Software How-To
**Tech Done Right**

The Tech Done Right podcast is a show by and for people who care about what they build. We don’t just build software, we build teams, companies, careers, and communities.
Each episode features host Noel Rappin talking to interesting people in the tech community about building something the right way. We’re not just going to give you our thoughts on the topic, but tools, processes, or references that you can use immediately to build better software and communities.

Latest Episodes:

Episode 52: Small, Sharp Developer Tools With Brian Hogan Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

Small, Sharp Developer Tools With Brian Hogan

TableXI offers training for developers and product teams! For more info, visit http://tablexi.com.workshops or email workshops@tablexi.com.

Guest

Brian P. Hogan: Editorial Manager for DigitalOcean, Author of Small, Sharp, Software Tools: Harness the Combinatoric Power of Command-Line Tools and Utilities, teacher, student, and musician. More info at bphogan.com.

Summary

Developers use a variety of tools other than their programming language to get their jobs done. This week, we talk about those tools with Brian Hogan, an Editorial Manager for DigitalOcean. Brian's a prolific technical educator, writer, and editor and he's currently the author of the book Small, Sharp, Software Tools from the Pragmatic Press. We talk about why command line tools in particular are important, what command line tools do well, and why some people including myself often find them opaque and confusing. We talk about our favorite tools and about customizing your workflow to fit your needs.

Notes

02:33 - Benefits to being comfortable on the Command Line Interface (CLI)

09:43 - Concepts that people struggle with and don’t internalize

11:13 - ‘awk’ and ‘sed’ defined

14:48 - The Ethos of Cargo Culting Information

20:02 - Reminding Yourself to Use Tools and Shortcuts

27:31 - Benefit to Setup/Cost Ratio

30:28 - Differences in Tools on Different Machines and Operating Systems

32:52 - Tools You Should Know Better

37:29 - Practice as Continuous Improvement

Exercises for Programmers

Special Guest: Brian Hogan.

Episode 51: Becoming a Senior Engineer with Jamey Hampton Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

Becoming a Senior Engineer with Jamey Hampton

TableXI offers training for developers and product teams! For more info, visit http://tablexi.com/workshops or email us at workshops@tablexi.com.

Guest

Jamey Hampton: Senior Software Dev at Agrilyst and panelist on Greater Than Code. Blogs at jamey-alea.com.

Summary

On this episode, we're talking about becoming a senior engineer. When you first become a senior engineer, you suddenly have new job responsibilities that aren't coding and they aren't management. It's not clear how to balance your time or evaluate your success. Our guest this week is Jamey Hampton, a panelist on the Greater Than Code podcast and a Senior Engineer at Agrilyst. We talk about how to handle the changing responsibilities and perspective that comes from being promoted even when you're still the same person that you were the previous week. We also talk specifically about hiring as a non-coding responsibility.

Notes

02:00 - Taking on New Responsibilities as a Senior Developer

07:20 - Evaluating Productivity

11:05 - Seeing Victory on an Abstract Level

17:26 - Client Meetings and Talking to Non-Technical Clients

23:21 - Hiring and Conducting Interviews

33:10 - Keeping Up With Coding and Other Skills

Kerri Miller: Crescent Wrenches and Debuggers: Building Your Own Toolkit For Rational Inquiry

Related Episodes

Special Guest: Jamey Hampton.

Episode 50: Your First Open Source Contribution with VM Brasseur Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

Your First Open Source Contribution with VM Brasseur

TableXI offers training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com or go to http://tablexi.com/workshops.

Guest

VM Brasseur: Open Source consultant, Vice President of Open Source Initiative, and Author of Forge Your Future with Open Source. vmbrasseur.com.

Summary

The Open Source world is large. It’s also complex and difficult to manage, especially for a novice. Our guest this week is VM Brasseur, who is the Vice President of the Open Source Initiative and the author of a new book from Pragmatic called Forge Your Future With Open Source. We talk how Open Source is different from free software, and how to get started in Open Source, how to pick a project, how to navigate a new project to make your first submission. We’ll also look at it from the other side, and talk about open source projects can make themselves more contributor-friendly. And we talk about the state of Open Source in general. We want to hear from you. What was your first open source experience like? Or, how do you handle new contributors on your project?

Notes

03:40 - Misconceptions Keeping People From Contributing to Free and Open Source Software

05:27 - Overcoming Impostor Syndrome

08:27 - Why Contribute to Open Source?

10:15 - What Project Do I Start With?

12:32 - Why NOT To Start With Documentation

14:24 - Getting Started With Your First Contribution

Code Triage

20:20 - Advice For Navigating the Open Source Community

22:40 - The Importance Codes of Conduct

24:44 - The Evolution of Open Source

35:29 - Join VM at the Seattle GNU/Linux Conference on November 9th & 10th!

36:33 - Advice For Maintainers Wanting to Make Projects Welcoming

Related Episodes

Special Guest: VM Brasseur.

Episode 49: Accessibility With Luisa Morales Nov 14, 2018

Show notes

Accessibility With Luisa Morales

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com or see our offerings at http://tablexi.com/workshops.

The Table XI inclusive meeting Kickstarter is ongoing as this episode is released, see http://tablexi.com/kickstarter for more information.

Guest

Luisa M. Morales, luisam.com.

Summary

As many as 15 to 25 percent of your site’s potential users may have trouble accessing it due to some kind of disability. How can you design your site to allow your content to be usable by the widest variety of users? My guest today is Luisa Morales, an engineering fellow at the New York City Mayor’s office for Economic Opportunity. We talk about what accessibility means, how to design your site to be accessible, and what guidelines to use to help ensure success. We’ll also talk about a very literal form of accessibility — making your site behave in a way that it is accessible to users with limited bandwidth or older devices. We’d like to hear from you. What issues or successes have you had with accessibility? Let us know at techdoneright.io or on Twitter at @tech_done_right.

Notes

02:15 - Defining “Accessibility” and the Population Who May Be Affected

W3C Guidelines

05:00 - What Web Devs Can Do To Makes Sites Accessible

07:30 - ARIA

09:55 - How Screen Readers Work

12:45 - How To Build in Accessibility

h1 Elements

17:36 - Approaching Page Design

20:23 - Auditing Accessibility Issues

22:20 - Accessibility Based on Access

Progressive Web App
Accelerated Mobile Pages
The minimalist version of CNN is actually at http://lite.cnn.io

26:49 - Accessibility, JavaScript, Single-page Apps and Site Simulation

32:04 - Accessibility is for everyone: Reasons You Should Care

Special Guest: Luisa Morales.

Episode 48: Meetings and Inclusion with Katie Gore and Mark Rickmeier Oct 27, 2018

Show notes

Meetings and Inclusion with Katie Gore and Mark Rickmeier

The inclusion card deck discussed in this episode is now live on Kickstarter. Go to https://www.tablexi.com/kickstarter to get your deck.

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, got to http://tablexi.com/workshops or email workshops@tablexi.com.

Guests:

Mark Rickmeier: CEO of Table XI.
Katie Gore: Founder and Director of speech IRL.

Summary

Today we are talking about meetings. Any group software activity is going to have meetings, and we’re going to talk about making them better, where by better we mean more interactive and able to get meaningful contributions from everybody without letting the loudest or most powerful voices dominate. My guests are Mark Rickmeier, the CEO of Table XI, and Katie Gore, of the communication coaching company SpeechIRL. As this podcast comes out, Table XI is running a Kickstarter for a new meeting tool that you can use to improve your meetings. We’ll talk about how we came to develop the tool, how we use it, and why we think it’s effective. We want to hear from you — what’s the problem with your meetings and how have you solved it? Let us know at techdoneright.io/48 or on Twitter at @tech_done_right

Notes

02:25 - What are the problems with meetings that we are trying to solve?

Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
Accidental Diminishing
People Who Don’t Contribute Enough
Rambling and Tangents
Interrupting

08:40 - Remote Meetings and Communication Styles and Tactics

13:28 - Creating Cards and Gamifying Meetings: “Wicked Meetings”

Question Cards
Opinion Cards
The Interrupter Card
The Devil’s Advocate Card
The Angel’s Advocate Card
The Kicking a Dead Horse Card
Speak Up Card

24:00 - What kinds of meetings do these work best at?

Meeting Owl 360 Degree Video Conference Camera with Automatic Speaker Focus

27:24 - Table XI’s Inclusion Card Kickstarter!

29:23 - How can people and companies get started implementing something like this?

Related Episodes

Special Guests: Katie Gore and Mark Rickmeier.

Episode 47: Empowering Entry-Level Developers with Mercedes Bernard Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

Empowering Entry-Level Developers with Mercedes Bernard

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, email go to http://tablexi.com/workshops.

Guest

Mercedes Bernard: Senior Software Engineer at DevMynd. mercedesbernard.com.

Summary

How can your company empower your entry-level developers to grow their skills and advance their careers? If you are an entry-level developer, what are skills that are important for growth. Mercedes Bernard, a Senior Software Engineer at DevMynd, joins Tech Done Right to talk about empowering entry-level developers. We talk about giving people scaffolding to support them in owning larger and larger parts of a software process, and how to align your entire company to support growth.

Notes

02:15 - Misconceptions About What it Takes to Level Up and The Best Ways to Start Making That Journey

04:17 - On Being a “Domain Expert” or a “Sponsor”

07:52 - Job Switching, Career Advancement, and Promotion

13:48 - Determining Levels and Providing Support

Brandon Hays

20:17 - Scaffolding

21:59 - Entry-Level Struggles: Confidence and Time Management

27:55 - Mentorship

31:01 - Giving Support to Entry Level Teammates: Feedback

33:44 - Signs People Need Support

35:06 - The Importance of Hiring Junior Developers

Related Episodes

Special Guest: Mercedes Bernard.

Episode 46: 20 Years of Web Development with Avdi Grimm and Sarah Mei Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

20 Years of Web Development with Avdi Grimm and Sarah Mei

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, visit http://tablexi.com/workshops.

Guests

Sarah Mei: Founder of RailsBridge, Director of Ruby Central, Software Architect at Salesforce.
Avdi Grimm: Creator of the RubyTapas Screencast Series and author of Exceptional Ruby and Confident Ruby. avdi.codes.

Summary

What has changed in web development in the last 20 years, and what do those changes say about the next 20? I recently realized that Avdi Grimm, the head chef of Ruby Tapas, Sarah Mei, of Ruby Central and Salesforce, and I all began our professional careers within a couple of weeks of each other in August 1998. I wanted to talk to them about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. I was curious as to whether our different career paths led to similar observations. We talk about open source, agile, dynamic languages, distributed systems and how they’ve all changed or haven’t changed the developer’s experience.

Notes

02:19 - First Software Job Education and Experiences

09:25 - What has changed? What is easier/harder?

20:16 - What has changed in Product Management?

27:22 - Processor Speed

32:24 - What has stayed the same?

40:20 - Typed Languages

42:48 - What is going to change over the next 5-10 years?

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction by by Steve McConnell

Related Episodes

Special Guests: Avdi Grimm and Sarah Mei.

Episode 45: Failure Management and Response with Nickolas Means Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

Failure Management and Response with Nickolas Means

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com.

Guest

Nickolas Means | nickol.as | VP of Engineering at MuveHealth

Summary

How can you learn from an engineering team's failure? Can you take the examples of how others have dealt with engineering problems to improve your team's day-to-day operations. Our guest is Nickolas Means, a software manager at Muve Health, who is fascinated by engineering failures. We talk about what you can learn from studying disasters, how to create a company culture in calm times that will works smoothly in stressful times, and how a successful engineering team communicates using stories and how they handle mistakes. Along the way, we talk about the recent incident at the Seattle Airport, the CitiCorp building in Manhattan, Three Mile Island and other engineering and team missteps. We have, I hope, a successful show about failure.

Notes

02:12 - Learning From Engineering Team Failure

Seconds From Disaster

04:49 - Self-Reporting of Near Accidents

How a change in hospital policy saved thousands of lives

06:54 - First Story/Second Story

08:46 - How the Airline Worker Who Stole a Plane in Seattle Exposed a Security Risk

13:44 - The Design Flaw That Almost Wiped Out an NYC Skyscraper

16:33 - Focusing on Blamelessness and Building a Learning Culture on a Team

21:04 - Overpaging Engineering Teams

Charity Majors on overpaging

25:21 - Story Communication

Jeff Bezos Banned PowerPoint in Meetings. His Replacement Is Brilliant

29:44 - Helping Team Members Make Better Decisions

34:29 - How to Behave When Things Go Wrong

The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis

Related Episodes

Special Guest: Nickolas Means.

Episode 44: Learning Programming Languages and Strategies With Katrina Owen Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

Learning Programming Languages and Strategies With Katrina Owen

Table XI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com or go to http://www.tablexi.com/workshops

Guest

Katrina Owen: Blog | Katrina’s Talks

Summary

What's a good way to learn a new programming language that focuses on solving problems and not merely syntax? Katrina Owen is the creator of Exercism, a tool for getting beyond "hello world" in new programing languages. She is also the co-author of 99 Bottles of OOP, and the presenter of a number of outstanding technical talks. We start off by talking about Exercism, how it started, how it evolved and what it’s good at, and then we talk about how the process by which it evolved, and how Katrina learned to analyze the project more strategically, and how that strategic thinking has helped her in other parts of her life and career.

Notes

02:14 - Exercism

03:37 - Solving Programming Language Learning

06:15 - Redesigning Exercism: Conceptually and Logistically

17:41 - Exercism Language Communities

23:45 - Gaining Control of an Open Source Community/Project

27:37 - Strategy and Priority

32:54 - Strategy vs. Tactics

Related Episodes

Special Guest: Katrina Owen.

Episode 43: Rubyists in Other Languages with James Edward Gray II and Steve Klabnik Aug 08, 2018

Show notes

Rubyists in Other Languages with James Edward Gray II and Steve Klabnik

TableXI is offering training for developers and product teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com.

Guests

Summary

Ruby is great. But it's not the best tool for everything. On this episode, I talk to James Edward Gray II and Steve Klabnik. Both James and Steve have made substantial contributions to the Ruby and Rails community, and they now both spend lots of time using other languages. We talk about what makes Rust and Elixir interesting for Ruby developers to learn, what some other interesting languages might be.

Notes

01:48 - Moving Towards Other Programming Languages from Ruby: Why?

03:39 - Rust

17:54 - Other Cool Programming Languages for Rubyists

29:22 - Elixir

Related Episodes

Special Guests: James Edward Gray II and Steve Klabnik.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Tech Done Right

Small, Sharp Developer Tools With Brian Hogan

Guest

Summary

Notes

Becoming a Senior Engineer with Jamey Hampton

Guest

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Your First Open Source Contribution with VM Brasseur

Guest

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Accessibility With Luisa Morales

Guest

Summary

Notes

Meetings and Inclusion with Katie Gore and Mark Rickmeier

Guests:

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Empowering Entry-Level Developers with Mercedes Bernard

Guest

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

20 Years of Web Development with Avdi Grimm and Sarah Mei

Guests

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Failure Management and Response with Nickolas Means

Guest

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Learning Programming Languages and Strategies With Katrina Owen

Guest

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Rubyists in Other Languages with James Edward Gray II and Steve Klabnik

Guests

Summary

Notes

Related Episodes

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6