Comment with Compassion: Empathy, Open Source & a Better World

by Rebecca Miller-Webster @rmillerwebster
and Tanner Welsh @tannerwelsh

Dev Bootcamp - 9 week intensive coding school
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Transcript

1. Comment with Compassion: Empathy, Open Source & a Better World Rebecca Miller-Webster @rmillerwebster rebecca@devbootcamp.com Tanner Welsh @tannerwelsh tanner@devbootcamp.com
2. Why are you here today?
3. Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
4. Open Source • New solutions & perspectives • Sharing, collaboration, & peer review • Exponential impact - multiplies knowledge, effort, inspiration & creativity
5. Not just writing code Building Community Growing Developers
6. Issues with Open Source
7. 1. No greater service to non-tech Issues with Open Source
8. 1. No greater service to non-tech 2. Low participation by minorities & women Issues with Open Source
9. 1. No greater service to non-tech 2. Low participation by minorities & women 3. Assholes Issues with Open Source
10. 1. No greater service to non-tech 2. Low participation by minorities & women 3. Assholes • Abrasive emails, flamewars, RTFM, etc Issues with Open Source
11. 1. No greater service to non-tech 2. Low participation by minorities & women 3. Assholes • Abrasive emails, flamewars, RTFM, etc • Low documentation & user engagement Issues with Open Source
12. People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other.
13. The difference between a tolerable programmer and a great programmer is not how many programming languages they know, and it’s not whether they prefer Python or Java. It’s whether they can communicate their ideas... By writing clear comments and technical specs, they let other programmers understand their code, which means other programmers can use and work with their code instead of rewriting it. Absent this, their code is worthless. By writing clear technical documentation for end users, they allow people to figure out what their code is supposed to do, which is the only way those users can see the value in their code. - Joel Spolsky
14. Empathetic Open Source • Welcoming to new contributors • Respectful communication • Mentorship • Open Discourse
15. We can m a k e o p e n source better! An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
16. Feedback
17. Feedback
18. • Commit messages Feedback
19. • Commit messages • Pull request comments Feedback
20. • Commit messages • Pull request comments • README Feedback
21. • Commit messages • Pull request comments • README • Requests/response for help Feedback
22. • Commit messages • Pull request comments • README • Requests/response for help • Code Styleguides Feedback
23. • Commit messages • Pull request comments • README • Requests/response for help • Code Styleguides • Chat in IRC Feedback
24. • Commit messages • Pull request comments • README • Requests/response for help • Code Styleguides • Chat in IRC • Tests Feedback
25. Feedback works! Rigorous inspections can remove up to 90% of errors from a software product before the first test case is run. Robert Glass Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering Defect detection rates: unit testing: 25% integration testing: 45% design review: 55% code review: 60% Steve McConnell Code Complete
26. Feedback makes us better
27. • Code Quality Feedback makes us better
28. • Code Quality • Knowledge Sharing Feedback makes us better
29. • Code Quality • Knowledge Sharing • Teaching/Mentoring Feedback makes us better
30. • Code Quality • Knowledge Sharing • Teaching/Mentoring • Team Velocity Feedback makes us better
31. • Code Quality • Knowledge Sharing • Teaching/Mentoring • Team Velocity • Collective Ownership Feedback makes us better
32. Most software projects fail because of human error. Emotional Intelligence Engineering Empathy at Dev Bootcamp
33. Core of Engineering Empathy ✦Awareness ✦Empathy ✦Intuition
34. Core of Engineering Empathy Pay Attention ✦Awareness ✦Empathy ✦Intuition Your emotions & physical body
35. Core of Engineering Empathy Pay Attention ✦Awareness ✦Empathy ✦Intuition Emotions in others
36. Core of Engineering Empathy Pay Attention ✦Awareness ✦Empathy ✦Intuition Your body’s warnings
37. It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.
38. Success! Empathy Leadership Community
39. We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.
40. Successful Leadership
41. ★ Inspiration Successful Leadership
42. ★ Inspiration ★ Empowerment Successful Leadership
43. ★ Inspiration ★ Empowerment ★ Compassion Successful Leadership
44. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
45. Leadership happens ...
46. • IRC Leadership happens ...
47. • IRC • Pull Request comments Leadership happens ...
48. • IRC • Pull Request comments • Interaction with new contributors Leadership happens ...
49. How would you respond? STUPID DUMB
50. Compass of Shame Withdrawal Avoidance Attack Self Attack Others
51. Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
52. ctionable Specific A ind K Qualities of Good Feedback
53. ctionable Specific A ind K
54. ctionable Specific A ind K
55. ctionable Specific A ind K
56. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.
57. Empathetic Open Source
58. Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
59. •Be thorough & give yourself time Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
60. •Be thorough & give yourself time •Focus on code not author Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
61. •Be thorough & give yourself time •Focus on code not author •Have a checklist Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
62. •Be thorough & give yourself time •Focus on code not author •Have a checklist •Run the code Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
63. •Be thorough & give yourself time •Focus on code not author •Have a checklist •Run the code •Sign off & hi-five! Pull Requests & Code Review Action- able Kind Specific
64. CONTRIBUTING.md •How to set up & run code •Code styleguide •Channels for getting help or started •Suggestions for what to work on •Suggesitons for various skill sets •Code of conduct Action- able Kind Specific
65. Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
66. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
67. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
68. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
69. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change • Answer: Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
70. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change • Answer: • Why is this change necessary? Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
71. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change • Answer: • Why is this change necessary? • How does it address the issue? Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
72. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change • Answer: • Why is this change necessary? • How does it address the issue? • What side effects does it have? Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
73. • Short summary for 1st line (50 chars) • Word wrap (72-80 chars) • One commit per change • Answer: • Why is this change necessary? • How does it address the issue? • What side effects does it have? • Reference issues/bug and external links/ references Commit Messages Action- able Kind Specific
74. No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
75. Comment with Compasion Lead by Example Lead with Empathy
76. Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better. Tanner Welsh @tannerwelsh Rebecca Miller-Webster @rmillerwebster
77. speakerdeck.com/rmw http://www.slideshare.net/pamselle/wsc-fem-foss-23338972 http://haacked.com/archive/2013/10/28/code-review-like-you-mean-it.aspx/ http://smartbear.com/SmartBear/media/pdfs/WP-CC-11-Best-Practices-of-Peer-Code- Review.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/gsporar/peer-code-review-an-agile-process-2502327 http://robots.thoughtbot.com/5-useful-tips-for-a-better-commit-message https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/ GitCommitMessages#Summary_of_GIT_commit_message_structure http://who-t.blogspot.de/2009/12/on-commit-messages.html http://ablogaboutcode.com/2011/03/23/proper-git-commit-messages-and-an-elegant-git-history/