Episode 379 | Richard Rodger - Conscious Decisions

Guest:

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Richard Rodger talks with Dave Rael about the maturing of the web, decisions, the human element in software and business, bitterness, microservices, and choosing wisely

Richard was co-founder and CEO of his previous company, nearForm, where he helped take the company from scratch to an annual turnover of €17 million. Previously, he was CTO of FeedHenry, a mobile application platform provider that was acquired by RedHat for €63.5m in 2014. For several years, Richard has been an active member and influencer of the open source software (OSS) community. He is the creator and maintainer of senecajs.org, a microservices framework for Node.js. Richard is also the host of the monthly Dublin Microservices meetup in Ireland. Richard writes a weekly column in the Irish Independent newspaper. His latest book, The Tao of Microservices, will be published by Manning in 2018.

Chapters: 0:32 - Dave introduces the show and Richard Rodger7:07 - A nostalgic look back at the maturing of the internet11:45 - Chance in career paths and the various virtues that work in software careers14:52 - Decision journaling19:51 - Marketing, sales, politics, and human interaction for developers26:54 - Richard's interest in Microservices33:58 - Richard book recommendation36:02 - Richard's book - The Tao of Microservices - and the learnings that went into it42:54 - Extracting infrastructure and disposable code and infrastructure45:52 - Richard's top 3 tips for delivering more value48:51 - Keeping up with Richard

Resources: Voxgig The Tao of Microservices - Richard Rodger Seneca.js Eternal September "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter." Civilization Irish Independent Newspaper Farnam Street Shane Parrish Farnam Street Podcast Capability Maturity Model Developing software for the space shuttle Greg Young - The art of destroying software Niccolò Machiavelli The Essential Writings of Machiavelli (Modern Library Classics) - Niccolo Machiavelli

Richard's book recommendation: Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction, Second Edition - Steve McConnell

Richard's top 3 tips for delivering more value: There is always an acceptable error rate Don't forget the human factor - Design as much for psychological efficiency as technical efficiency Choose your career path carefully and with open eyes Isolate brain modes