Book Overflow

Join Neal Ford, an expert in software architecture, Rebecca Parsons, a thought leader in engineering, Patrick Kua, a software coach, and Pramod Sadalage, a database design authority, as they delve into revolutionary software practices. They discuss the pivotal role of fitness functions in assessing system qualities and the shift towards cloud and DevOps. The guests explore Python quirks and the importance of conascence in system integrity, while emphasizing the sidecar pattern for managing operations without disrupting logic—all vital for building adaptive software architectures.

Devin Davies, an Apple Design Award Winner celebrated for his innovative recipe app Crouton, shares his journey from weekend project enthusiast to successful app developer. He discusses the challenges of transitioning to SwiftUI and the impact of personal projects on skill enhancement. The conversation explores the fusion of design and technology, emphasizing the importance of continuous education and the joy of creative endeavors. Devin also reflects on navigating the shift toward independence in the creative field, balancing personal passions with full-time commitments.

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups discuss "Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better" by Jennifer Pahlka. This book was personally recommended by Brian Kernighan and is about what processes and cultures make government technology so woefully inadequate. Join Carter and Nathan as they discuss agile vs. waterfall, the importance of a good business culture, and possible infringements on civil liberties!

In this very special episode of Book Overflow, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups are joined by the prolific Robert "Uncle Bob" Martin to discuss his book "Clean Coder." Join them as Uncle Bob talks about his thoughts on the "flow zone," humility, and what coding has to do with flying an airplane! Links to all the books mentioned in the episode can be found in the YouTube episode description: https://youtu.be/wf68VDObVX0 00:00 Intro 03:29 Motivation for writing Clean Coder 06:00 Learning from Life Experiences 09:39 Professionalism and the Challenger Story 17:14 Pros and Cons of Flow State (The Zone) 21:10 Learning from your mistakes 24:11 Sobriety (and a story of getting drunk at a party) 30:17 Timeless advice, Professionalism, and saying No 35:39 Blameless Postmortems and taking responsibility 40:03 Agency, Control, Situational Awareness and Culture 43:58 Unconventional career paths and creativity 53:00 Layers of Abstraction 56:16 Thoughts on AI and LLMs 01:00:58 Book Recommendations 01:06:49 Closing Thoughts

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups finish up their discussion of "Web Scalability for Startup Engineers" by Artur Ejsmont. Join them as they discuss caching strategies, async messaging, and managing burnout in your career! Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week! The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Michael Feathers joins Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups to reflect on his book "Working Effectively with Legacy Code." Join them as they discuss the pros and cons of TDD, the dangers of AI hallucination, and why Michael became a software engineer!

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups discuss "Web Scalability for Startup Engineers" by Artur Ejsmont. Join them as they discuss how to build a stateless front-end, the benefits of microservices, and the differences between SQL and NoSQL!

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Dr. John Ousterhout joins Carter and Nathan to discuss his book "A Philosophy of Software Design." He reflects on why he wrote the book, how he teaches the principles in it to his Stanford students, and what we can learn from our mistakes. --------------- 00:00 Intro 01:18 Motivation for writing this book 06:17 Why No TAs for Stanford Class 08:55 Thoughts on TDD 14:24 Design it Twice 20:30 Most Surprising Feedback 31:46 Taking suggestions with a grain of salt 33:20 Curiosity and Humility 36:13 Misunderstandings from the book 39:37 Strong opinions, humility, and fear of being wrong 44:35 Unconventional Career Paths 50:13 What are you reading? 51:22 Thoughts on Clean Code 53:50 Advice for new software engineers 58:00 Closing Thoughts 

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups discuss the second half of "Working Effectively with Legacy Code" by Michael Feathers. Join them as they discuss how to keep up a good attitude while working on legacy code, how to get started when you're intimidated, and some of the legacy and greenfield projects they've worked on in their careers! ------------ Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week! The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://bookoverflow.io https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Neal Ford joins the podcast to reflect on his book "Fundamentals of Software Architecture!" Join Carter and Nathan as they discuss the challenges of compromising with the business, what shifts AI is bringing to the software architecture world, and what sci-fi Neal's been reading lately!