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The monolith is an architectural pattern where the software application consists of a single executable that is deployed as a whole. It can be difficult to work with when it is being maintained by a single team. But matters worsen if it is managed by multiple teams. Here's why. How Monoliths Grow When a company starts a software product, it usually is a single application. Especially when things need to move fast and there isn't a lot of time for architectural concerns. That doesn't have to be a problem. The application is small and can be supported…

Many legacy applications are difficult to run locally, on the developer's machine. I always recommend teams make it possible to run their code locally. After automated tests, it's a powerful enabler for developers to improve the code quality. Here's why. Working Offline In the past, internet connections weren't always reliable or, when commuting, not available at all. Which was why being able to run your application offline was important. This reason has become a bit outdated, with the increased reliability of networks, mobile phone hotspots and free wifi in so many locations. However, it's still very frustrating…

Should startups disregard code quality so that they can test their product-market fit as quickly as possible? Or should they write high quality code from the get-go? I used to think the former, but an interesting conversation with Kurt Biesemans made me change my mind. Although there is still room for exceptions, depending on the context. Let's explore this more deeply. Finding Product-market Fit The first thought that comes to mind when talking about technical debt and startups is that they shouldn't bother about it too much. They should focus on product-market fit, i.e. get a minimal…

Here's a great story to get you thinking about how legacy code can build up (I can't find who originally told it). At Christmas, a father prepares a Christmas ham. He cuts of both ends and puts it in the baking pan. His child asks why he cut off the two ends, wasting the meat. The father says it's how he learned it from this mother. Later, he wonders about his child's question and calls his mother to ask the same question. She can't answer however, and tells him to call his grandmother, whom she learned it…

Technical debt and legacy code are closely related but not exactly the same. Legacy code is a derogatory term to indicate old code that is no longer well-maintained. Technical debt, on the other hand, is debt accumulated in order to release software. It can be more than just your code. Let's take a look at the different kinds of technical debt that we can accumulate. Code Debt Code debt is the most obvious form of technical debt. It's what matches best with the term "legacy code". It's code that still serves a purpose but developers don't like…

I've written about avoiding technical debt before, and probably will do so more in the future. There's just so many ways to avoid it or at least limit its consequences. At the very least, you should be writing automated tests. But let's look at another way to avoid technical debt: no writing the code at all. Am I joking? Not at all! Technical debt inevitably starts accumulating early on in a project. Either corners need to be cut, or situations change. This leads to different kinds of technical debt, but it's inevitable that your software will end…

I've written about the test pyramid before. It provides a guideline on the type of tests you need and how many. But recently, I got in a conversation on what the test pyramid actually means. Is it about code coverage? Or is it purely about the number of tests? A Brief Recap The test pyramid gives us guidance on how our test suite should look like. We should have less tests that use many components and more that test only one or two components: The reason we follow this guidline is that the tests higher up the…

I was recently on the Tiny DevOps podcast and mentioned the Disaster-Release Ratio metric. And although I've written about it before, but the podcast made me decide I should dedicate a separate article to it. But before we continue, I came up with this metric while at work with a client, but someone else might already have thought of it before me and just named it differently. If so, feel free to point this out to me. What is a Disaster? The Disaster-Release Ratio is a simple metric that focusses on "disasters." These are bugs that make…

When we set out to improve our legacy code and reduce the technical debt, should we go for perfection or for an ideal solution? Should we be perfectionists or idealists? The two may sound similar, but they have important differences. This is a reaction to an email by Jonathan Stark. He sends out a daily email about starting and improving your business. In one of these emails, he explains the difference like this: Perfectionism is a refusal to accept any standarshort of perfection.Idealism is the practice of pursuing ideals, even if they are unrealistic.Perfectionism is about rejection.Idealism…

Are you finding yourself having a hard time explaining technical debt? You might have a good grasp of what technical debt is and why it's holding you back, but that doesn't mean your manager fully understands. Let's look at some ways you can explain things to management. The Debt Metaphor Ward Cunningham coined the term "technical debt" as a way to explain the concept of taking shortcuts and having to bear the consequences. So you can explain technical debt by taking that literally: it's a debt the team is taking. A certain technical choice is more costly…