Jesse Builds Software

I used to use Getform for a contact form on my consulting company website. I recently received an email from them announcing that their free tier was dropping from 50 submissions per month to a lifetime limit of 25. This makes it useless for anything more than a trial, and their lowest tier is a more expensive than other similar options.

I’m not here to complain about companies taking back free offerings. I don’t like the change, and I wish they’d given me more than three days of notice, but they are a businesses, and businesses need to make money. It is a good reminder though: even if something is free to use, it still takes time and effort to integrate, to maintain, and you may occasionally need to throw it out and find a replacement.

Two things that are important to me are being honest and treating everyone with dignity. However, some situations make it difficult to do both at the same time. It is possible, though. It takes effort, creativity, and a bit of trust, but it gets easier with practice.

When I talk about being honest, I actually mean being candid. Candor means both being honest and also communicating in good faith. Many fantasy authors have written about characters who never lie but are also fundamentally dishonest. Candor eliminates this loophole. I push myself to communicate everything that feels important, even if it’s uncomfortable or to my own disadvantage.

I’ve been happily using the Dvorak keyboard layout for more than 25 years. I switched because I thought typing faster would be a benefit in my career. I can type faster, and it also reduces the strain on my wrists. It does have some drawbacks though. If you had asked me before writing this post I would have told you that I love it, but now I’m not so sure.

I am a strong advocate for code reviews. They have many advantages including improving code quality and team communication. On the other hand, they take a lot of time and add yet another delay to the development pipeline. With the wrong team culture, they can create hard feelings and discourage honest collaboration. This is a heavy price to pay, and yet, I’ve seen many teams that do them without ever talking about how or why.

Back in September Google announced that Google Podcasts will be shut down. It is supposed to remain available until April of 2024 and be available for exporting data until June. I chose not to wait.

I have been using Spotify happily for music for years now, so I decided to give it a try. I didn’t do any research or look for other options. I had some confidence that it would be a reasonable option however because Spotify has been putting a lot of effort and money into its podcast offering.

I am very pleased to announce the launch of my new company, Pragmatic Potato Software.

Pragmatic Potato is helping customers with software architecture and development. We can help with architectural investigations, software design, development process, interviewing, and even development. You can find out more about the kind of services we’re offering on our spiffy new website: pragmaticpotato.com/services/.

If you’re interested, contact me through my website. Let’s have a quick conversation and see if we can help you.

Architectural Decision Records are a simple technique that promotes good architectural thinking and better collaboration. They don’t need to be big or complicated to be effective, but they do take some time, and are yet another step between setting goals and delivering value. If you use them in the right circumstances they can be a big help.

What is an Architectural Decision Record?

An Architectural Decision Record (often abbreviated ADR) is just as the name implies: a document that describes an architectural decision. It can include various details, but should at a minimum describe the problem being solved and the solution that was chosen. It can be a simple text document with a page or two of text, or it can be longer with specific sections that are important to the team.

A couple of years ago I switched this blog from a WordPress site hosted on GoDaddy to a statically generated site. The new setup is faster, more secure, and cheaper to operate. And it was easy to do!

Static vs Dynamic websites

WordPress is a very popular blogging platform. You can use it hosted on WordPress.com, or any number of other web providers that offer it. Because it’s open source, you can also host it yourself easily. In my case, I had a virtual server running in GoDaddy where I maintained the installation myself.

I spend a fair bit of time working on this blog. More than I probably should given my unimpressive view metrics. It does help me to crystalize my thoughts and practice articulating points that are important to me, but I’m spending an awful lot of time doing it. Ultimately, I write because I enjoy writing. I just wish I could spend less time per post.

For a while there I was getting hammered by ads from Grammarly, and in a fit of frustration, or maybe I was avoiding yet another hour of editing, I signed up. I didn’t start with the free trial, I went straight to Grammarly Premium expecting that it would be great.

Building software is a mostly creative endeavour, and as such, it sometimes resists progress. No matter how hard you try to push forward, if you are truly stuck, continuing on the same path is unlikely to work. Fortunately, there are a few different tricks you can use to get going again.

Take a rest

The easiest way I’ve found to get back on track is to take a break. When in the office this was often making a cup of tea or eating a snack in the break room. It could have been a ten-minute walk around the block, but if I’m honest, I have rarely tried this.