The Economics of Software Design / Manufacturing Slack

The Software Craft Community @ DATEV is very pleased that we could attract J.B. Rainsberger for a talk. The basis for his talk are the following two topics.

The Economics of Software Design

Every month, someone new asks me the question, “How do I convince my manager to let me refactor?” While it’s true that a manager shouldn’t constrain the programmer’s plans to deliver high-quality code, the fact remains that some organizations allow their managers to assert this level of micro-control. In this talk I outline a set of models for justifying evolutionary design with basic economic concepts that relate directly to delivering, planning, and funding software projects. This talk will provide you with a solid argument to meet any skeptic’s rational objections to writing tests first and letting both low-level design and architecture emerge.

Manufacturing Slack

I once asked a group of people in one of my classes how they intended to use in their work what they learned in the class. One person replied, “We don’t have time.” I hear this almost everywhere I go, and when I do, I let these people know that unless they invest time in applying what they learn, that training is purely a cost with no benefit. Most organizations I talk to believe that they have no time to improve. They do; but they can’t see it. In this talk I outline a method for finding slack time in your process that you can use to make the improvements you’ve wanted to make for weeks, months, or even years.