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Ben Nadel at Scotch On The Rock (SOTR) 2010 (London) with: Michael Offner-Streit and Tanja Stadelmann and Gert Franz and Pierre-Olivier Chassay and Paul Klinkenberg and Marcos Placona
Ben Nadel at Scotch On The Rock (SOTR) 2010 (London) with: Michael Offner-Streit Tanja Stadelmann Gert Franz Pierre-Olivier Chassay Paul Klinkenberg Marcos Placona

Working Code Podcast - Episode 024: The Archetype Of An Effective Developer

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We all love the Hollywood portrayal of the "brilliant programmer" who can step in and just crush it at a moment's notice. We've probably all fantasized about being that programmer. But, that's not how people work. And it's not how teams work. Highly effective developers don't just "crush it" - they cultivate good habits that they then apply consistently, day-in and day-out, for years. This week, the crew discusses which habits make - or break - the most effective developers.

Or, listen to the full audio:

Listen to Episode 024, with:

Triumphs & Failures

  • Adam's Triumph - After struggling to get several Java-based feature flag services configured correctly in ColdFusion (which is one layer of indirection above Java), Adam decided to pull the ultimate power move and created his own open-source, ColdFusion-based feature flag library: Semaphore. While still in active development, it's already feeling very "feature complete". Pull-requests welcome!

  • Ben's Failure (that's me) - Without being able to point at anything in particular, this week kind of just kicked my butt. Without a Product Manager (PM) or an Engineering Manager (EM) on my team, I've felt as though no-one is "protecting" me or my people. And, even though an EM may not have actually made a the week better, there's an emotional cost to feeling so exposed. One saving grace, however, is that I received a stellar review from someone on the Customer Facing Team (CFT):

    ".... I'm sure it's not the first time you've heard it - but I need to say it - Ben is absolutely incredible and makes a massive impact on the happiness and stability of our enterprise customers...."

    Receiving this feedback really meant a lot to me! And makes me feel like my instincts are, at least sometimes, right.

  • Carol's Triumph - She totally survived a mercury-based allergic reaction to something she ate! That which doesn't kill Carol only makes her bolder when it comes to that sweet, sweet shellfish.

  • Tim's Triumph - He recently built a custom solution for one of his customers. However, he built it with clean boundaries and multi-tenancy in mind. Which means, now that he's successfully rolled-it-out to his first customer, he's ready to cash-in on that work by using the same solution as an upsell opportunity for his other customers. He's even gone back and refactored some of the architecture using the Clean Code tips from our earlier book review.

For the full show notes and links, visit the episode page.

Follow the show! Our website is workingcode.dev and we're @WorkingCodePod on Twitter and Instagram. Or, leave us a message at (512) 253-2633‬ (that's 512-253-CODE). New episodes drop weekly on Wednesday.

From Silicon Valley: It says here on your resume, from 2010-2011, you crushed it.

Short link: https://bennadel.com/4053

Reader Comments

Oh my chickens, this post is old!
I believe in love. I believe in compassion. I believe in human rights. I believe that we can afford to give more of these gifts to the world around us because it costs us nothing to be decent and kind and understanding. And, I want you to know that when you land on this site, you are accepted for who you are, no matter how you identify, what truths you live, or whatever kind of goofy shit makes you feel alive! Rock on with your bad self!
— Ben Nadel