Choosing the Right Software Partner, Part 2: Evaluating for Great People

Engaging with a service firm isn’t like buying a product. It’s about hiring a set of people to do work on your behalf. Yes, the company as a whole matters, but you also need to be confident that the people there have the right set of skills for your project.

Commit Messages – the Easiest Documentation You’ll Ever Write

When it comes to writing documentation, nobody wants to do the job. And whatever documentation does get written is quickly outdated because nobody wants to update it, either. The most accurate documentation of how a system works is the code itself, but even “self-documenting” code falls short of describing why it was written that way. […]

With Jetpack, Android Development Has Leapfrogged iOS

Over the past six years, I’ve done a lot of iOS development (and written a lot about iOS). I would say it’s been the primary focus of my career. But as a software consultant, I need to be flexible, and I’ve done my fair share of Android development as well. I’m currently working on a […]

My Long, Winding Journey to “Software Developer”

If you take a look at our team page today, you’ll see a little chart showing that almost all of our makers have a college degree, save one very small slice. That slice is me.

Choosing the Right Software Development Partner (with or without an RFP), Part 1: Evaluating Longevity

Finding the right custom software development firm for your project is a tough job. Even a thorough RFP process won’t save you if you’re not looking for the right things. Software projects are notorious for being late, over budget, and frustrating. Why? Making useful, valuable software products takes a lot more than technical know-how.

How to Set a Budget for Your Custom Software Project

Software is never done—there are always more features and functions you could add. So how much should you budget for a custom software project? Some companies keep throwing money at the project without any budget at all. But they can miss out on early client feedback and end up wasting money on the wrong things.

Bluetooth Mobile App Testing Checklist

Bluetooth is one of those technologies that seems like a very simple thing from the perspective of a user—you set it up once and forget about it. But in reality, there’s a lot of complexity hidden behind the scenes. As we all know, wherever there’s complexity, there’s more that can potentially go wrong.

Your Backlog Isn’t a To-Do List – It’s Self-fulfilling Prophecy of Success or Failure

Your backlog is an imperfect, always changing, self-fulfilling prophecy for how your software will be built. Not only that, but at a software consultancy like Atomic, it’s also a prophecy for how the engagement will end and deliver on your brand promise. All this to say: Tending to the backlog is one of the most […]

Four Steps for Inheriting a Codebase

In the last two years, I’ve worked on a few projects passed on to me by other teams. Inheriting an existing codebase can be a challenge, given you weren’t there when architectural decisions were made, you are less familiar with the project domain and client needs, and you are just new to the codebase. In […]

Is Your New Feature Worth It?

When you’ve created a successful application, it is tempting to relentlessly add new functionality. You think that if you stop building, you’ll fall behind. New features bring in new business. They show your existing users that you are still active and adding value. However, it’s important to step back and consider how new features will […]

Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

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