Essay defense
Plant a tree, write a book, raise a child…
…and break prod on a Friday.
What it means to be a software engineer when code is ephemeral.
A quick question
How much of the code you wrote 5 years ago is still alive?
$ git log --since="5 years ago" --diff-filter=D --stat services/user-service/* | 2931 ---------- src/legacy/PaymentGateway.java | 1204 ----- src/plugins/jquery.carousel.js | 388 -- infra/k8s/that-startup-idea/* | 642 --- 47 files changed, 0 insertions(+), 9812 deletions(-)
Roadmap
Three imperatives. One spiral.
01 · Plant a treeBuild to learn
02 · Write a bookShare by building
03 · Raise a childMultiply to transform
→
SynthesisThe virtuous spiral
Preface · The parable
Not a checklist. A meditation on transcendence.
ShadeIdeasFuture
Our version
Developer rites of passage
- Broke production
- 4 hours chasing one env variable
- Abandoned an over-engineered side project
An uncomfortable truth
Most of your code will disappear.
RIP my microservice · 2019–2021
jQuery carousel · 2014–2016
That startup idea · 2020–2020
If code disappears… where does our impact live?
Introduction · AI
What is an engineer for when the machine writes the code?
Back to philosophy
Science seeks answers. Philosophy seeks the questions that matter.
Mathematics 2.0
Machines verify. Humans conjecture.
Calculation · verification · brute forceConjectures · questions · what to explore
The shift
The “how” is a commodity. The “why” and “for whom” are not.
We are applied philosophers.
01 · Plant a tree
Build to learn
The maturity ladder
Code is a means, not the end.
Arithmetic → algebra → proof.
LEVEL 1Writing code
LEVEL 2Reading legacy code
LEVEL 3Understanding the problem
LEVEL 4Deleting unnecessary code
Fred Brooks · No Silver Bullet (1986)
Essential complexity comes from the problem. Accidental complexity comes from us.
Essential · fluid dynamicsAccidental · our tangle
Over-engineering
20 microservices.
0 users.
Tutorial hell
Tutorial 1 → Tutorial 2 → … → Tutorial 47 → ???
Code gets rewritten. Mental models stay.
02 · Write a book
Share by building
Community as an anchor
Giving back isn't an obligation. It's gratitude.
Explaining is understanding
You think you understand it… until you have to explain it.
Impostor syndrome
Those who just climbed out of the hole still remember the way.
xkcd #979 — “Wisdom of the Ancients”
Who were you, DenverCoder9? What did you see?!
xkcd.com/979 · Randall Munroe · CC BY-NC 2.5
What to measure
Clarity > likes.
♥
12.4K
03 · Raise a child
Multiply to transform
Scaffolding, not a crutch
The effort of learning can't be transferred.
The stolen keyboard
Green pipeline.
Learning: zero.
pipeline passed · 1m 12s
Strategic restraint
Ask, don't dictate.
What did you expect to happen?
Where did it diverge?
The mentor's obsolescence
You didn't lose a debate.
You gained a peer.
Synthesis
It's not a list. It's a spiral.
Junior engineer · architecture review
Not a title, not a second shift
Transcendence isn't a job title.
It's not more hours. It's more intention.
Your code will die.
What you taught won't.
Thank you · Questions?
“This saved my whole day. Thank you.”