Do Repeat Yourself

How do you communicate with the rest of the team when you're engaged in a long-running technical project like a rewrite or migration? Communication can often become stale and irrelevant to everyone else. This talk will provide tactics for keeping your team in the loop.

Transcript

1. DO REPEAT YOURSELF
   CUKENFEST 2018
   SABRINA LEANDRO @saleandro
   

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2. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL PROJECTS
   ▸ Automation improvements, e.g. migrating to continuous
   deployment
   ▸ Upgrades of languages or frameworks, e.g. migrating an
   older Rails version to the newest
   ▸ Infrastructure changes, e.g. move to the cloud
   ▸ Decommissioning features or products
   ▸ Rewriting application to pay off tech debt

   

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3. THIS IS NOT AN EXERCISE IN
   TECHNOLOGY
   

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4. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   As a developer running a long-term technical
   project
   In order get my project prioritised and running
   I want to tie my project to business goals and
   opportunities
   

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5. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   As a developer running a long-term technical
   project
   In order to make sure the project gets finished
   I want to communicate progress to the wider
   company
   

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6. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   As a developer running a long-term technical
   project
   In order to keep my team happy and motivated
   I want to celebrate success as we progress
   

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7. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED:
   

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8. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED:
   ▸ Clear business goal
   

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9. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
   BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED:
   ▸ Clear business goal
   ▸ Incremental steps
   

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10. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED:
    ▸ Clear business goal
    ▸ Incremental steps
    ▸ Milestones for each step
    

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11. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED:
    ▸ Clear business goal
    ▸ Incremental steps
    ▸ Milestones for each step
    ▸ A cool project name #branding ;)
    

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12. DO REPEAT YOURSELF
    

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13. EXAMPLES
    

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14. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    

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15. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    Metaphors
    Hoarders house, gardening, urban planning,
    personal hygiene…
    

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16. @saleandro
    CUKENFEST 2018
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    Red and Green Diagram
    

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17. @saleandro
    CUKENFEST 2018
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    Magic Wand Diagram
    

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18. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    Application inventory
    ▸ List of all applications
    ▸ For each application, define its level of
    maintenance
    

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19. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    BEFORE THE PROJECT STARTS
    Bones Muscle Fat (BMF)
    ▸ Framework to evaluate features using the
    product’s main proposition
    

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20. If we were starting over,
    what would we build today,
    knowing what we know now?
    

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21. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    DURING THE PROJECT
    

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22. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    DURING THE PROJECT
    Audiences
    ▸ Wider company
    ▸ Your tech team
    

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23. @saleandro
    CUKENFEST 2018
    It always takes longer than you
    expect, even when you take into
    account Hofstadter's Law
    Hofstadter's Law
    

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24. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    DURING THE PROJECT
    ▸ Update Red and Green Diagram
    

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25. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    DURING THE PROJECT
    ▸ Update Red and Green Diagram
    ▸ Track progress removing code
    

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26. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    DURING THE PROJECT
    ▸ Update Red and Green Diagram
    ▸ Track progress removing code
    ▸ Gamify goals and metrics
    

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30. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    WHEN IT’S FINISHED
    Celebrate completely decommissioning
    applications
    

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31. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    WHEN IT’S FINISHED
    

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32. @saleandro
    CUKENFEST 2018
    A refactor a day keeps
    the rewrite away!
    Sabrina Leandro
    

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33. DO REPEAT YOURSELF
    AGAIN
    

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34. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    SUMMARY
    ▸ Have a clear business goal, incremental steps with
    milestones, and a cool project name
    

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35. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    SUMMARY
    ▸ Have a clear business goal, incremental steps with
    milestones, and a cool project name
    ▸ Before: red and green diagrams + magic wand, application
    inventory, Bones Muscle Fat framework
    

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36. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    SUMMARY
    ▸ Have a clear business goal, incremental steps with
    milestones, and a cool project name
    ▸ Before: red and green diagrams + magic wand, application
    inventory, Bones Muscle Fat framework
    ▸ During: celebrate all wins, big and small, gamify your
    progress
    

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37. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    SUMMARY
    ▸ Have a clear business goal, incremental steps with
    milestones, and a cool project name
    ▸ Before: red and green diagrams + magic wand, application
    inventory, Bones Muscle Fat framework
    ▸ During: celebrate all wins, big and small, gamify your
    progress
    ▸ After: instil a culture of continuous improvement!
    

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38. THANKS!
    @saleandro
    SABRINA LEANDRO
    

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39. CUKENFEST 2018 @saleandro
    REFERENCES
    Frontend and services architecture:
    ▸ https://devblog.songkick.com/our-object-based-rails-frontend-3e2ddc048d12
    ▸ https://devblog.songkick.com/the-path-to-soa-d986a18d4a8b
    Rewriting Code And Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VEf8j6aGMk
    Strangler pattern: https://www.martinfowler.com/bliki/StranglerApplication.html
    Gamify your progress: https://medium.com/@Songkick/gamify-your-product-team-to-power-
    level-9000-261e9fceaa22
    Hoarders metaphor: https://brightonruby.com/2017/livable-code-sarah-mei/
    Hofstadter’s Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter%27s_law
    A little bit and often:
    ▸ https://martinfowler.com/bliki/OpportunisticRefactoring.html
    ▸ http://ronjeffries.com/xprog/articles/refactoring-not-on-the-backlog/
    

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