Nathan A.

I'm going to post a few challenges I have had as a software QA. I should be relaxing today but those that know me, know my brain is always in thirty places at once. To developers: Trust your QA. Y'all don't know how many times I've heard, "Well, it works on my local". I don't care. In the test environment, it breaks. I do my due diligence to investigate why, present evidence in logs and from the database, present recordings, and meticulously document steps of reproduction and results. And even after, I still get, "It works on my local". Get off the dang local. NO ONE knows this software, app, platform, etc. better than the QA because we live it more than anyone else does. To business analysts: I know you all are overwhelmed. But please stop copying and pasting Acceptance Criteria for similar features. It makes a mess for developers and QA because the AC doesn't match or conflicts with not only the developed feature but integration as well. Which brings me to my next point... What QA is: Everyone thinks of us as just testers. I am sick of that. I spend half my time working with the product owner, BAs, and Devs, just making sure the AC reflects the solution needing to be resolved. I can't tell you how many times I have had to address with the BAs conflicts in a story over AC, nonsensical AC, WTF verbiage, etc. So then the developers get confused and we are in long meetings addressing what is messed up. We are here to help you ask the questions you didn't think to ask. We don't just test..... we look at future issues too. We like process improvements. Automation: Stop asking me to automate a one-off feature test that hasn't even gone through UAT yet. It's time wasted. Too many companies do this. Might as well give me the day off for the time it takes to do that because the automation is useless after UAT. Learn the purpose of automation. Product Owner: When I tell you before a demo not to demo certain things because there are still issues, don't shred me after the demo because you decided to demo them anyway and they break. I TOLD YOU not to do that, and why. Data: QA worst nightmare. My last position I would get two test records to test against 20 AC when I first started. I said "Helz no". I built up a catalog of test records I could use, positive and negative, as I progressed because I want multiple records against every AC. Which I often shared with the developers for their unit tests who loved it. QA needs data, all. You give me two records, don't yell at me that coverage isn't thorough. Probably sounded more a rant. But I'm opinionated. Where many QA are not. And these are common issues. Want to improve QA, improve the above.

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After a third-of-a-century career as a software tester, I'm done. I'm hanging 'em up. I'm retiring. I'm 58 years old and therefore supposed to call this an "early" retirement. I'm not going to let the nominal age at which I can start drawing Social Security benefits define early-vs.-late, though, so I am not going to use that term. I have no grand retirement plans. My horizon is a couple-three months out - I have a few hobbies, and I'm going to install Jira at home and build a backlog of maintenance and improvement projects* with the intent of not being in a particular hurry to start executing. (*both "home" and "personal", if you follow me) You know what, though - this sounds like the first chapter of some kind of adventure novel. "How did I end up getting involved in <something you'd never think I'd do>," something along those lines. So I'll write it out loud here - I'm way past being the protagonist in a thriller story, but if you need someone to be, like, the guy on the other end of the phone who provides you the information or communication assistance so that *you* can undertake the dangerous and exciting adventure, hey, call me up. A career in software testing leaves me with no special adventuring skills or important influential connections, or anything like that, but at least I'll have some spare time, the need for which, in my opinion, isn't emphasized enough in the description of supporting characters in novels and movies.

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I've seen a few posts lately saying things like "all code is a liability." It's pretty hard for me to accept that mentality, and it puts a super negative spin on the value developers bring. I'll be the first to support the idea that we're here to bring value, not to just write code for code's sake. But oftentimes the code is what delivers value, which makes it an asset. If you're building a SaaS, or an APaaS, or firmware for your hardware, your code is your most valuable asset. Without that code, you have no product. It makes me wonder - are there any other industries that would call their most valuable asset a liability? 🤔

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Once you hit the #SeniorDev title, your career as a #SoftwareEngineer can go one of three ways. All of these are legitimate decisions and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise! 1. Management -> This is the oldest and likely the most well-known option. You can head into management and start developing careers of those younger than you. If you love mentoring others and like focusing more on the non-technical management of a project, this is probably the route you want! 2. Staff -> The term "#StaffEngineer" is relatively new to the industry. Many think its title bloat, but I disagree! I think the industry as a whole saw that we needed a new role and we created it. (See my blog on https://iamsellek.com for in-depth info on what a Staff Engineer role looks like!) If you prefer to work in the tec, and you enjoy the bigger-picture aspects of running a codebase/project from the technical side, this might be the route you want! 3. Stay Senior -> Some people look down on this option. Those people are wrong. If you love writing code and doing some light mentoring, there's nothing at all wrong with sticking around as a Senior dev! Some people spend their entire careers here. TLDR? Figure out what you like best about your job. If you prefer mentoring and the non-technical aspects of managing a project, you can head into management. If you want to focus more on the technical side of managing a project and/or a codebase, go with Staff! And if you're happy where you're at, there's nothing wrong sticking with Senior Dev. Now go seize your future! #career #SoftwareEngineer #CareerLadder #future

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It drives me crazy when developer tools and APIs are hard to use just because the products are named badly. Companies shoot themselves (and their users) in the feet because employees have too much context to know when names are confusing. There's a 3 level hierarchy of naming quality that more companies should internalize. Names are either: 1. Obvious 2. Ambiguous 3. Misleading The goal should be obvious names, or at worst, ambiguous names with proper explanation of the meaning. Bad names happen when amiguous names aren't explained or they're outright misleading (meaning they seem to obviously mean one incorrect thing). </rant>

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The number of characters that need to change to fix a bug is inversely proportional to the amount of time it takes to find the bug.

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Tech companies always seem to want a "hands on player coach" dev manager. Most candidates I speak with find fault in this... They ask me, "are they looking for a manager or a developer?" Regardless, companies will typically put dev managers through technical interviews just like developers. Even with Director or VP level roles. They still expect those tech leaders to be "hands on player coaches". Richard Ford is an anomaly. He's a CTO who still writes code. ***He's also available right now if you need a talented CTO*** Richard does a great job of explaining why it's valuable to have hands on player coaches in tech leadership roles. Elon Musk was quoted saying ”I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent. Managers in software must write great software or it’s like being a cavalry captain who can’t ride a horse!” That makes sense to me. But when you ask dev managers/directors/VPs "when was the last time you wrote a line of code?" most will admit it's been a few years. That question eliminates the lion share of candidates from consideration. But talented hands on player coaches like Richard are out there. Whenever I place a highly sought after hands on player coach, I always stay in touch. They often need to hire more people for their new team. After a few months on the job, I'll ask them, "So, how much of your day-to-day is coding?" Most will say "oh, none, this job is 140% management". I think to myself, why did they need to hire a hands on player coach then? Aside from that, I've witnessed dozens of senior developers get promoted into dev manager roles and end up bowing out after 6-9 months. Sometimes they don't realize they're signing up to be in back-to-back meetings all day with no time for coding. Dear Dev Managers: Are you still hands on? Whenever you hire a hands on player coach, do they have time to actually be hands on? In reality, would a talented people manager with software engineering in their background be just as good? AI writes most of the code these days anyways, right? Where do you stand on this debate? #handsonplayercoach #playercoach #devmanager #appdevmanager ---------------- FOR JOB SEEKERS: I offer a 45 minute consultation for $250 which includes a resume & LinkedIn profile review, career positioning & job search advice, and elevator pitch refinement. Afterward the meeting you'll receive an updated resume in word and PDF format, directions on updating your LinkedIn profile section by section, and a custom LinkedIn banner to upload. Use this calendar link to schedule a consultation: https://lnkd.in/ed2K9jmV FOR HIRING MANAGERS: I'm actively seeking new job orders to work on. If you need recruiting support, fill out a New Job Order Search Request Form: https://lnkd.in/e756wJwr I'll review and get back to you ASAP if it's something I can help with.

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Hire for the person you need 3-6 months after a person fills the role. Or, better yet, the next role. You can teach a specific tool or how you code within a specific programming language. So don't hire for that unless the job is BUILT around that tool. The things you're really looking for propel the person into the next role or into doing more in the current role - and faster. When I see what you've got your applicant tracking systems screening for...it can really make me shake my head. I come from the days before it was all online. From when it was both easier as simpler. I used to place ads in a thing called a newspaper. Yes, really. So the advice comes from then as well. Make every word count on your job description. Put your specifics in the preferred qualifications. Know what you truly care about, and commit to keeping your tech job descriptions relevant to the work and a career path. You'll have to revisit and revise tech job descriptions more frequently than other types of roles. Today's advice - do not filter out people with 10+ years of technical experience who lack a technical degree. Need a hand hiring tech people? I can help.

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I spend a lot of time in engagements working with the engineers and leadership so that everybody wins. I think I've decided one of the places I've messed up is still using the term "technical debt" with executives. It doesn't work. Engineers use the term like credit card debt. Too much is bad and we pay a high price for it. Executives use the term like mortgage debt. Debt allows us to do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to do. When Ward Cunningham originated the term, he was talking about drag on an organization. I'll continue to use the term with engineers, but with execs, paying down tech debt will now be "making investments in margin improvement". Paying down tech debt is an investment in efficiency. Efficiency gives margin improvements among other things. Margin is EBITDA. Better EBITDA is something *all* PE folks understand. What do you think? Will changing the language help bridge the gap?

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You can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. If you find yourself with a team that isn't shipping fast enough, you can't use tactics to "increase the sense of urgency". You need strategy. And that's a problem for the Engineering Manager, not the individual contributor. Certainly, allowing developers to be co-owners of a project is best practice, but that only works if it's actually true. That is, if a developer suggests a better way and you ignore it, or a VP 2 steps above shuts it down, then the team is going to learn very fast to keep their heads down. You need buy-in from leadership. In other words, if you fake it, your people aren't stupid. They may placate you, but they'll know. The gaming industry is still finding this out... And another nit. If a developer commits to a timeline that is unrealistic the first time, oh well, it happens. But if this keeps happening, then what are you as an Engineering Manager doing about it? Releases are often a point of resource contention. If you're running into situations where you can't release because of an individual bottleneck, it usually points to a process issue that you need to fix, instead of blaming devs for missing deadlines that are hard to predict.

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In over 20 years and many companies (check my profile!) of doing this, I’ve never found that there is a single “right” way of doing things. Some companies are very risk tolerant. Some are very risk averse. Some demand clean, supportable code at all times. Some just need to get it shipped as soon as possible. If you’ve only worked one or two places, you may think that the way they do things is the right way. That’s a jr dev mentality. Be open to the idea that there may be a sound reason for doing things a different way.

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So many Developers come to me with the same problem: "I'm unhappy in my current job, but I don't know what would make me happier." It's a really overwhelming position to be in. How can you start a job search if you don't know what you're looking for? If you're in a similar position, here's what I always suggest: 1️⃣ Make a spreadsheet or grab a piece of paper. 2️⃣ Separate the page into: - Fixed salary - Bonuses & perks - Work-life balance - Setup (office/hybrid/remote) - Culture - Colleagues - Management - Progression/growth opportunities - Challenge - Overall happiness 3️⃣ Then, rank each category out of 10, and think about what's behind your scores. By breaking your job into bite-sized pieces and inspecting each one, you'll be one step closer to identifying what's missing from your current role and what you'd like to gain from your next one. I hope this is helpful, and if you need any support, you know where to find me! 🙂 #MobileDevelopers #SoftwareDevelopers #AppDevelopers

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Train your Brian! I'm baffled as to how this got into production. There are two types of developers. 1) Those who would build this as is. That's their job. Build what's given. 2) Those who would look at it and say "this thing that's not technically my job doesn't look right, let's find someone to sanity check this". I have worked with both types. I know which type progresses faster. (Hint: it's not the first type) Or perhaps I'm wrong, and this game does indeed help to train your Brian.

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I think many people in the software industry make the mistake of viewing tech debt like a loan in deferral. They decide to add to their debt assuming there is no short term cost, but one day they will have to start paying it down (or declare bankruptcy with a huge rewrite). A more accurate analogy would compare your tech debt to credit card debt. You immediately start paying for this debt. The minimum payment would barely chip away at the interest accruing. You pay that cost in your project with every feature. The tech debt you add today makes the feature you add tomorrow more difficult. Every work item you take on without addressing the debt will be more difficult, and will likely add to the debt itself. With both analogies, a common end result is crippling debt that grinds your progress to a halt. However, the former analogy assumes that you are making quick progress, when that simply isn't the case. "The only way to go fast, is to go well." - Robert C. Martin

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“Developer health first” ... I pitched in a board meeting. “I don’t know, Gabe. We’re not a wellness company”, leadership told me. If you don’t know me: I’m a recovering workaholic and dealt with an illness called CIRS for years. I was heavily invested in the developer community and they donated $22k for my treatment. I then realized that beyond being a tech talent marketplace, our passion at G2i is Developer Health. You see, putting the developer first has real benefits. For tech workers AND clients. My story about my health isn’t unique. Thousands of developers deal with burnout, stress, and health issues. People produce their best work and sustain it for longer when their mental and physical health is protected. It actually makes a lot of sense to prioritize health. In his book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins writes about how every company needs a “hedgehog concept”: The one thing they can do better than anyone else. Developer Health was our hedgehog concept. We hired Michelle Bakels, our first key hire for Developer Health. She had her own experiences in burnout. We hosted dozens of convos with the Developer Health Twitter Spaces, launched the Developer Health Show, wrote the Developer Health OS, and more. We grew G2i’s team, recruiting more developers who wanted to avoid burnout and wanted a healthier work environment. We’ve served 100s of developers and companies over the years. And we keep expanding. Developer health first... It’s not just a passion. It’s vital for our employees, our clients, and ultimately developer success. --- PS. If you are a developer and want to talk about dev health, hit me up and I'll gladly answer your questions.

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Ok, everyone has an unpopular take. Here is mine. Your testing is flawed. All of it. Automation? Flawed. Manual? Flawed. BDD? Flawed. Code coverage? Flawed. Entrance or Exit? Flawed. Performance? Flawed. Environment? Flawed It's all flawed. Why? Because the moment you put something into Production, that is a series of variables you CANNOT duplicate in test scenarios. Because there are dozens of other systems out there that you have to play nice with, and you CANNOT duplicate these in test environments, Because the customer has expectations that the moment you flip the switch, things will work out of the box and everything will sync up nice and everyone will be happy. Until Mary can't get to the Company Payroll systems because no one mentioned that tidbit in Discovery calls. You CANNOT duplicate Mary. And, there is a flaw in this post. Did you find it?

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I was watching a video that talked about what software developers focus on at different stages of their careers, and one notable take was that "Distinguished Engineers" are focused on the *industry*, and not just their company. This is typically because they've engaged with communities outside of where they're working for many years. They say travel "broadens the mind", and learning from and sharing with developers in a wide range of situations tends to give people a much broader sense of software development. Not everything is Big Tech or Fintech or Medtech or Gametech. Not every product is a smartphone app or a website. Not every product has millions or billions of users. (Proportionally, very few do, in fact; so it's interesting how much we obsess over scale.) Not every code base is 100 million lines. Not every code base is 100,000 lines. Not every system has contemporary hardware to run on. Not every platform can accept updates easily (many embedded systems are ship-once). Not every bug or outage is merely an inconvenience (just ask an airline pilot!) Not every product is about profit. And so on, and so on. Learning about what other people, in other roles, in other organisations, in other industries, in other countries, do will tend to make you a much more well-rounded software professional. It will expand your horizons, as well as create opportunities for the wider developer community to have their horizons expanded from your experiences. In particular, there seems to be fairly wide agreement that a "Distinguished Engineer" has made a notable and lasting contribution to the field and the profession of software development. This seems to be encouraged in organisations who pay it forward; who are happy for their most experienced engineers to "share the love" outside of the walls of their business. When a dev, say, creates a testing framework or writes a book or organises a meet-up on their employer's dime, the employer recognises the long-term value of paying it forward. When employers insist developers engage outside of the business entirely in their own time, and entirely at their own expense, those people will usually end up distinguising some other company. And, of course, if that dev-all-the-way-to-the-top career track isn't on offer, then ditto :-)

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Posts that ATTEMPT to classify Software Developers get it wrong ALL THE TIME. Here's why... There is no 'customer focused engineer' or '10x ninja'. There are only two types: 1. Developers with no side projects. 2. Developers with unfinished side projects.

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It's been a couple weeks since I stepped into the role of Engineering Manager. At my company its a hybrid role - the goal is 50% managing the team, 50% coding/building. Now that I've had a couple weeks doing both its clear - coding is easier than managing 😂 #softwareengineering #leadership

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