Suggest modification to this talk

Title

Description

Date

Summarized using AI?

If this talk's summary was generated by AI, please check this box. A "Summarized using AI" badge will be displayed in the summary tab to indicate that the summary was generated using AI.

Show "Summarized using AI" badge on summary page

Summary

Markdown supported

In the presentation titled **Ever Shorter Feedback Loop**, Krzysztof Hasiński discusses the evolution and significance of feedback loops in software development, particularly in the context of compiling and testing code. He emphasizes how advancements in technology have dramatically reduced the feedback loop times, allowing developers to receive immediate results from their code executions.

Key points include: 
- **Definition of Feedback Loops**: A feedback loop is defined as a system where the output affects the input for the next iteration, integral to the software development process. 
- **Historical Perspective**: Hasiński provides a historical overview of feedback loops, from the **1960s** punch cards, where results could take days to receive, to **1980s** personal computing that allowed local compilations and reduced feedback times to minutes. 
- **Too Many Tests**: He highlights the evolution of testing practices, mentioning how the original developers of the AWK programming language implemented basic testing even before formal methodologies like TDD (Test-Driven Development) emerged. 
- **Current State of Feedback Loops**: Today, the challenge is not the computers but the developers themselves—long test suites and complex setups can slow down productivity. 
- **Improving Feedback Loops**: Hasiński suggests several strategies to minimize feedback loop times, such as:  
  - Upgrading local development environments. 
  - Running tests locally and reducing dependency on external services for immediate results. 
  - Streamlining CI/CD processes to quickly gather feedback from deployments. 
  - Utilizing tools to optimize tests like **TestProf** for identifying slow tests, and **Guard** for monitoring file changes.  
- **Real-World Application**: Anecdotes about real-world struggles with slow test suites and CI interruptions highlight the relevance of his discussion. He stresses the importance of fast feedback loops for maintaining efficiency in software development workflows and encourages participants to actively share their experiences. 
- **Conclusions**: The presentation concludes by urging developers to take proactive steps in managing their feedback loops to enhance productivity and avoid common pitfalls that lead to inefficiencies. Hasiński invites attendees to reflect on their own processes and consider tools and practices that can help them achieve shorter feedback loops, reiterating that minimizing the time between writing code and receiving feedback is crucial in modern programming practices.

Cancel