Better Software Magazine

Better Software Magazine Articles

What's a Manager to Do?

Self-organizing teams still need managers. But those managers need to rethink how they do their jobs and consider how much self-management the team can take on. Finding the sweet spot between hands on and hands off is the key.

Esther Derby's picture Esther Derby
A Map by Any Other Name

A mapping illustrates a relationship between two things. In testing, a map might look like a road map, but it might also look like a list, a chart, a table, or a pile of stories. We can use any of these to help us think about test coverage.

Michael Bolton's picture Michael Bolton
Don't Fear the Repartee

Conflict reduces people's productivity and generosity toward the organization and their coworkers. These four steps can help defuse a conflict situation and improve the chances for a solution that at the least, both parties can live with.

Nance Goldstein's picture Nance Goldstein
Train Wreck Spotting

An oft-overlooked goal of encapsulation is to simplify usage. Without this sensibility, classes can end up with simplistic interfaces and callers can end up with method-call pile-ups.

Kevlin Henney's picture Kevlin Henney
Metrics that Motivate

To implement a meaningful incentive system for your team, you need to select metrics that encourage the behaviors you need and the results you want. But first you have to decide what you need and want.

Linda Hayes's picture Linda Hayes
Follow the Process

Building better software does not rely on methodologies. "Following the process" omits important human factors that ultimately lead us to success.

Lee Copeland's picture Lee Copeland
Simple Summaries Of Complex Projects

How can we meaningfully summarize—in a brief status report without losing important details—the successes and setbacks our projects experience?

Payson Hall's picture Payson Hall
Google Web Toolkit: Writing Ajax Applications Test First

In part two of the series, Daniel introduces Google Web Toolkit's testing infrastructure and demonstrates how to build an Ajax application test first.

Daniel Wellman's picture Daniel Wellman
Getting Agile With User-Centered Design

Agile practices go a long way toward providing value to our customers. But in today's market, we must endeavor to adopt a more user-centered approach to create products our customers can't live without.

Darius Kumana Jon Dickinson
Cover or Discover?

Excellent testing isn't just about covering the "map"–it's also about exploring the territory, which is the process by which we discover things that the map doesn't cover.

Michael Bolton's picture Michael Bolton

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