Azure & DevOps Podcast

Ryan Riley: Leading a Software Engineering Team - Episode 316

Sep 23, 2024

Ryan Riley, a Principal Software Engineer at Wise Rock, shares insights from his extensive experience in software engineering leadership. He discusses his journey from the .com bubble to leading teams, emphasizing the balance between coding and leadership. Ryan highlights the importance of empowering developers, implementing best practices like pull requests and testing, and navigating architectural choices between monoliths and microservices. He also dives into the complexities of managing cloud costs and ensuring software stability in production.

39:34

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Ryan Riley

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Quick takeaways

Effective leadership in software engineering thrives on empowering team members through ownership and supportive mentoring, fostering growth and collaboration.

Implementing essential engineering practices like pull requests and automated testing is crucial for maintaining quality and efficiency in software delivery.

Deep dives

Transitioning from Developer to Team Leader

The journey from being a programmer to leading a software engineering team often involves a natural progression rather than a forced decision. Many developers grapple with the idea that they must choose between coding and management roles, despite the possibility of balancing both. Team leadership can stem from early exposure to leadership opportunities within projects, encouraging a proactive approach to stepping up when needed. Embracing leadership responsibilities while maintaining coding activities allows individuals to stay connected to their technical skills and remain engaged in the evolving landscape of software development.

Commit to Clarity: The Power of Pull Requests

01:36

Embrace Change: Design for Flexibility

01:18

Intro

3min

Navigating the Tech Landscape: From Developer to Leader

12min

Empowering Developers for Leadership

3min

Essential Practices for Software Development Success

3min

Navigating Architectural Choices in Tech

12min

Navigating Software Crises and Cost Management in Development

7min

Ryan Riley is a Principal Software Engineer at Wise Rock in Houston, TX. He enjoys learning and collaborating on simple, creative solutions to problems, and implementing those solutions with others through teamwork, training, and mentoring. He has worked as a Solution Architect and Team Lead for local and remote teams, focusing on front-end UX and back-end, distributed applications and APIs to delight customers across many industries.

Topics of Discussion:

[:36] Intro to Ryan and his experience in software engineering leadership.

[4:10] Ryan’s early career journey and transition from the .com bubble to software development.

[6:17] How Ryan stepped into leadership roles through initiative and team collaboration.

[8:40] Balancing hands-on coding with team leadership in a long-term software engineering career.

[12:10] The importance of experience and technical knowledge for effective leadership in development teams.

[14:27] Empowering team members to lead projects and grow their skill sets.

[18:15] Key non-negotiables for young developers, including pull requests, testing, and small commits.

[21:28] Architectural patterns Ryan favors, like JSON APIs and balancing between monoliths and microservices.

[28:55] Key strategies for supporting software in production and ensuring stability.

[34:41] Challenges of cloud costs and performance and the importance of managing resources efficiently.

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