If your codebase were an automobile, what kind would it be?

A sports car?
A minivan?
A pickup?

Regardless, if you let complexity sneak into your codebase, you'll be driving with one foot on the gas, and one on the brake. The more complex, the harder you're pushing.

Simplify your code. Take your foot off the brake.

"Red, green, refactor" promotes premature abstraction.

Ward Cunningham once answered the "how do you convince management to refactor?" question with: "I don't. I give them two estimates—time to make room for the feature, then time to add it."

He refactors before starting the next user story, not after. The last responsible moment.

Some-teen years later, I connected the dots. I wrote about the workflow I use instead: https://the.codegardener.com/red-green-premature-refactor/

Are you a builder who prioritizes shipping software? Or are you a craftsperson who prioritizes well designed code?

It’s a false choice.

You get more done with well designed code and tests than you do without. Craftspeople move faster than Builders who eventually grind to a tech debt induced halt.

Have you ever been told by an executive that test coverage past 80% produces diminishing returns?

Have you asked them which 20% you should not test?

Have they ever given you an answer?

A vision statement should be an inspirational postcard from an aspirational future. It should be brief. It should draw a picture. It should make you wish you were there!

https://the.codegardener.com/vision-mission-values/

#management #vision #mission #values