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HackCville: "How to Build Better Software"

I’m presenting How to Build Better Software at HackCville on October 8th, 2015 in Charlottesville, VA. It will be a 30-minute talk followed by Q&A.

Abstract

Newer developers tend to make similar mistakes that cost them in time, energy, and frustration. Unfortunately, these lessons aren’t always obvious without hard-won real-world experience, so they’re tough to learn. Even worse, research shows it’s hard for novices to assess their own skill level, so they may not even realize they’re making the mistakes.

In this talk, I’ll try to summarize some of the most important lessons you can learn as an experienced software developer. At the end, I hope you can leave with an appreciation for how difficult writing good software is, and some hints that can make your life much easier.