Metaphors are everywhere: Ideas to Improve Software Development

Let’s embark on a journey together - a journey in which we’ll weave together the realms of basketball, fiction writing, game development and trading card games to explore how these seemingly unrelated domains surprisingly intersect with the world of software development, offering fresh perspectives and insights.

Discover how concepts, strategies, and principles from these diverse domains can enhance your software development skills and creativity. Let’s celebrate the power of interdisciplinary thinking, revealing how diverse interests can invigorate your approach to software development.

Transcript

1. Today...
   

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2. How did we get here?
   

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3. Stress
   

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4. No Sports
   

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5. There is no Escape
   

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6. Improper Carrying
   

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7. Move it, Tobi!
   

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9. No Games
   

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10. No Games
    No Programming
    

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11. No Games
    No Programming
    😭
    

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13. @spec run(map, keyword) :: any
    def run(jobs, config \\ []) when is_list(config) do
    config
    |> Benchee.init()
    |> Benchee.system()
    |> add_benchmarking_jobs(jobs)
    |> Benchee.collect()
    |> Benchee.statistics()
    |> Benchee.load()
    |> Benchee.relative_statistics()
    |> Formatter.output()
    |> Benchee.profile()
    end
    defp add_benchmarking_jobs(suite, jobs) do
    Enum.reduce(jobs, suite, fn {key, function}, suite_acc ->
    Benchee.benchmark(suite_acc, key, function)
    end)
    end
    

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14. METAPHORS ARE EVERYWHERE
    Ideas to Improve Software Development
    Tobi(as) Pfeiffer
    @PragTob
    Senior Staff Engineer @ Remote
    

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17. Learn
    

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18. Learn
    Helped in the past
    

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20. Inspired by architecture!
    

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21. Learn
    Helped in the past
    Open Questions
    

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22. Different Angle
    

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23. BASKETBALL
    

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24. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    

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25. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    

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26. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    ~1.95m
    

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27. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    Arms like my legs!
    ~1.95m
    

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28. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    Can dunk!
    Arms like my legs!
    ~1.95m
    

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29. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    Can shoot the 3!
    Can dunk!
    Arms like my legs!
    ~1.95m
    

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30. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    Can shoot the 3!
    Can dunk!
    Arms like my legs!
    ~1.95m
    Clearly our best player
    

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31. THE NEW TEAM MATE
    Came down from first squad
    Can shoot the 3!
    Can dunk!
    Arms like my legs!
    ~1.95m
    Clearly our best player
    Are we a
    better
    team?
    

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32. CHEMISTRY
    

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33. CHEMISTRY
    Focus
    

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34. CHEMISTRY
    Focus
    Goodbye
    

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35. BASKETBALL DEV
    ↔ DEV
    

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36. Winning vs Losing
    BASKETBALL DEV
    ↔ DEV
    

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37. Winning vs Losing
    Statistics
    BASKETBALL DEV
    ↔ DEV
    

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38. Winning vs Losing
    Statistics
    One Ball
    BASKETBALL DEV
    ↔ DEV
    

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39. HUSTLE PLAYER
    

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40. Defense
    HUSTLE PLAYER
    

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41. Defense
    All the small plays
    HUSTLE PLAYER
    

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42. Defense
    All the small plays
    Set up others
    HUSTLE PLAYER
    

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43. Glue guy!
    

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45. TEAM FIT
    

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46. BASKETBALL
    

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47. BASKETBALL
    Team Composition
    

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48. BASKETBALL
    Team Composition
    Player Types
    

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49. BASKETBALL
    Team Composition
    Player Types
    Being Glue
    

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50. FICTION WRITING
    

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51. Meet Brandon Sanderson!
    

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52. “Duh, it’s writing Tobi”
    

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53. “Duh, it’s writing Tobi”
    Single Author
    

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54. “Duh, it’s writing Tobi”
    Single Author
    Entertainment
    

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55. There are patterns!
    

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56. There are patterns!
    Tropes
    

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57. SPOILERS
    

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58. The Outsider
    TROPES
    

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59. The Outsider
    The mentor and why they… disappear
    TROPES
    

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60. There are patterns!
    Tropes
    Know why + when to use
    

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61. WORLD BUILDING
    

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62. Logical Consistency
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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63. Logical Consistency
    Bugs!
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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64. WORLD BUILDING
    

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65. Editors
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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66. Revisions!
    Editors
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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67. Revisions!
    Writing Groups!
    Editors
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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68. Revisions!
    Writing Groups!
    Spikes!
    Editors
    WORLD BUILDING
    

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69. LIMITATIONS > POWER
    

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70. HANDING OVER
    

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71. We do this… all the time?
    HANDING OVER
    

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72. FICTION WRITING
    

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73. FICTION WRITING
    (Ab-)use of Patterns
    

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74. FICTION WRITING
    (Ab-)use of Patterns
    Limitations
    

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75. FICTION WRITING
    (Ab-)use of Patterns
    Limitations
    Consistency
    

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76. FICTION WRITING
    (Ab-)use of Patterns
    Limitations
    Consistency
    Vision
    

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77. GAME DEVELOPMENT
    

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78. VISION
    

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79. COLLABORATION
    

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80. Inspiring each other
    COLLABORATION
    

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81. Inspiring each other
    Everybody Playtests
    COLLABORATION
    

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82. Every game as a reaction to the last game
    

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83. Bastion - 2011 Transistor - 2014
    Pyre -2017 Hades- 2018-2020
    Every game as a reaction to the last game
    

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84. GAME DEVELOPMENT
    

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85. GAME DEVELOPMENT
    Reaction to Last Job
    

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86. GAME DEVELOPMENT
    Reaction to Last Job
    Vision & Collaboration
    

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87. CARD GAMES
    

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88. Deck: Tech Stack / Company
    

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89. Deck: Tech Stack / Company
    Hand/Mana: Resources Available
    

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90. Deck: Tech Stack / Company
    Hand/Mana: Resources Available
    Board: Resources Deployed/Problems
    

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91. DECK BUILDING
    

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92. DECK BUILDING
    Win Condition?
    

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93. DECK BUILDING
    Win Condition?
    Matchups?
    

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94. DECK BUILDING
    Win Condition?
    Matchups?
    Weaknesses vs. Win More?
    

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95. DECK BUILDING
    Win Condition?
    Matchups?
    Weaknesses vs. Win More?
    Synergies?
    

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96. LET’S PLAY
    

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97. LET’S PLAY
    Tempo vs. value
    

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98. THE META
    

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99. THE META
    What is currently played?
    

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100. THE META
     What is currently played?
     Balance Patches & new Releases
     

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101. THE META
     What is currently played?
     Anti-Meta
     Balance Patches & new Releases
     

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102. THE META
     What is currently played?
     Anti-Meta
     Balance Patches & new Releases
     

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103. THE META
     What is currently played?
     Anti-Meta
     Balance Patches & new Releases
     

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104. THE META
     What is currently played?
     Anti-Meta
     != best decks
     Balance Patches & new Releases
     

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105. WHY CARD GAMES?
     

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106. Changes often
     WHY CARD GAMES?
     

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107. Changes often
     Testing takes days, not years
     WHY CARD GAMES?
     

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108. CARD GAMES
     

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109. CARD GAMES
     Deck Building
     

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110. CARD GAMES
     Deck Building
     Meta
     

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112. THE META
     

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113. THE META
     Basketball Play Style
     

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114. THE META
     Basketball Play Style
     Writing Style
     

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115. THE META
     Basketball Play Style
     Writing Style
     Game Design
     Writing Style
     

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116. THE META
     Basketball Play Style
     Writing Style
     Game Design
     Writing Style
     Decks Played
     

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117. FIT
     

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118. FIT
     Player Fit
     

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119. FIT
     Player Fit
     Characters, Setting & Plot
     

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120. FIT
     Player Fit
     Characters, Setting & Plot
     Game Play, Narrative, Visuals & Sound
     

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121. FIT
     Player Fit
     Characters, Setting & Plot
     Game Play, Narrative, Visuals & Sound
     Deck Building
     

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122. IT’S ALL CONNECTED
     

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123. METAPHORS ARE EVERYWHERE
     Ideas to Improve Software Development
     Tobi(as) Pfeiffer
     @PragTob
     Senior Staff Engineer @ Remote
     

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124. @PragTob
     THANKS FOR LISTENING
     

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126. Image Credit
     ●
     Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
     ●
     globalite, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
     ●
     Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
     

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