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  • in Culture
  • 1 min read

Software as a Garden

There are plenty of analogies comparing software development to art, writing, bridge building, house construction, and more. While out for a walk last night, I noticed weeds taking over the neighbourhood. This got me thinking about debugging as weeding. Sure enough, I'm not alone.

Sometimes these analogies are helpful; sometimes they're not. What's your preferred analogy? How does it help? Where does it fall short?

Everyone is welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others. Zoom link will be posted at 12pm MDT.

garden

  • in Culture
  • 1 min read

Do you change your software development routines in the summer?

Summer is almost here, at least in the Edmonton area. Long sunny days and cool evenings that are perfect for outdoor activities. Which leads to the topic of the June 17th, 2025 Weekly Dev Chat: Do you change your software development routines in the summer?

Does your productivity increase or decrease during the summer? Do you let your computer collect dust in the basement, or do you bring it outside with you? How about on vacation?

Everyone and anyone are welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others. Zoom link will be posted at 12pm MDT.

P.S. - ChatGPT created the attached image. It got the test correct, which is a big improvement from the previous versions.

Chat Post Featured Image

  • in Culture
  • 1 min read

Innovation vs. Structure - When Culture Kills Creativity

Does a playful company culture breed innovation while corporate structure stifles it?

Let's examine:

  • BlackBerry: From Fregin's creative "movie nights" to corporate rigidity... and ultimate failure
  • Twitter→X: From user-driven experimentation to Musk's centralized control
  • Apple: Jobs' chaotic creativity vs. Cook's operational excellence

Questions to ponder:

  • Can companies maintain creativity at scale?
  • Is the innovation/structure tradeoff inevitable?
  • What's your experience in different dev cultures?

Everyone and anyone are welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others.

BlackBerry phone on stand-by