Today we talk with <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-toppa-ab07a7/">Michael Toppa</a>, the Senior Engineering manager at <a href="https://www.fastruby.io/">FastRuby.io</a>. Michael has been a developer, product owner, and engineering director for over 25 years. He had worked for many organizations, including <a href= "https://us.etrade.com/home">E-TRADE</a>, <a href= "https://www.ask.com/">Ask.com</a>, the University of Pennsylvania, <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/">ActBlue</a>, and many others. He is a passionate advocate of agile and lean practices, and today he tells us how to apply them when working with legacy code.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Michael on <a href= "https://twitter.com/mtoppa">Twitter</a> or contact him via <a href= "https://www.fastruby.io/">FastRuby.io</a>.

Agile has become the mainstream in software engineering, and agile principles should feel natural to legacy code menders.

127: Agile Practices in Legacy Code Mending with Michael Toppa

Today we talk with <a href="https://twitter.com/matthiasnoback">Matthias Noback</a>, a long-time web developer and the author of several programming books, including <a href= "https://leanpub.com/rector-the-power-of-automated-refactoring/"> Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring</a>, which he co-wrote with Tomáš Votruba. Matthias tells us how to use <a href= "https://getrector.org/">Rector</a> in your daily workflow, how it automates repetitive maintenance and refactoring tasks, and what is the potential of this approach for other programming languages.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Matthias on <a href= "https://twitter.com/matthiasnoback">Twitter</a>, visit his website at <a href= "https://matthiasnoback.nl/">https://matthiasnoback.nl</a>, and grab his book <a href= "https://leanpub.com/rector-the-power-of-automated-refactoring/"> Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Matthias on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/matthiasnoback">https://twitter.com/matthiasnoback</a> Matthias’ website at: <a href="https://matthiasnoback.nl/">https://matthiasnoback.nl</a> Rector - The Power of Automated Refactoring at <a href= "https://leanpub.com/rector-the-power-of-automated-refactoring/"> https://leanpub.com/rector-the-power-of-automated-refactoring/</a> The Mikado Method at <a href="http://mikadomethod.info/">http://mikadomethod.info</a> Corgibytes at <a href= "https://corgibytes.com/">https://corgibytes.com</a>

Imagine if you could refactor legacy code with a single CLI command? Well, you can, at least if you are working with PHP.

126: Rector with Matthias Noback

There is a lot of buzz around <a href="https://kotlinlang.org/">Kotlin</a>, a new Java-based programming language that many think might eventually replace Java. But is all this talk justified, and are the predictions of replacement realistic?  Today we talk with <a href="https://twitter.com/duncanmcg">Duncan McGregor</a> and <a href= "https://twitter.com/natpryce">Nat Pryce</a>, the authors of <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Java-Kotlin-Duncan-McGregor-ebook/dp/B09CT5KZLM"> Java to Kotlin</a>. They reveal to us all the advantages of Kotlin, why and when you would want to transition to it from Java, and how to facilitate the refactoring in a painless and efficient way. When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Duncan and Nat on Twitter and check out their book <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Java-Kotlin-Duncan-McGregor-ebook/dp/B09CT5KZLM"> Java to Kotlin</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Duncan on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/duncanmcg">https://twitter.com/duncanmcg</a> Mat on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/natpryce">https://twitter.com/natpryce</a> Kotlin to Java, 1st edition at <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Java-Kotlin-Duncan-McGregor-ebook/dp/B09CT5KZLM"> https://www.amazon.com/Java-Kotlin-Duncan-McGregor-ebook/dp/B09CT5KZLM</a> Kotlin Programming Language at <a href="https://kotlinlang.org/">https://kotlinlang.org</a>  Joshua Bloch, Effective Java, 3rd Edition at <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Java-Joshua-Bloch-ebook/dp/B078H61SCH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CG84SQ8VU5ET&keywords=effective+java+josh&qid=1653917364&s=digital-text&sprefix=effective+java+josh%2Cdigital-text%2C260&sr=1-1"> https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Java-Joshua-Bloch-ebook/dp/B078H61SCH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CG84SQ8VU5ET&keywords=effective+java+josh&qid=1653917364&s=digital-text&sprefix=effective+java+josh%2Cdigital-text%2C260&sr=1-1</a> Corgibytes at <a href= "https://corgibytes.com/">https://corgibytes.com</a>

There is a lot of buzz around Kotlin, a new Java-based programming language that many think might eventually replace Java.

125: From Java to Kotlin with Duncan McGregor and Nat Pryce

This is much harder to achieve than it sounds.  Today we talk with <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-frank-06b3675/">Melanie Frank</a>, Managing Vice-President of Cyber Engineering at <a href="https://www.capitalone.com/">Capital One</a>. Her teams innovate boldly to secure the enterprise while obsessing over excellence. Before Capital One, Melanie worked at Honeywell at <a href= "https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a>, where she tested software that conducted scheduling, command, and control for space network communication satellites.  Drawing from her experience in the aerospace and financial industry, she tells us about the significance of testing and how to do it right for your product.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Melanie on <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-frank-06b3675/">LinkedIn</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Melanie on LinkedIn at <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-frank-06b3675/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-frank-06b3675/</a>  Capital One at <a href= "https://www.capitalone.com/">https://www.capitalone.com</a>  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">https://www.nasa.gov/goddard</a>  Corgibytes at <a href= "https://corgibytes.com/">https://corgibytes.com</a>  Empathy in Tech at <a href="https://empathyintech.com/">https://empathyintech.com</a>

We all want our code to be stable and resilient to future challenges. But we need to strike the right balance between testing our systems and the cost of failure.

124: Code Testing With Melanie Frank

Today we are talking with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/taggartsam/">Samuel Taggart</a>, President of <a href= "https://gdevconna.org/">GDevCon N.A</a>. and the owner of <a href="https://www.sasworkshops.com/">SAS Workshops</a>. Sam is a natural teacher, and he enjoys sharing what he learned with others. We talk with Sam about the tools and methods that make our code clean - refactoring, retrospectives, and style guides. While they are all meant to keep us and our code in check, we forget that these tools and methods also need to be under control. Sam reminds us of a crucial question that will help us do just that.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Sam on <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/taggartsam/">LinkedIn</a> and <a href= "https://twitter.com/sasworkshops">Twitter</a> and visit the SAS Workshops website at <a href="http://www.sasworkshops.com/">www.sasworkshops.com</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Samuel Taggart on LinkedIn at <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/taggartsam/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/taggartsam/</a> Samuel Taggart on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/sasworkshops">https://twitter.com/sasworkshops</a> GDevCon N.A. at <a href= "https://gdevconna.org/">https://gdevconna.org</a> SAS Workshops at <a href= "https://www.sasworkshops.com/">https://www.sasworkshops.com</a> Mikado Method at <a href= "https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/a-process-to-do-safe-changes-in-a-complex-codebase/"> https://understandlegacycode.com/blog/a-process-to-do-safe-changes-in-a-complex-codebase/</a> Legacy Code Rocks - Living Documentation with Cyrille Martraire at <a href= "https://www.legacycode.rocks/podcast-1/episode/2fd0fdeb/living-documentation-with-cyrille-martraire"> https://www.legacycode.rocks/podcast-1/episode/2fd0fdeb/living-documentation-with-cyrille-martraire</a> Zettelkasten Method at <a href= "https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/"> https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/</a> Corgibytes at <a href= "https://corgibytes.com/">https://corgibytes.com</a>

We all strive to write an ideal code - easily readable, functional, and clean. We use many tools to achieve this. However, we often forget why we need our code to be tidy.

123: Checks and Balances in Coding with Samuel Taggart

Today we talk with Sarah Withee, a polyglot software engineer, international tech speaker, and robot tinkerer. Sarah is also the author of Code Thesaurus, the polyglot developer reference tool. She tells us about the reasons behind the creation of the thesaurus, its continuous development, and what you can do to make the thesaurus even better.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Sarah on Twitter and LinkedIn and check out the Code Thesaurus project on GitHub.  Mentioned in this episode: Corgibytes at <a href= "https://corgibytes.com/">https://corgibytes.com</a>  Sarah in Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/geekygirlsarah">https://twitter.com/geekygirlsarah</a>  Sarah on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwithee/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwithee/</a>  Sarah’s website at <a href="https://geekygirlsarah.com/">https://geekygirlsarah.com</a>  Code Thesaurus at <a href="https://codethesaur.us/">https://codethesaur.us</a>  Code Thesaurus project on GitHub at <a href="https://github.com/codethesaurus/">https://github.com/codethesaurus/</a>

Imagine if you could compare concepts side-by-side between a programming language you know and one you don't. Well, now you can!

122: Code Thesaurus with Sarah Withee

Today we talk with <a href= "https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/felienne-hermans#tab-1"> Felienne Hermans</a>. Felienne is an associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science at Leiden University and the author of the book <a href= "https://www.manning.com/books/the-programmers-brain?utm_source=felienne&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=book_hermans2_programmers_12_8_20&a_aid=felienne&a_bid=d7c7c538"> The Programmer's Brain</a>. She also developed Hedy, a new programming language that makes it easier for kids to learn textual programming. She tells us how to help young programmers better understand both the code they are working with and their own cognition.  After you finish listening to the episode, connect with Felienne on <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne">LinkedIn</a> and <a href= "https://twitter.com/Felienne">Twitter</a>, visit her website at <a href= "https://www.felienne.com/">https://www.felienne.com</a>, and make sure to check out her <a href="https://www.manning.com/books/the-programmers-brain?utm_source=felienne&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=book_hermans2_programmers_12_8_20&a_aid=felienne&a_bid=d7c7c538"> book</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Felienne on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/Felienne">https://twitter.com/Felienne</a>  Felienne on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne">https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne</a>  Felienne’s website at: <a href="https://www.felienne.com/">https://www.felienne.com</a>  Hedy Programming language at <a href="https://hedycode.com/">https://hedycode.com</a>  The Programmer’s Brain at <a href= "https://www.manning.com/books/the-programmers-brain?utm_source=felienne&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=book_hermans2_programmers_12_8_20&a_aid=felienne&a_bid=d7c7c538"> https://www.manning.com/books/the-programmers-brain?utm_source=felienne&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=book_hermans2_programmers_12_8_20&a_aid=felienne&a_bid=d7c7c538</a> Empathy in Tech at <a href="https://empathyintech.com/">https://empathyintech.com</a>

Coders spend most of their time reading rather than writing code. Yet, when you look at the undergraduate programs, boot camps, and conferences, everything seems to be dedicated to code production.

121: Reading Code with Felienne Hermans

The reason for that is simple, and it couldn't be more human - people who don't feel well don't perform well.  Today we talk with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyotagordon/">Nyota Gordon</a>, the founder, developer, and all-around do-gooder at <a href= "https://transition365.com/">Transition365</a>, a cyber resiliency firm that helps cybersecurity professionals increase their leadership and life skills. Nyota digs deep into the intersection between cyber security, resiliency, and personal wellness. She shares with us some mental health strategies that will improve our well-being and, as a consequence, our work performance.  When you finish listening to the episode, make sure to connect with Nyota on <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyotagordon/">LinkedIn</a>.  Mentioned in this episode: Nyota on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyotagordon/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyotagordon/</a> Transition365 at <a href= "https://transition365.com/">https://transition365.com</a> Brené Brown, Shame Resilience Theory at <a href= "https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1606/1044-3894.3483"> https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1606/1044-3894.3483</a> Symantec Cyber Resiliency White Paper at <a href= "https://informationsecurity.report/whitepapers/symantec-white-paper-the-cyber-resilience-blueprint-a-new-perspective-on-security"> https://informationsecurity.report/whitepapers/symantec-white-paper-the-cyber-resilience-blueprint-a-new-perspective-on-security</a> Amy C. Edmondson, The Fearless Organization at <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KLT8RKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0"> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KLT8RKM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0</a> Charles Feltman, The Thin Book of Trust at <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Thin-Book-Trust-Essential-Building/dp/0988953862/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646648424&sr=1-1"> https://www.amazon.com/Thin-Book-Trust-Essential-Building/dp/0988953862/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646648424&sr=1-1</a> Empathy in Tech at <a href="https://empathyintech.com/">https://empathyintech.com</a>

Some of the biggest risks for cyber security frameworks come from employees meant to maintain them.

120: Cyber Security and Personal Wellness with Nyota Gordon

Today we talk with Prabhjot Singh, serial entrepreneur and the president and CEO of Pyze. He tells us how taking time to better understand the system we are mending can speed up our work and yield much better results.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Prabhjot on <a href= "https://twitter.com/psinghsf">Twitter</a> and <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/psinghsf/">LinkedIn</a> and visit Pyze's website at <a href= "https://www.pyze.com/">https://www.pyze.com</a>. Mentioned in this episode: Prabhjot on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/psinghsf/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/psinghsf/</a> Prabhjot on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/psinghsf">https://twitter.com/psinghsf</a> Pyze at <a href= "https://www.pyze.com/">https://www.pyze.com</a>

Agile is all about the speed of iteration and execution. One of the things that often gets neglected is the business impact of the code we are shipping.

119: Moving Beyond Agile with Prabhjot Singh

We frequently discuss compassion, empathy, and kindness on this podcast. What we rarely focus on, however, is being kind and compassionate to ourselves.   Today we talk with Clare Sudbery. Clare is a lead engineer at Made Tech, and she is the host of the Making Tech Better podcast. Clare tells why it is so important to be compassionate to ourselves and shares with us some techniques on how to achieve this.  When you finish listening to the episode, connect with Clare on Twitter and dive deeper into the subject of empathy in tech by joining our new community.  Mentioned in this episode: Clare on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ClareSudbery">https://twitter.com/ClareSudbery</a> Making Tech Better Podcast at <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-tech-better-made-tech/id1558845124"> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-tech-better-made-tech/id1558845124</a> Made Tech Academy at <a href="https://www.madetech.com/careers/academy/">https://www.madetech.com/careers/academy/</a>  Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff at <a href="https://self-compassion.org/">https://self-compassion.org</a> Empathy in Tech at <a href="https://empathyintech.com/">https://empathyintech.com</a>

We frequently discuss compassion, empathy, and kindness on this podcast. What we rarely focus on, however, is being kind and compassionate to ourselves. Today we talk with Clare Sudbery.

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