Get off the tightrope - Speaker Deck

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https://codon.com/get-off-the-tightrope GET OFF THE TIGHTROPE

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A very common problem.

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CTO, FutureLearn

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It affects everyone.

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BAD NEWS: it’s serious. GOOD NEWS: it’s ﬁxable.

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THE PROBLEM THE SYMPTOMS THE CAUSES SOME REMEDIES WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

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THE PROBLEM

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Trying to do a big thing all at once.

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A large task, all in your head.

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One long, precarious, all-or-nothing tightrope walk.

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THE SYMPTOMS

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It’s stressful and hard to get right.

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You disappear down rabbit holes.

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You get too invested in your early mistakes.

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You learn to hate interruptions & distractions.

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(Tech culture reinforces this view.)

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http://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt-a-programmer/

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https://twitter.com/phil_wade/status/896010517617180672

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No content

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It takes a long time to pick up your thread again.

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irritability about questions and meetings worrying you’ll forget what to do next typing “git status” and seeing twenty files modified a big long branch with lots of commits saying “WIP”, “fix stuff”, “changed my mind”, “redo this later”

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THE CAUSES

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Eager to make progress.

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Unsure how big it’s going to be.

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Unsure how far you have to go.

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Belief that programmers are special.

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This is ﬂattering, but misguided.

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Opportunities for empathy & collaboration.

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SOME REMEDIES

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Planning ahead.

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Story mapping

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT View product page Add product to basket Enter payment details View basket page Confirm order Ship product Enter shipping details Cancel order

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT Remove product from basket Update old payment details Save product for later Request refund Browse related products Search all products Update product quantity in basket Add product to wishlist

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT time

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT time ? ?? ?

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT Charge credit card Refund credit card Send refund confirmation email Send order confirmation email Filter search results Enter voucher code Sort search results Apply 3-for-2 offer

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT

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CUSTOMER BUYS PRODUCT

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Story mapping breaks down your big problem into small, achievable subproblems.

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History hygiene.

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Make small, focused commits.

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Write commit messages that explain your thinking.

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Keep your branch in good shape.

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Don’t diverge too far from master.

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origin/master my-branch

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origin/master my-branch

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my-branch origin/master

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Cherry-pick preparatory work onto master.

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origin/master my-branch

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origin/master my-branch

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my-branch origin/master

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Use interactive rebase, early and often.

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Introduce Foo Clarify text in UI Rename Foo to Bar Improve performance

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Introduce Foo Clarify text in UI Rename Foo to Bar Improve performance

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Introduce Foo Clarify text in UI Rename Foo to Bar Improve performance

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Introduce Foo Clarify text in UI Improve performance Rename Foo to Bar Introduce Bar

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Practice switching away.

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Test- driven development.

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Learn to switch between the mental modes of red-green-refactor.

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Remember that red-green-refactor is a powerful mind hack.

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Work outside-in with acceptance tests.

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Write tests that really do check what you care about.

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Notes and conversations.

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Take notes and write down questions as you ﬁnd them.

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Practice explaining your train of thought.

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Talk to other people about what you’re doing and why.

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Planning ahead. History hygiene. Test-driven development. Notes & conversations.

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Make your own solutions.

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Notice the risk, then break it down.

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Some resources. http://jpattonassociates.com/user-story-mapping/ User Story Mapping https://about.futurelearn.com/blog/telling-stories-with-your-git-history Telling stories with your Git history http://www.growing-object-oriented-software.com/ Growing Object-Oriented Software Guided by Tests https://pragprog.com/book/rspec3/effective-testing-with-rspec-3 Effective Testing with RSpec 3

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Ashley Ellis Pierce, Git Driven Refactoring

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Valerie Woolard Srinivasan, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Unit Testing Noel Rappin, High Cost Tests and High Value Tests