Technical debt is a recurring theme of this show. We talk about it almost as often as it pops out in any legacy code! Today we go back to discussing technical debt with . Jim has been a software development professional since 1985. Jim's passion is design patterns, but he recently expanded his interest to software practices and procedures. Jim is also an economics and especially game theory enthusiast, and on top of everything, he is a trombone player! We dive deep with Jim into the economics of technical debt, the root causes of its ever-presence, and the ways to get rid of it. When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with Jim on Twitter and LinkedIn.&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Jim on Twitter at  Jim on LinkedIn at  Freakonomics podcast at

Economics of Technical Debt with Jim Humelsine

Product teams are scared of technical debt and refactoring. They press on to make something new, not to question what they have already created. However, the urgency to deliver new products carries the risk of technical debt.&nbsp; Today, we talk with , a software engineer turned CTO. Andreas is a co-founder of , a company that helps startups and scaleups to get out of technical trouble. Andreas tells us how to work with product teams to address technical debt in the early stages of software development, what tools to use, and what mistakes to avoid.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Andreas on  or  and visit .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Andreas on Twitter at  Andreas on LinkedIn at  Made With Love at

Refactoring in Product Teams with Andreas Creten

To build anew or to rebuild? Many developers have a knee-jerk reaction to start building existing software systems from scratch because they think that is the easiest way forward.&nbsp; Today, we talk with . John is the Bosack Lerner Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. His current research focuses on new software stack layers to allow data center applications to take advantage of communication and storage technologies with microsecond-scale latencies. He is the author of the book "", co-creator of the , and creator of the  and the Tk toolkit. He tells us about the software designs of legacy systems, why incremental changes of legacy systems are inevitable, and how to resist the impulse of rewriting large software systems from scratch.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with John on , read his book, and join his .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: John on Twitter at  John’s profile at Stanford University at  A Philosophy of Software design at  Raft Consensus Algorithm at  TCL/Tk at  John’s Software Design Discussion Group at &nbsp; &nbsp;

Software Design with John Ousterhout

There is an eternal dilemma among software developers - should we try our best to predict the future and build it into our code, or should we just plan for frequent iterations?&nbsp; Today we talk with , CEO of  and software engineer with 3+ decades of industry experience, working to reimagine IT consulting as an industry incentivized by innovative outcomes in global sustainability and social justice. Ashu built and led a global practice of "player-coach engineers" that helped sell and deliver path-breaking digital transformation engagements and laid the foundation of Agile software development in Microsoft consulting services. He tells us how to build durable software that will withstand the test of time and the ever-changing needs of its users.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Ashu on LinkedIn and visit the  to learn more.&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Ashu on Linked In at &nbsp; Caravel Labs at &nbsp; &nbsp;

Building Durable Software with Ashu Chatterji

Every once in a while, it is wise to stop for a second and think about why we do things in a specific way and whether we need to change something. This is where rethinking processes kick in.&nbsp; Today we talk with , a co-founder of hexdevs, a senior developer at Thoughtbot, and a core maintainer of faker-ruby. Stefanni is also a co-host of the hexdevs podcast, a show helping developers take their Ruby career to the next level.&nbsp; She tells us about her keen interest in processes, why they matter, and when the time is ripe to reevaluate them.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, visit Stefanni's blog, check out the Hexdevs website, and listen to the hexdevs podcast.&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: hexdevs website at  hexdevs podcast at  Thoughtbot at &nbsp; Marry Lynn Manns, Linda Rising, Fearless Change, Patterns for Introducing New Ideas at

Process Improvement with Stefanni Brasil

What does it mean to build a cost-free feature in the software, and are cost-free features even possible? Today we talk with . Avdi is a software developer with more than twenty years of experience. During his career, Avdi worked on everything from aerospace embedded systems to enterprise web applications. He is the author of  and a recipient of the  Award. Currently, he spends his time helping developers deepen their coding practice at . He tells us about practices that increase software maintenance costs and how to avoid them.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Avdi on  or , visit his , and check out his training courses at .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Avdi on Twitter at &nbsp; Avdi on LinkedIn at &nbsp; Avdi’s training courses at  Avdi’s website at &nbsp; Avdi Grimm, Confident Ruby: 32 Patterns for Joyful Coding at &nbsp;

Carrying Cost with Avdi Grimm

How to ensure that your code review practices are not just an expensive bottleneck in your team’s productivity but its ultimate superpower? Today we talk with , a Head of Research at DX and the owner of a consultancy and training company, , focused on helping development teams improve their practices and processes. She tells us when to do code reviews, how to get the most value out of them, how to incentivize meaningful code reviews, and much more.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Michaela on , visit her , and check out the available workshops and courses at .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Michaela on Twitter at  Michaela’s website at  Awesome Code Reviews at  Characteristics of Useful Code Reviews: An Empirical Study at Microsoft at &nbsp;

Code Review with Michaela Greiler

There is some disconnect between business people and engineers when talking about technical debt. While engineers understand the metaphor as a credit card debt that has to be paid off entirely and as soon as possible, business people see it more as a mortgage paid in small installments over a long period.&nbsp; Today we talk with , CEO of  and the consultant, author, and speaker helping private equity portfolio companies get good at delivering software. As a former architect at , Dave is well-placed to tell us how to bridge the gap between the executives and the engineers and tackle technical debt in a technically sound and economical way.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, visit the , read the , and connect with Dave on .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Dave on LinkedIn at &nbsp; Mangoteque at  Mangoteque blog at  Dominica DeGrandis, Making Work Visible at &nbsp;

Servicing Technical Debt with Dave Mangot

How many of your passwords do you actually know? Now, how many of those passwords are already on the black web? We are living in a fascinating age of transition from personalised passwords dependent on text inputs and our memory to more advanced access solutions.&nbsp; To help us navigate this evolution, we talk with . Justin is a technologist working on a wide variety of projects and problems throughout the internet. Justin is the founder of , an independent consultancy specialising in internet security and identity. He is the author of  along with Antonio Sanso. He is the editor of several security standards including http message signatures, GNAP, OAuth dynamic client registration, OAuth token introspection, and vectors of trust, and has contributed to dozens of others. He previously spent 15 years at the MITRE Corporation contributing to many different efforts, including collaboration, identity, serious gaming, and security research programs. When you finish listening to the episode, visit the , grab , or connect with Justin on  or .&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Justin on LinkedIn at  Justin on Twitter at  Bespoke Engineering at  OAuth in Action at  &nbsp;

Passwordless Cyber Security with Justin Richer

Microsoft invited the Legacy Code Rocks team to attend Microsoft Build Conference and gave us access to the studio on the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. In this episode, we talk with , the first of the three guests we had an opportunity to chat with at the Conference.&nbsp; Kayla is a Product Manager with Microsoft. She’s currently working on Microsoft Dev Home and helps out the Microsoft PowerToys team. Kayla is also the former product manager of Windows Terminal. She tells us about the maintenance and improvements of the Windows Terminal including the brand-new features added to it, such as tab tear-off.&nbsp; When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Kayla on .&nbsp; The opinions expressed in this episode are Kayla’s and Scott’s and cannot be attributed to Microsoft or its employees in any way.&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Kayla on Twitter at &nbsp; Windows Development Blog at  Microsoft Build 2023 at  &nbsp;

Windows Terminal with Kayla Cinnamon

Microsoft invited the Legacy Code Rocks team to attend Microsoft Build Conference and gave us access to the studio on the third floor of the Seattle Convention Center. In this episode, we talk with Debbie O’Brien and Max Schmitt, both part of the Microsoft Playwright team..&nbsp; Playwright is a tool developed by Microsoft that allows developers to automate the testing of web applications.. Playwright's unique feature is its ability to handle multiple browser contexts, making it efficient for testing complex scenarios and improving cross-browser compatibility. The opinions expressed in this episode are Debbie’s, Max’s,&nbsp; and Scott’s and cannot be attributed to Microsoft or its employees in any way.&nbsp; Mentioned in this episode: Playwright at:  &nbsp;

Playwright with Debbie O’Brien and Max Schmitt

Legacy Code Rocks explores the world of modernizing existing software applications. Hosts Andrea Goulet and M. Scott Ford of Corgibytes are out to change the way you think about legacy code. If you’re like a lot of people, when you hear the words “legacy code” it conjures up images of big mainframes and archaic punch card machines. While that’s true — it only tells a small part of the story. The truth is, the code you leave behind is your legacy, so let's make it a good one.

Economics of Technical Debt with Jim Humelsine

Legacy Code Rocks

Related tracks