Explains the distinct missions and approaches of two U.S. government tech modernization groups: 18F and the U.S. Digital Service (USDS).
A critique of government agency workplace culture, listing 19 reasons why technologists avoid public sector jobs and offering solutions.
SUSE's Hack Week allows engineers to work on self-chosen projects, fostering innovation, learning, and collaboration.
A developer reflects on the emotional and professional revitalization they experience at PyCon, the annual Python conference.
A developer shares how starting with a minimal, functional version of a side-project (a Python TODO manager) leads to completion and avoids abandonment.
Five best practices for fostering internal collaboration and culture to succeed in open source projects, especially within large organizations.
A blueprint for product management focusing on building trust, establishing velocity, and strategically killing scope to align product and engineering teams.
A developer reflects on the value of functional, working code over perfect architecture, using a collaborative iOS project as an example.
Advocates for establishing a 'Git-iquette'—a set of etiquette rules for using Git in team projects to improve code history clarity and collaboration.
Explains why government agencies often fail with their first open source project due to cultural and procedural mismatches.
A developer's personal account of joining the US Digital Service at the VA to improve government technology and serve veterans, with a call for others to contribute.
Explores how an organization's core optimization goal, like developer happiness or process, shapes employee behavior and culture, using laptop stickers as an example.
Explains the concept of Ubiquitous Language in software design using a personal medical story to highlight the importance of clear terminology.
Five practical habits to improve your software development skills, including planning, atomic commits, and writing tests.
The article argues for the creative and innovative value of side projects, citing examples from Einstein to open-source programmers.
A developer's year-end review of 2014, covering open source contributions, blogging, and personal goals in software development.
Debunks common misconceptions about DevOps, emphasizing it's a collaborative ideology, not a job title or a cure-all solution.
Explores the cultural divide between technical developers (geeks) and non-technical managers (suits) in government IT and how startups invert this hierarchy.
Analyzes the cultural and technological barriers to modern software development practices in government IT, contrasting it with the private sector.
A guest post contribution on reading other developers' code to learn different problem-solving approaches and evolving best practices.
