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Technical

Swimming in Metrics

Metrics are everywhere, but people tend to be divided on their real value and when they should be used. In this week's Weekly Dev Chat, we'll try to answer:

  • What characteristics make a metric “good” (e.g., relevance, measurability, actionability)?
  • Which common metrics tend to become “noise” or vanity stats?
  • How can teams spot metrics that sound impressive but don’t drive improvement?
  • Which metrics are most effective for comparing competing technologies (speed, resource usage, developer productivity, etc.)?
  • What safeguards do you put in place to avoid gaming or over‑optimizing a single number?

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

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Agile, Patterns, Object-Oriented Design: who cares?

Was Agile just a fad? Does anybody still care about patterns anymore? Does object-oriented design still matter?

I was watching a video about city architecture and the famous architect Christopher Alexander, and it was interesting when they showed how he inspired software design patterns. Alexander continues to influence building design; does the "Gang of Four" also have the same impact? How about the Agile Manifesto? Did we go too far with OOD? Or... are these the foundations of software development?

Bonus question: What’s your experience with low-code/no-code platforms? Do they just offload software development to novices, or are they helpful to you?

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.

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Time-Boxing

Do you often time-box tasks while working?

What’s your approach and how do you force yourself to stick to the time constraint you’ve set on a particular task?

When has it helped most in your work or projects?

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

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