Allen Holub talks with Dave Rael about eclectic interests, microservices, agility, fiction, and value
Allen Holub (http://holub.com, @allenholub, allen@holub.com) is an internationally recognized software architect and Agile-transformation consultant. He speaks internationally about these topics and agile-friendly implementation technology (like microservices) and architecture. He provides in-house training and consulting in those areas. He excels at building highly functional Lean/Agile organizations and designing and building robust, highly scalable software suitable for agile environments. He's worn every hat from CTO to grunt programmer, and is an expert-level programmer in many languages and platforms.
Allen is widely published. His works include 10 books, hundreds of articles in publications (ranging from Dr. Dobb’s Journal to IBM DeveloperWorks), and video classes for agilitry.com (Agility with Allen) and Pluralsight (Swift in Depth, Picturing Architecture, Object-Oriented Design) and O’Reilly (Design Patterns in the Real World).
Chapters:
1:18 - Dave introduces the show and Allen Holub5:36 - Allen on Agile8:19 - Allen on Microservices11:50 - Agility and cross-functional teams16:40 - Allen's thoughts on getting interested in software, the nature of software development, the relevance of math, and programming in differing domains19:55 - The societal impacts of increasing automation22:54 - Allen on teaching25:01 - The problems with academics28:03 - Allen's stories of failure - a deficiency of "pushiness", causing trouble and job losses35:06 - Software engineering as a social practice38:32 - Allen's book recommendations40:51 - The things that have Allen most excited43:07 - Allen's top 3 tips for delivering more value47:48 - Keeping up with Allen
Resources:
Allen's Website
Allen's Pluralsigh Author Page
Agility with Allen - Agilitry
John Chowning
Andy Hunt on Developer On Fire
Agile and Lean Software Development Group on LinkedIn
Design Patterns in the Real World - Allen's O'Reilly Course
"All models are wrong" - George Box (not Don Box)
Keith Jarrett
Allen's book recommendation:
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Jane Austen's Books
Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd Edition (The XP Series) - Kent Beck
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement - Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Terra Ignota (3 Book Series) - Ada Palmer
Allen's top 3 tips for delivering more value:
Think about value - focus on making lives better, not process
Deliver as fast as you can and ask people if it's useful
Don't worry about sunk costs - move forward with the best way of providing utility