The Developer’s Guide to Directory Sync (SCIM)
tl;dr: SCIM is an open source protocol for implementing Directory Sync, which is crucial for user lifecycle management (user provisioning/deprovisioning). When selling to enterprises, this is a highly requested feature that can determine whether the deal goes through. However, when choosing to implement this yourself there are a number of pitfalls and implementation details to consider.featured in #499
featured in #499
Leadership Requires Taking Some Risk
- Will Larson tl;dr: Will discusses the scenarios when taking risks make the most sense as a leader. “Taking direct, personal risk is a prerequisite to taking ownership of interesting problems that matter to your company. A risk-free existence isn’t a leadership role, regardless of whatever your title might be. Indeed, an uncomfortable belief of mine is that leadership is predicated on risk. The upside is that almost all meaningful personal and career growth is hidden behind the risk-taking door. There’s a lot of interesting lessons to learn out there, and while you can learn a lot from others, some of them you have to learn yourself.”featured in #498
Are You Ready For PCI DSS 4.0?
- Robert Curlee tl;dr: If your organization handles or processes card payment data, an important milestone is upon you with the coming retirement of PCI DSS 3.2.1 and the following adoption of the new PCI DSS 4.0 standard. SonarQube can help you prepare for the new PCI DSS 4.0 requirements by identifying vulnerabilities, automating standards enforcement, conducting regular code reviews, and training developers on secure coding practices.featured in #498
Patterns Of Legacy Displacement
- Ian Cartwright Rob Horn James Lewis tl;dr: “We have spent most of the last couple of decades helping large organizations overhaul their legacy systems. In doing this we've learned a great deal about what works and seen many paths that lead to failure. We've decided to set aside some time to writing down what we've learned in the form of various patterns that we've seen used.” The authors believe the following four activities should be done in sequence: (1) Understand the outcomes you want to achieve. (2) Decide how to break the problem up into smaller parts. (3) Successfully deliver the parts. (4) Change the organization to allow this to happen on an ongoing basis.featured in #498
Estimating Software Projects: Breaking Down Tasks
- Jacob Kaplan-Moss tl;dr: Jacob describes his process: (1) Begin with a list of tasks or sketch. (2) Think through the steps you need to take to accomplish that task and write them down. Don’t worry about completeness. Each pass just needs to expand on the previous one. (3) For each item, ask the following: Do I understand what change is desired? Do I understand what “done” looks like? Can I define all the steps I would take to get to “done”? Do I have all the information I need? If the answer is “no”, take that task and break it down further using this algorithm again. (4) Repeat until all tasks are sufficiently broken down.featured in #497
Modern Practices For Goal Setting In Software Engineering
tl;dr: How do the best software engineering orgs set and track goals? LinearB’s upcoming workshop: (1) Explores the data behind effective goal setting in software development. (2) Shares strategies elite engineering orgs use for setting OKRs and KPIs. (3) Explains how to use goals to drive predictable software delivery. (4) Includes a free how-to guide + reporting slide deck.featured in #497
How To Give Actionable Feedback On Work Output
- Wes Kao tl;dr: “Super Specific Feedback is extremely concrete feedback primarily on work output. The goal is to strengthen the work product to get it closer to ship ready, and to help the feedback recipient improve their craft and judgment over time.” Wes provides 16 ways to give actionable feedback, starting with: (1) Get “permission” and sell why getting lots of feedback benefits them. (2) Explain the “why.” (3) Avoid the shit sandwich i.e. be intellectually honest and direct, and support it with evidence. (4) Share positive feedback so they know what to continue doing. (5) Aim to be tactical, actionable, concrete, and specific.featured in #496
What If We Rotate Pairs Every Day?
- Gabriel Robaina Kieran Murphy tl;dr: “We developed a lightweight methodology to help teams reflect on the benefits and challenges of pairing and how to solve them. Initial fears were overcome and teams discovered the benefits of frequently rotating pairs. We learned that pair swapping frequently greatly enhances the benefits of pairing. Here we share the methodology we developed, our observations, and some common fears and insight shared by the participating team members.”featured in #496
featured in #496