Upcoming Computer Science Colloquium on Deliver Fast with Confidence by Joseph Yoder

The computer science department by way of our research group is hosting a colloquium talk (free and open to the public):

  • by: Joseph Yoder
  • about: Deliver Fast with Confidence
  • on: 2018-02-01, 16:00 Uhr
  • at: Martensstr. 3 (blaues Hochhaus), Raum 02.152-113 (second floor)

Abstract: Being agile, with its attention on extensive testing, frequent integration, and focusing on important product features, has proven invaluable to many software teams. When building complex systems it can be all too easy to primarily focus on features and overlook software qualities, specifically those related to software architecture. Time has shown that agile practices are not sufficient to prevent or eliminate technical debt, which can ultimately affect reliability. Many issues arise when there isn’t good validation through tests and constant attention to the architecture and code quality. It is important to recognize what is core to the architecture and the problem at hand while evolving it. If there is not enough attention on the architecture and the code, technical debt will creep in to the point where it can become muddy, making it hard to deliver new features quickly and reliably. Two principles that can help teams deliver more quickly and with confidence is to focus on code quality and delivery size. Small frequent delivery with constant attention to a good codebase is crucial to being able to sustain faster reliable delivery. Practices that can help keep the code clean or prevent it from getting muddier include: Testing, Divide & Conquer, Gentrification, Quarantine, Refactoring, and Craftsmanship. This talk examines various practices and techniques such as Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Continuous Inspection, along with techniques to pay good attention to software quality, all of which enable teams to deliver fast and with confidence.

Speaker: Joseph (Joe) Yoder (agilist, computer scientist, speaker and pattern author) is the founder and principal of The Refactory (www.refactory.com), a company focused on software architecture, design, implementation, consulting and mentoring on all facets of software development. Joe serves as president of the board of The Hillside Group, a group dedicated to improving the quality of life of everyone who uses, builds, and encounters software systems. He is best known as an author of the Big Ball of Mud pattern, which illuminates many fallacies in software architecture. Joe teaches and mentors developers on agile and lean practices, architecture, building flexible systems, clean design, patterns, refactoring, and testing. Joe has recently been working with organizations and thought leaders on the best practices for including quality aspects throughout the complete software life-cycle. In 2015 he won the New Directions award with a colleague at Saturn 2015, given to the presentation that best describes innovative new approaches and thought leadership in the application of architecture-centric practices for the presentation “QA to AQ: Shifting from Quality Assurance to Agile Quality”. Joe thinks software is still too hard to change. He wants to do something about this and believes that you can start solving this problem through the use of proven practices (patterns) and by putting the ability to change software into the hands of the people with the knowledge to change it.