft will be immense. The hardest part is to decide that you want to write perfect code. If I wrote that in an internal memo, I imagine the engineering team would mutiny, but software quality is certainly an interesting topic where I continue to refine my thinking. There are so many software quality playbooks out there, and I increasingly believe that all these playbooks work in their intended context, but are often misapplied.
Notes on software quality
“The absence of problems” is the best definition I can come up with for quality.
The Case for Software Craftsmanship in the Era of Vibes
From the Zed Blog: Working toward genuine, quality software in an era where code production is not the constraint anymore.
Seeing Like a Programmer (LambdaConf 2024) — Sympolymathesy, by Chris Krycho
How do we make good software, and indeed, what makes software good: both as software, and in terms of its place in the world?
How To Validate Product Ideas Before (And After) Building Them
People spend too much time writing software relative to speaking to potential customers, prior to launching and after it. Reversing that is a win.
Learning To Write Software… Is Hard - Zicklag's Leaflets
But it's also good — Musings about the last year of Roomy development, and more.
What We Know We Don't Know: Empirical Software Engineering
Empirical Software Engineering is the study of what actually works in programming. Instead of trusting our instincts we collect data, run studies, and peer-review our results. This talk is all about how we empirically find the facts in software and some of the challenges we face, with a particular focus on software defects and productivity. Talk doesn’t seem to be online yet; in the meantime, you can see a recording of an older version of the talk here.
Perfect Software - Software for an Audience of One
We have many names to describe personal tools. Malleable software speaks to how it behaves. Home-cooked software speaks to who makes it.
</> htmx ~ Codin' Dirty
In this article, Carson Gross discusses an alternative approach to software development that challenges the principles outlined in 'Clean Code.' Carson advocates for allowing larger functions in certain cases, preferring integration tests over unit tests, and minimizing the number of classes and interfaces. He shares examples from successful software projects that demonstrate these practices can lead to maintainable, high-quality code.
“I think there’s a lot of value in these.” – Unsung
A blog about software craft and quality
Can agentic coding raise the quality bar?
Five examples of using agentic coding to improve software quality, instead of delivery throughput.
The Paradox of Perfection: When ‘Good Enough’ is Actually Better
Exploring the tension between engineering perfectionism and pragmatic delivery. Discover why striving for the perfect solution often prevents us from shipping valuable improvements and how to find the balance.
“As a Windows user, it’s a very surreal way to install a program.” – Unsung
A blog about software craft and quality
The Tyranny of the Marginal User
why consumer software gets worse, not better, over time
values based software talks
Talk #3 Files, algorithms, media, software as lived practice, and personal software
