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Hacking Development Culture: Treating Developers As People I work at a growing company where the main "money-making" app was a monolithic and upgraded over time from a Ruby on Rails 1 codebase. Working in a fast moving startup where stopping for six months to rewrite is NOT an option. The development culture at the time revolved around simply passing QA and getting features out the door. On top of that, finding seasoned Rails developers to help mend the codebase are rare and hard to hire. All or any of this sound familiar? This is our story of how I balanced and satisfied management's requirements of getting new features out the door but at the same time shaping a rag tag group of developers and turned us into a well oiled machine where now code-quality, code reviews, pair programming, and test driven development are part of the development culture. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/HTA2/
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The video titled 'Hacking Development Culture: Treating Developers As People' features Austin Fonacier, who shares his experiences as the lead software architect at Spokeo. Fonacier's talk focuses on the evolution of the development culture at Spokeo, which transitioned from a chaotic environment dominated by technical debt to a more structured and quality-driven approach. This transformation occurred against the backdrop of a company that initially operated on a Ruby on Rails 1 codebase and later upgraded to Rails 3 without a complete rewrite due to the fast-paced nature of startup demands. Key points discussed include: - **Initial Challenges**: Fonacier describes the difficulties faced when he joined Spokeo, including a high level of technical debt and a culture where developers often worked in isolation, focusing purely on meeting QA standards rather than fostering collaboration or code quality. - **Communication and Upgrading**: He emphasizes the role of effective communication, highlighting how senior developers advocated for the upgrade to Rails 3 by stressing its necessity for long-term sustainability and security. - **Addressing Technical Debt**: Fonacier explains how he tackled technical debt as he undertook a feature task, dedicating time to rewrite and streamline outdated code, improving testability and performance in the process. - **Implementation of New Practices**: The adoption of service objects to enhance code organization, coupled with a new emphasis on peer code reviews, greatly improved the coding standard and reduced bugs. - **Cultural Shift**: The gradual changes in development practices nurtured a more supportive environment where developers felt invested in their work, ultimately leading to better product quality and a more enjoyable workplace. - **Management's Role**: He advocates for managers to invest in their engineers, treating them as valued contributors rather than mere resources, which fosters greater engagement and productivity. In conclusion, Fonacier reflects on the importance of navigating challenges within organizations and the necessity of promoting a developer-centric culture that prioritizes collaboration and quality over merely meeting immediate demands. He encourages treating engineers with respect and autonomy, noting that such investment benefits both individuals and the company as a whole.
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