Hackle's blog
between the abstractions we want and the abstractions we get.
Hi - thanks for reading this blog. As a software engineer based in New Zealand, I mostly go by the name Hackle Wayne.
"Between the abstractions we need and the abstractions we get" is a phrase I borrowed from the mighty and hilarious Erik Meijer, particularly, this talk
Besides my day job, I enjoy writing and speaking about programming, especially around designing and programming for correctness - an area that I believe the mainstream can improve a lot on.
I can be hired for my signature workshop "Strong Code: designing mission-critical applications" that is proven productive and inspirational. You may also be interested in the upcoming (fingers-crossed) book by the same name.
To get in touch, this is my email address but reversed: moc.liamtoh@welkcah
How to design and build mission-critical applications with confidence and rigour, to empower both the engineers and the business to move at sustained pace, without fear of breaking things?
The answer is not always to add: more checks, assertions, or tests; more processes, tooling, or services; more patterns, layers, or abstractions; more anxiety, or stress.
Instead, it is often more productive to remove - establishing simplicity by rejecting the "flexible", "powerful" but unsound options, and acquiring soundness by designing the undesirables out of existence.
"Strong Code" lays out the principles for the everyday programmer to achieve such goals by utilising the modern programming features, concepts, and philosophies (which are different from some of the conventional "patterns" rooted in but never go beyond shaky analogies and heuristics).
Part 1: Strong by simplicity
Part 2: Strong by type
Part 3: Strong by discipline
To get the most out of this workshop, the participant should have experience in building non-trivial applications in a modern language.
Usually, the workshops feature unexpected tangents that are inspirational and rewarding for all.