Mike Swieton on Atomic Spin

Development

Software Development Involves Uncertainty, and That’s Okay

Software development is sometimes chaotic, but I'm excited that the things we build are ambitious, even if they operate in a world of uncertainty.

Project & Team Management

How to Estimate Work When You Don’t Know Who is Going to Do It

Estimates are first and foremost for project planning. Eventually, as various team members get familiar with the codebase, disparities should fade away.

Growing as Makers

How to Discover When You’re Working on an Incorrect Technical Solution

Experimenting and making mistakes is a great learning experience. Just make sure to check that you're solving the right problem or using the right tools.

Development

Developing on the Web is Better Than Ever – and Not as Good as It Could Be

The web projects I’ve been building are the best they’ve ever been. Incredibly, we can take for granted the development tools that make this possible.

Development Practices

A Case Study: Understanding Unfamiliar Code Without Aid

I’d like to share how I dug into some unfamiliar code to find some direction so you can see how I approach this sort of problem.

Project & Team Management

Horror Story: How Software Projects Die Through Lack of Maintenance

Often, a software project starts full of promise but becomes too expensive to keep running, ending in death due to lack of project maintenance.

Development Practices

The Mark of a Valuable Senior Developer is…

One critical software development skill is to be willing to fold when a path becomes untenable and be aware of the tradeoffs in a different solution.

UX/Design Practices

App Usability: Just Because It’s “Polish” Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Important

Here are a few examples of details that are often classed as "polish" but that are important for improving app usability.

Personal Optimization

4 Tips for Getting Started Writing Code

Faking data, using a spike, or drawing a picture are great ways to begin writing code when you're not sure where to start on a project.

Web Apps

What Console.Log Really Prints

The browser doesn't evaluate objects right when we print them. Instead, console.log evaluates only one level when printing.

Development Practices

Are Dynamic Items Missing from Your Design Mockups?

Web app style guides always include basic items like error states for forms. Unfortunately, the more dynamic items are often not specified.

Project & Team Management

Dealing with Foggy or Ambiguous Project Starts

Technically challenging projects often begin with a long period of uncertainty. Here are four ways to start moving forward instead of spinning your wheels.

Mike Swieton

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