Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun

What is the happy path, for developers? It’s less boredom, and more play.

Developer satisfaction, developer joy, and business results are strongly correlated. And yet - many of our jobs are frustrating, filled with friction, and free of joy. What’s going on? How do we fix that? Is annoying waste inevitable? Can developer performance be tuned? Are productivity measurements helping or hurting us? How do we deal with fear at work? Will AI take our jobs? Finally, how can you persuade management to invest in boredom?

Holly is an expert on play at work, unwise automations, and polar bears. Trisha is an expert on performance tuning, tooling and productivity. Come to this talk to find out what these topics have in common.

Transcript

1. Productivity is Messing Around and Having Fun Trisha Gee, Gradle Holly Cummins, Red Hat
2. hi!
3. @holly_cummins developer productivity engineering developer joy
4. @holly_cummins are these opposites, or the same? is development supposed to be fun?
5. @holly_cummins As usual, Fred Brooks has the answer.
6. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “The Joys of the Craft” 1. The sheer joy of making things 2. The pleasure of making things that are useful to other people. 3. The fascination of fashioning complex puzzle-like objects of interlocking moving parts and watching them work 4. The joy of always learning 5. The delight of working in such a tractable medium
8. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins ok, so why aren't our jobs fun?
9. Toil
10. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins
11. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Let's Write More Code solution
13. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “a developer writes 10 lines of code per day”
14. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins 10 lines per day …really?
15. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins 12 lines per day
16. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins 29 lines per day
17. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins can we fi x that?
18. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins incentives? solution
19. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins true story (from the internet): paying the team bonuses for lines of code for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) { // code } for ( var i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) { // code }
20. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins __ .__ .__ .__ __ _/ |_| |__ |__| ______ |__| ______ _____ ____ ____ _____ _____ ____ _____/ |_ \ __\ | \| |/ ___/ | |/ ___/ \__ \ _/ ___\/ _ \ / \ / \_/ __ \ / \ __\ | | | Y \ |\___ \ | |\___ \ / __ \_ \ \__( <_> ) Y Y \ Y Y \ ___/| | \ | |__| |___| /__/____ > |__/____ > (____ / \___ >____/|__|_| /__|_| /\___ >___| /__| \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ the team made comments prettier
21. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins the experiment lasted one day
22. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Can AI help us write more code? solution
23. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins 70% unnecessary code
24. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins LLMs are much better at writing code than deleting it.
25. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins is this the equivalent of ascii art comments?
26. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins
27. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins even old-school code assistance produces bloat /** * @return Returns the xyz. */ public String getXyz() { return xyz; } /** * @param xyz * The xyz to set. */ public void setXyz(String xyz) { this.xyz = xyz; }
28. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins comments and commit messages should have a why
29. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins
30. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins should we be trying to create more lines of code?
31. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Is a developer’s job writing code?
32. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “lines of code” is not a good productivity metric for people. or machines.
33. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins
34. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “41% of all code right now is AI generated” – Emad Mostaque, Stability CEO
35. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “41% of all code [that is being written using Copilot] right now is AI generated” – Emad Mostaque, Stability CEO
36. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins copilot users accepted 30% of its suggestions copilot produced 40% of the codebase uh oh, what does that say about the information density?
37. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “negative lines of code”
38. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins you pay your junior developers to write code you pay your senior developers to delete code
39. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins if code is so boring a machine can predict it, maybe it shouldn’t be there?
40. enter … developer joy
41. @trisha_gee @holly_cummins #Gradle #RedHat package com.example; import org.jboss.logging.Logger; public class MyService { private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(MyService.class); public void doSomething() { log.info("It works!"); } } example: logging import io.quarkus.logging.Log; Log
42. @trisha_gee @holly_cummins #Gradle #RedHat package org.acme; import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication; import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication; @SpringBootApplication public class SpringDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { SpringApplication.run(SpringDemo.class, args); } } example: declaring an application
43. @holly_cummins what if… you could inherit boilerplate Hibernate queries from a superclass, instead of having to write them all? example: hibernate
44. @trisha_gee @holly_cummins #Gradle #RedHat @ApplicationScoped public class GreetingRepository { public Entity findByName(int name) { return find("name", name).firstResult(); } void persist(Entity entity) {} void delete(Entity entity) {} Entity findById(Id id) {} List<Entity> list(String query, Sort sort, Object... params) { return null; } Stream<Entity> stream(String query, Object... params) { return null; } long count() { return 0; } long count(String query, Object... params) { return 0; } } example: hibernate with panache @ApplicationScoped public class GreetingRepository implements PanacheRepository<Greeting> { public Entity findByName(int name) { return find("name", name).firstResult(); } }
45. @holly_cummins #RedHat @TestConfiguration(proxyBeanMethods = false) public class ContainersConfig { @Bean @ServiceConnection public PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres() { return new PostgreSQLContainer<>(DockerImageName.parse("postgres:14")); } } public class TestApplication { public static void main(String[] args) { SpringApplication .from(MySpringDataApplication::main) .with(ContainersConfig.class) .run(args); } } @Import(ContainersConfig.class) example: testcontainers
46. @holly_cummins #RedHat the only thing you need to do to make testcontainers work is not con fi gure a datasource quarkus also auto-invokes fl yway and liquibase example: testcontainers
47. @holly_cummins #RedHat but … … the reason Fred Brooks’s developers wrote 10 lines of code a day wasn’t because they were busy writing boilerplate
48. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins What else are developers doing?
52. The 2019 Tidelift survey
 https://bit.ly/3MOEpK3
53. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Measure, don’t guess.
54. measure local build and test times
57. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins What gets measured is what gets optimised, make sure to measure the right thing
58. @holly_cummins #RedHat SPACE • Satisfaction & Well-being • Performance • Activity • Communication & Collaboration • Ef fi ciency & Flow
59. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins McKinsey productivity is so wrong. Because it is.
60. “E ffi ciency means to do things in the right way (repeatable, controllable, scalable). E ff ectiveness means to do the right thing (trial and error, risk taking, adaptability). " Lex Sisney - Organizational Physics: The Science of Growing a Business”
61. Lex Sisney - Organizational Physics: The Science of Growing a Business” “E ffi ciency means to do things in the right way (repeatable, controllable, scalable). E ff ectiveness means to do the right thing (trial and error, risk taking, adaptability). Unless you design against it, ef fi ciency will tend to overpower and snuff out effectiveness."
62. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Dave Farley Trisha
63. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Creating boredom
64. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins “Creating space”
65. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins toil is bad idleness is … good?
66. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Default Mode Network science con fi rms it:
67. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins 14% took showers speci fi cally for the purpose of coming up with ideas
68. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Holly is most productive while • Showering • Running Trisha is most productive while • Knitting this slide was written while running
69. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins tip: use voice memo to capture all the work you do while running * the text on this slide was originally a voice memo
70. Activities to help your DMN - knitting - running - walking - showers - gardening - unloading the dishwasher - colouring
71. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins double-win knitting makes you productive … and you get new clothes
72. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins knitting is useful for a wide range of fi elds aside
73. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins
74. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Embrace the dead time Use it well: - problem solving - thinking - staring into space - play Do not just move e ffi ciently from task to task
75. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Make time for boredom Also make time for play
76. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Fun has business value.
77. @holly_cummins #RedHat piglet litters grow faster if they play more https://www. fl ickr.com/photos/tambako/8746156155
78. @holly_cummins #RedHat “Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. " https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence
79. @holly_cummins #RedHat
80. @holly_cummins #RedHat "Individuals [who just watched a comedy video] have approximately 12% greater https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf
81. @holly_cummins #RedHat Research shows: Fun is good for business.
82. job satisfaction is the no. 1 predictor of organizational performance
83. @holly_cummins #RedHat play helps creativity we work in a creative industry
84. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins creativity makes us happy
85. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins Remember SPACE? The S is developer Satisfaction An important metric in SPACE
87. «τελειοῖ δὲ τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἡἡδονή» ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΈΛΗΣ
88. «Η ευχαρίστηση στην δουλειά βάζει την τελειότητα στην εργασία» Αριστοτέλης
89. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Aristotle
90. @holly_cummins it’s not a trade-off. productivity happiness it’s a double-win.
92. @holly_cummins #RedHat the double win co-benefits win-win twofer überwinden
93. #Gradle #RedHat @trisha_gee @holly_cummins zero-sum is not enough “The only initiatives that will positively impact performance are ones which increase throughput while simultaneously decreasing cost.”
94. @holly_cummins #RedHat using AI to generate code that shouldn’t even be there the double-lose
95. @holly_cummins #RedHat - be careful how you measure productivity (not LOC!) - get rid of drugdery that stops you being effective at your job - being happier makes you better at your job - having down time (and showers, or knitting jumpers) makes you better at your job
96. @holly_cummins thank you hollycummins.com/productivity- messing-around-devoxx/ slides + resources Win a copy of Getting to Know IntelliJ IDEA!