DEV Community: X-Team

Why Pair Programming Makes a Difference and When You Should Do It

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 18 May 2023 10:18:11 +0000

Pair programming is a programming technique where two software engineers collaborate on a piece of software simultaneously. In an office, this is done at a single workstation where the two engineers sit side by side. Remotely, this is done through a communications channel like Zoom, Hangouts, or Teams, and a collaborative IDE like the Live Share extension for Visual Studio.

The two engineers each take on a role when pair programming. One engineer is the driver who writes the code and makes tactical decisions. The other is the navigator, who reviews the code on the go, gives directions, and stays focused on more strategic decisions. Unless one engineer is much more experienced than the other, both engineers should frequently switch roles to stay engaged and share the different workloads equally.

The Benefits of Pair Programming

Pair programming is a controversial topic because it doesn't work in every scenario. It's not something you can simply start doing without considering how to do it. It's a skill that takes some effort to get good at. But the benefits of pair programming are genuine.

First, it improves the quality of your software. A meta-analysis found that pair programming leads to higher-quality software when compared with solo programming. This makes intuitive sense, because you have two sets of eyes looking at the same code at the same time.

Second, pair programming speeds up knowledge transfer between engineers. There will always be differences between how you program and how someone else programs, even for the simplest of applications. You'll always learn something new by watching someone else program and being able to ask questions about why they did something a particular way.

Third, when done correctly, pair programming ensures that engineers are intimately up-to-date with the entire codebase. No engineer works on a piece of code entirely on their own. Instead, they work together with other engineers and, in the navigator role, have to consider how any particular feature fits within the larger codebase.

Fourth, pair programming helps to quickly onboard new team members. When a new engineer joins a company, it can take a while before they're familiar with the codebase. Not only does pair programming speed up this process, but the engineers will be able to hit the ground running with the help of someone who's already familiar with the codebase.

When Does Pair Programming Not Work?

Let's start with when you shouldn't do pair programming:

When you need to be in the zone. Sometimes you just need to crank out some fresh code and you're better off doing it on your own versus collaboratively.
For routine or simple tasks. Pair programming is quite intense and may not be worth the mental effort for tasks that you can easily do on your own.
When you have extremely tight deadlines. Although pair programming often results in better-quality code, it can take a little longer to get there.
When the engineers aren't compatible. Not all engineers work equally well together. Always ensure there is a reasonable match between the skill levels, experience, and work styles of both engineers.

When Does Pair Programming Work Best?

Pair programming is the most effective in the following scenarios:

For complex problems that require brainstorming. Two engineers can come up with more and better solutions than one engineer. Scenarios include algorithms that touch many parts of a codebase or have intricate business logic.
For fast test-driven development (TDD). There's a pair-programming scenario called ping-pong where one engineer writes code along with a failing test for that code. The other engineer then takes over and rewrites the code until it passes the test, then writes a new failing test for the updated code.
When writing high-stakes code. Especially for code related to security or performance or a business-critical feature, it's better to have two engineers working on the problem over one. Their combined knowledge will drastically decrease the chances that something goes wrong.

In Conclusion

Pair programming isn't necessarily a must-do. But as long as the two engineers communicate properly, set good objectives for every session, and take frequent breaks, it can be a great tool in an organization's toolbox to improve the quality of its code.

How to Conquer Stress as a Software Developer

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 11 May 2023 09:32:00 +0000

The most productive developers are those who don't burn out. They're the developers who have learned how to manage stress in a stressful profession. We're not talking acute stress, or the stress you feel right before a big event or important demo. We're talking chronic stress, or the stress that's always there simmering in the background. The stress that's subtle until it's suddenly not.

Chronic stress leads to physical health problems if not addressed properly: heart disease, obesity, elevated blood sugar levels, muscle tension, insomnia, and a worse immune system, to name only a few. Chronic stress leads to mental health problems too: irritability, aggression, sadness, depression, and concentration problems, among others. So it's in your best interests to keep your level of chronic stress as low as possible.

In this article, we will address a few of the most common stressors that software developers face. Next, we will introduce a few ways to combat chronic stress. The links in each section lead to articles that greatly expand on any given point. See in what little ways you can incorporate the advice of this article into your everyday life. One step at a time, you'll eventually become much more resistant to stress.

3 Common Stressors for Software Developers

Tight Deadlines

On the one hand, deadlines are inevitable and necessary to drive software projects forward. On the other hand, deadlines are often inaccurate and inflexible, and a major source of stress for many software developers.

Deadlines often don't incorporate crucial elements of the software development cycle, like testing or fixing bugs. They are also often too short because stakeholders underestimate how long it takes to program seemingly small changes in legacy applications with large amounts of technical debt.

Too Many Technologies

What other industry moves as fast as software development? It's hard to name a single one. Software developers can easily fall under the impression that they're falling behind if they're not always learning the next big thing.

Even when you're aware that hyped technologies lose their shine pretty quickly, it's not uncommon for developers to wonder if they should learn a new language, framework, or library. The thought is always there, in the back of their minds, and for many that's low-key stressful.

Superhuman Competition

Software development has this persistent image of the young, superhuman developer who cranks out incredible code sprint after sprint, project after project, with no need for rest. Someone who earns an easy $250,000 annually at a FAANG company, has an incredible personal website, many successful side projects, and probably a frequently-updated blog on the side too.

Social media exacerbates this problem because they're the people who surface to the top of your feed. It's survivorship bias. You only read about the success stories, never about the failures. It's hard not to compare yourself with these success stories, these seemingly superhuman competitors, and it can easily become a source of stress for any software developer.

How to Conquer Stress

Create a Healthy Work Environment

There are many layers to what constitutes a healthy work environment. Let's start with an easy one: ergonomics. An ergonomic workspace will reduce the stress on your body and, subsequently, on your mind. If you work remotely, you have plenty of freedom to design your home office in the most ergonomic way possible, but even if you work in an office it's worth asking for ergonomic improvements like:

A standing desk
An ergonomic chair
A monitor arm
Good lighting

Another important aspect of a healthy work environment is an organized workspace. In terms of an uncluttered physical desk, but also in terms of your digital workspace. More specifically, how and where you organize tasks, files, folders, et cetera. Being able to quickly find what you're looking for gives you a sense of control, which in turn reduces stress.

The final aspect of a healthy work environment that we want to address here is to set the right boundaries and manage expectations with your employer or client. When they overload you with work, either learn how to say no or at least communicate how new work will impact your existing work.

Additionally, help other people break down big goals into manageable subtasks to improve the accuracy of a project's deadlines, and try to add a buffer to deadlines that you believe are too tight. This may not be in your job description, but if it involves you at any point, it's better to help others so everyone suffers less deadline stress further down the line.

Take Care of Your Body

This won't come as a surprise to anyone anymore, but your physical health impacts your mental health and vice versa. So take care of your body. More specifically, move your body every day. It doesn't have to be complicated. It could be a ten-minute bodyweight workout or a half-hour walk. Exercise releases endorphins, which are feel-good hormones that actively get rid of stress hormones.

Taking care of your body also means taking frequent breaks. Unless you have a standing desk, you're probably sitting down right now. Every hour or so, break for a few minutes. Stand up and move around. Don't check social media, because that will only increase stress levels. In fact, don't look at any screens. Instead, look at something far away for a moment to relieve eyestrain.

As best you can, eat good food and drink plenty of water too. Don't trick yourself: Too much alcohol, too much sugar, or anything else that feels compulsive in nature will make you feel worse instead of better. It's worth learning how to cook. Not only will this increase the chances of you eating well, but cooking can become a pleasant break from screens in its own right.

Take Care of Your Mind

First of all, don't be too hard on yourself. In her exceptional book The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal writes that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control. Self-compassion, however, is associated with more motivation and better self-control. It's counter-intuitive, but those are the results that keep coming up study after study.

A physical way to take care of your mind is through meditation and breathing techniques. Again, this needn't be complicated. Ten minutes a day is much better than zero. Meditation trains you to quiet your mind (or at least observe it) while breathing techniques like 4-7-8 immediately lower the amount of cortisol in your body.

Additionally, you are not alone in your struggles. Speak about what causes you stress with those close to you, whether that's friends, family, or a therapist. Alternatively, bring it up at work. Your manager may not know you're under a lot of stress. Especially in a remote job, it can be hard to tell. It's usually better to overcommunicate than it is to undercommunicate.

As a final point, it's worth reminding yourself that you're not competing with the world. Don't compare yourself with the success stories you see on social media. If anything, reduce your social media to a minimum. You are competent and unique and can absolutely achieve your goals if you set your mind to it.

How to Overcome Time Zone Obstacles in a Remote Team

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 09:41:46 +0000

Companies hire remotely in part because the talent pool is much larger. Instead of finding the most talented applicant within commuting distance of your office, you can search for the most talented applicant anywhere in the world. This means that, with the right hiring policies, you can create a world-class remote team of exceptionally talented individuals.

But it also means that you'll need to work together with your colleagues across different time zones. This is a challenge unique to remote teams that, when not addressed, can affect team productivity, communication, and morale. In this blog post, we will explore seven strategies for ensuring seamless collaboration across time zones.

Schedule Meetings Thoughtfully

This should be a given. When you schedule a meeting, consider the time zones of every participant. What may be Friday morning for you could be Saturday morning for your Australian colleague. They may not tell you and feel obliged to show up during their weekend.

Use something like World Clock Meeting Planner or ChatGPT to find a time that works for everyone's time zone. If there's no suitable time for everyone, agree to rotate meeting times so everyone shares the burden of meetings at inconvenient times. It's a small price to pay for the many benefits of remote work.

Leverage Asynchronous Communication

Just like there should be no expectation for anyone to join a meeting in the middle of the night, there should be no expectation for anyone to reply immediately to regular messages. Remote work and asynchronous communication are like peanut butter and jelly. They work really well together. Some would argue they should always go together, and it would be a strong argument.

Let people stick to their work schedules by making it clear you don't expect a reply straight away. Don't message how are you? and wait for a response. It doesn't work in a remote team. Instead, structure your messages so you give as much required information as possible upfront. This will allow your colleagues, when they reply, to immediately respond with a proper answer.

Set Clear Expectations for Response Times

Of course, the above doesn't mean your colleagues can wait weeks before they get back to you. Information needs to flow within a company, so you have to set clear expectations for response times. As a best practice, 24 hours should be enough time to get back to someone regardless of where they're based.

This doesn't mean you have 24h to do whatever your colleague asked for. It means you have 24h to acknowledge you've received their message and are working on it. This, of course, only counts during working hours. When you receive a message on your weekend, it's entirely fine to reply when you're back on working hours.

Record and Share Meeting Notes

Not everyone will be able to attend all meetings all the time. Sometimes, a meeting will fall during someone's 3 AM. For such scenarios, record your meetings and/or share meeting notes. This way, everyone stays in the loop and has access to everything you've discussed even if they couldn't be present at a particular meeting.

The best way to take notes during a meeting is to assign someone who does so. That person then has the responsibility to format the notes so they're understandable for someone who hasn't attended the meeting, and then to share those notes with whoever couldn't make it.

Be Mindful of Cultural Differences

Different time zones, different cultures. Some cultures work on Sunday instead of Friday. Some cultures celebrate New Year in months other than January. Some cultures work from late morning until late evening. Others from early morning to late afternoon. As a global company, you have to be respectful and mindful of these differences.

The easiest way to make this work is to simply tell people. Some software makes this easy: Slack allows admins to create a field for working hours that will show in your profile, so people have an approximate idea of when you'll be online. Alternatively, when there's a misunderstanding, just tell people how you generally work.

Plan for Overlapping Work Hours

Asynchronous communication is fantastic, but you will want at least some overlap in work hours for your remote team. A few hours a day is great, because some tasks are best done together. Examples include brainstorming sessions, all-hands meetings, problem-solving meetings, and handovers. Doing these together will also encourage a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.

Treat Your Team Like One

It's important that everyone treats each other as if they're part of the same team. There should be no Team US, Team Japan, Team Brazil in the same organization because of different time zones. Everyone's part of one team, regardless of where they're based. This is crucial.

As such, when issues arise because of differing time zones, a little bit of flexibility and understanding go a long way. When everyone's willing to adapt their schedule just a bit, almost all problems with time zone differences will go away. It really isn't a big problem once you've made the appropriate changes. Before you know it, it'll be second nature to work together with a team that's distributed all around the world.

Master These 6 Powerful Principles to Boost Your Developer Career

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 11:12:00 +0000

Robert Cialdini spent three years observing masters of persuasion. Telemarketers, car salespeople, fundraisers, and other professionals whose roles rely on their ability to persuade others. He then published his findings in a book titled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. That was 1984. The book has never been out of print. It's considered one of the best books on influence and persuasion.

What's in it? Six powerful principles that uncover not just what made these masters of persuasion so successful, but also how anyone can climb the career ladder faster. In this article, we will go over each principle and how you can use it to boost your career as a software developer.

1. Reciprocity: Give and You Will Receive

When someone does something for us, we naturally want to do something in return. The concept of reciprocity is deeply rooted in our cultural and social norms. In a professional setting, people often freely give advice, assistance, or gifts because it encourages the recipient to give back.

One of the ways you can leverage reciprocity as a developer is through open-source contributions. Do something for a community or project and it will lead to more opportunities, collaborations, and help from others even when you're not expecting anything back.

Another way to use reciprocity is through your knowledge. Write blog posts, do a tech talk, and answer questions on StackOverflow to create a sense of goodwill with the developer community that can encourage others to offer help and guidance in return.

2. Consistency: Stay Dependable

People have a strong desire to stay consistent with their past actions and beliefs. Once someone has made a commitment (especially a public one), they'll want to follow through with it to maintain a coherent and consistent self-image.

You can leverage this principle to your advantage in many ways as a software developer, especially in negotiations. For example, after you've set the boundaries for a software project, you can fight scope creep by referring back to the boundaries you've agreed upon. The stakeholder will want to stay consistent with their past and, when phrased properly, will be inclined to agree with your arguments.

Of course, you have to find a balance too. You can't forever stay consistent with your past self. It's equally important to embrace change and new ideas, especially in the software industry. Understanding when you should be consistent with your past beliefs and when it's time to update those beliefs is a core skill for any successful software developer.

3. Social Proof: Showcase Your Success

If a large number of people do something, chances are that it's either good or at least safe to do it yourself. We rely heavily on social proof to make our decisions, from choosing a full over an empty restaurant to choosing one company over the other based on its Glassdoor reviews.

Software developers use social proof to understand which tools, libraries, and frameworks to use. But it's useful in another way too: Don't be afraid to showcase the social proof you've collected over your career, whether those are awards, certificates, or a well-regarded open-source project. These nuggets of social proof instill trust and credibility with whoever wants to know more about you.

It's important to note here that social proof works best if people identify with it. For example, if a small business is looking for a developer, the developer should show social proof from other small businesses. This will work much better than, say, a testimonial from Apple (which would lean more on the Authority principle described below).

But never rely exclusively on social proof. While you can't do this for every decision, for important decisions, think critically and evaluate for yourself too. Your use case may differ from the majority of other people and you may well be better off taking the road less traveled.

4. Authority: Become the Expert

Be a rebel all you want, humans have a natural tendency to trust and obey those in authority. This comes from the belief that those higher up have access to more accurate information, more valuable insights, and better-informed judgments.

In the context of software development, you should always seek to improve your existing skills. The trick is to become the expert. Then share your knowledge with the rest of the world. The more you put yourself out there talking and writing about a particular topic, the more others will see you as an authority.

Just make sure to use your authority responsibly and ethically. We all know examples of people who are authorities in their field, but who are also manipulative or exploitative or not as competent as they make out to be. Always focus on making a positive impact to avoid these scenarios.

5. Liking: Build Positive Relationships

We are more easily influenced by the people we like, relate to, or find attractive. It's easier to do something or think a certain way when someone who's nice or who's just like us does the same thing too.

Never think that the world of a software developer is just between you and your code. You are not an island. The more likable you are, the better you'll be able to work together with your team and the more professional success you will achieve in your career.

There are many ways you can get people to like you:

Be a clear and open communicator
Acknowledge the feelings of your colleagues
Find shared interests and common ground
Be positive and enthusiastic
Offer support and encouragement
Acknowledge the efforts of your teammates

6. Scarcity: It's Just You Out There

We place a higher value on that which is scarce or perceived to be in limited supply. You almost certainly know countless examples of companies (mis)using this with little notifications on their websites telling you their stock of [product or service] is in limited supply.

But you needn't be deceptive to use Cialdini's last principle. There is only one you. When you become the expert in a small niche, you create scarcity around your skills and will naturally become highly sought after.

And it needn't just be a niche. If you've leveraged the above five principles and become a highly dependable, competent employee with cross-disciplinary skills and plenty of social proof, the same scarcity will apply. So this principle is more passive than it is active. Use the five principles listed above and you'll naturally become someone who others want to work with.

5 Common AWS Mistakes to Avoid

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 12:13:42 +0000

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the most popular cloud infrastructure vendor. In the fourth quarter of 2022, its market share sat at 32%, with Microsoft Azure following at a distant 23%. But despite its popularity, AWS is complex. It's easy to overlook AWS mistakes that can have significant repercussions, from security breaches to downtime to increased costs.

In this article, we'll explore 5 of the most common AWS mistakes that you should be aware of when you set up, maintain, and optimize any AWS service.

1. Misconfigured Security Groups

AWS security groups are virtual firewalls that have defined rules to control the inbound and outbound traffic of your instances. When properly configured, a security group provides granular control over who can access your instances.

On the flip side, misconfiguring a security group exposes those instances to unauthorized access and other risks. Common ways to misconfigure a security group include:

Overly permissive IP ranges, such as 0.0.0.0/0 (which includes all possible IP addresses). If you don't restrict who can access your resources, anyone who's somewhat technically savvy on the internet can access them.
Unnecessary ports. The more ports you open, the bigger the attack surface for bad actors. Make sure you open only the required ports for your apps and services, and limit access to those ports through only the necessary IP ranges.
Outdated security groups. As your infrastructure changes over time, you have to keep your security groups up to date. To maintain a secure environment, update the security group rules when you add new services, apps, or IP addresses.

2. Improper IAM Management

Identity and Access Management (IAM) in AWS should follow the principle of least privilege, which gives someone access with only the minimum necessary resources and authorizations for them to perform their function properly (sometimes this means giving them access only temporarily).

Other AWS IAM mistakes include improperly handling access keys to programmatically access AWS resources, not regularly rotating those keys, not having multi-factor authentication enabled for sensitive accounts, having unused or unnecessary IAM users or roles, and not using Organizations and Service Control Policies (SCPs) across multiple AWS accounts.

3. No Auto Scaling

AWS Auto Scaling is a helpful feature that automatically adjusts capacity for consistent performance at the lowest possible cost. It's particularly helpful for apps with variable or unpredictable workloads. Use auto scaling to avoid using either not enough or too many resources. The former leads to poor performance, the latter to unnecessary costs.

Auto scaling is available at no additional charge. You just need to figure out which resources would benefit from it on the basis of their usage patterns and workload variability. Then you define a scaling policy, decide which metrics you want to watch using CloudWatch, and configure the templates for instance launch and configuration.

4. Poor Data Backup and Recovery

It's not because your data is in the cloud that you can't lose it. Human error, malicious activity, and application bugs are all risks that can lead to data loss. It's crucial to have a robust data backup and recovery process in place.

When you've defined your backup frequency and retention policies, use AWS services like AWS Backup, Amazon S3 Backups, and Amazon Glacier to automate backups and store them in a cost-effective way. Every once in a while, test your recovery processes too, to make sure they work.

Another important tip is to enable cross-region replication, so your backups are replicated across AWS regions and you are protected against regional outages or disasters. Encrypt these backups with the AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to stay compliant with regulatory requirements.

5. Insufficient Monitoring and Logging

Although much of AWS runs automatically, you still want to keep an eye on what's going on. Otherwise, you may miss performance issues, security breaches, and other operational problems. AWS has various monitoring services like Amazon CloudWatch, AWS CloudTrail, and AWS Config. These tools track and analyze different aspects of your cloud infrastructure.

Best practices for AWS monitoring and logging includes: Collecting a wide range of metrics so you have a comprehensive view of your infrastructure and applications, storing logs for as long as needed for analysis and compliance purposes, using log analysis tools to identify patterns and uncover problems, and setting up alarms or notifications to quickly identify potential issues.

How to Make Yourself More Visible as a Remote Worker

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 09:40:24 +0000

One of the distinct challenges of remote work is that you're not automatically visible in the workplace. Especially if your company has a hybrid work model, but also if you work for a fully remote company, it's remarkably easy for other people to forget you're part of the company if you don't find a way to make yourself visible.

Visibility in the workplace is crucial if you want to build strong work relationships, grow your career, and feel connected to your company. Increasing your visibility as a remote worker will stop you from feeling isolated and make you more productive, because it helps you stay accountable and focused on your work.

In this article, we'll explore 5 practical ways to increase your visibility while working remotely. Whether you're new to remote work or looking to take your career to the next level, these tips will help you become more visible, engaged, and successful.

1. Turn Your Webcam On

As a remote worker, chances are that you're in a good number of virtual meetings. Many workers make the mistake of leaving their cameras off. Stand out by turning your camera on. When you show your face, it will be much easier for your colleagues to remember you. Even better, it will encourage you to speak up and participate more in the discussion.

That's why it's worth investing in a good webcam and microphone. Your online presence matters. Your colleagues seeing your face will make it feel as if you're in the room with them. It will also give them nonverbal cues like your facial expressions that will help them understand you better.

2. Tell People What You're Working On

Whether you're in a videoconference or a group chat, it's often worth reminding your colleagues what you're working on. This is beneficial for two reasons. First, not everyone always knows exactly what you're working on (remote work or not). A reminder never hurts. Second, it adds context to what you're about to say.

Fully remote companies often have a mechanism to understand what someone is working on. For example, every X-Teamer has a Slack journal where they write down what they've done in any particular workday. A select few people can read that journal. It's a great way to document your work while keeping your colleagues informed.

3. Be Responsive

One of the biggest benefits of remote work is increased flexibility in how you arrange your life. This being said, remote work is still work. You can increase your visibility by being responsive to those who message you. This doesn't mean you have to be available 24/7 and reply immediately—we actually recommend against that—but it's a good idea is to reply within a working day.

Remote work is at its best when it's combined with asynchronous communication, but that doesn't mean communication is slow and ineffective. On the contrary, async remote work gives people time to come back with a proper reply that often resolves issues faster than a continuous back-and-forth. Still, as a remote worker, aim to reply within a day to colleagues who message or email you.

4. Participate in Group Projects & Discussions

You may have noticed a pattern: Much of becoming more visible is about communicating more. That's why it's beneficial to participate in any group projects or chats that you almost certainly see happening in your digital workplace. Especially when you take charge or when you put effort into writing a good response, you will become more visible.

Of course, this doesn't mean you participate for participation's sake. When you participate, do so to contribute. Don't detract from the conversation, but try to be helpful and positive wherever you can. You can participate in many ways: attend virtual events, offer to help, reach out to colleagues who spoke about a particular topic, et cetera.

5. Visit the Office

You may be a remote worker, but the office isn't the enemy. If you happen to live within a reasonable distance of one of your company's offices, it may be worth working from there every once in a while. People will remember you much easier after they've met you in person. Don't be afraid of the rare commute in exchange for building those in-person relationships.

X-Team is a fully remote company, but it understands the importance of in-person meetings. That's why we organize X-Outposts and X-Summits. It's a crucial element of our culture. We want to give X-Teamers the ability to meet each other, so they feel more connected and motivated. It's worth taking the time to go and meet your colleagues in person to increase your profile in the company you work for.

How to Improve Your Life Through Deep Work

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 09:46:09 +0000

In a society of instant convenience, those who master deep work stand out. As Cal Newport defines it in his eponymous book, deep work is a cognitive state of intense focus and concentration without distractions over an extended and uninterrupted period of time. It allows you to learn hard things quickly and excel in your area of expertise, both in terms of quantity and quality of output.

Deep work changes your perspective on the world too, in the sense that it gives you more control over where you direct your attention. It trains you to concentrate on what matters to you while ignoring distractions at the same time, an ability that will help you navigate a society that tries to hijack your attention in whatever way it can.

Deep work is crucial and unavoidable if you're committed to mastery. But how do you pull yourself away from shallow work and transition into a life that allows you to work deeply? It's not as hard as it may seem. The following choices, habits, and lifestyle changes, taken largely from Newport's book, will take you a long way toward a life of intense focus.

Decide on Your Depth Philosophy

Before you implement deep work into your life, you need to take stock of what you want to work deeply on. Choose something that's wildly important to you. That choice, in turn, will decide what form deep work will take in your life, something that Newport calls your depth philosophy. He identifies four depth philosophies:

Monastic: You have a well-defined and highly valued professional goal that allows you to work deeply for weeks, if not months on end. Think cabin in the woods to write a book. This type of deep work isn't applicable to many professions.
Bimodal: You have a clearly defined amount of time that you set aside exclusively for deep work, and you leave the rest open to everything else. This is what the highly prolific fantasy author Brandon Sanderson does. He writes for long hours every day except Thursday, which he keeps free for shallow work. The amount of time dedicated to deep work should be at least a day.
Rhythmic: You have a set starting time for deep work that repeats itself every day. This is the type of deep work that's easiest to achieve for most people. Either this or bimodal deep work should be the default for those new to deep work.
Journalistic: You fit deep work in wherever you can. This is not for the deep work novice, because it takes some time to get into the flow of deep work. Choosing this depth philosophy requires a mindset that allows you to switch on and be productive right away. It's not impossible, but it requires significant training.

Create a Ritual

Once you've decided on your depth philosophy, you need to ritualize your deep work. Rituals differ from routines in the sense that there's purpose and meaning behind them. Before you begin your deep work session, identify and reiterate your why. Why are you doing this? What future do you envision if you do this properly? This will help motivate and keep your end goal top of mind.

The next step is to decide on the factors around your deep work session. Particularly for the rhythmic depth philosophy, figure out where you will work and for how long you will work. Decide when you'll take breaks (which you should) and what you will and won't do during those breaks. Make these choices before you begin and you will fall into deep work much faster.

Measure What's Important

You should work deeply on something that's wildly important to you. You should also know, clearly and in detail, why it's important to you. Then you should track the number of hours you spend working deeply on your wildly important goal. The more time you spend working on it, the higher the chances that you'll achieve it.

Tracking your deep work hours also helps you stay accountable. Schedule regular reviews to understand why a week went well (many hours of genuine deep work) or poorly (few hours of genuine deep work). Use this information to get back on track or make the next deep work period even better.

Eliminate Distractions

You are not to distract yourself during your deep work session. This can be tremendously hard, particularly when you're new to deep work and if you're connected to the Internet. There are many ways to eliminate distractions, whether it's putting your phone in another room, locking your door, using a website blocker like Freedom, or disconnecting from the Internet altogether. You will need to experiment to see what works best for you.

But it's crucial to get distractions under control. The pull of today's distractions, especially those that come in the form of technology, is almost irresistible. Whenever a thought pops into our head, we look it up online. Before we know it, we're watching a video on how much butter is needed to stop a bullet. Eliminating or at least reducing the impulse to follow these random thoughts is the first step to taking back control over your mind.

Relax Deeply Too

There's no going around it: Deep work is exhausting because it takes so much mental effort. That's why it's crucial you rest and recover just as deeply as you work. Examples of good rest are: exercise, walks in nature, easy conversations with friends, listening to music, meditation, etc. Good rest does not include subjecting yourself to the latest terrors and outrage of the news or vitriolic opinions on social media.

You almost certainly know what constitutes good rest for you, because your body and your mind will tell you. The trick is to choose these forms of rest over those that may be easier or more convenient, but that find you feeling empty and unfulfilled. This is harder than it seems, and may require familiarizing yourself once more with what so many can't stand a second of nowadays: boredom.

The antidote to a society that leans toward the shallow is a life of deep work. It is a life of hard work, but it won't feel that way. It will feel rewarding, fulfilling, and some would say sacred. This blog post has given you a brief insight into how you can improve your life through deep work, but Cal Newport's book on the topic is a much more comprehensive account and well worth reading.

SQL vs NoSQL

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 10:18:42 +0000

Every business sits on a mountain of data. When that data is properly organized and maintained, it can tell you where you can cut costs, how you can improve your product or service, what your customers like or don't like, how you can increase employee retention rate, and much more. But you need the right database management system to find these gems in your mountain of data. That means you need to understand the difference between SQL and NoSQL.

SQL has long been the world's most popular way of organizing and accessing data. It is the default database management system for most projects. But that doesn't mean you should neglect NoSQL, which is a much better option than SQL for some use cases. In this article, we will explain what SQL and NoSQL are and which system you should use in what scenario.

What Is SQL?

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It has been around since the 1960s and is built around a relational data model, which means that your data needs to fit in tables with columns and rows. These tables will typically have constraints that enforce consistency across your data. For example, you can program a particular column to accept only an integer in its rows.

But SQL isn't just a way to organize your data. It's also the name for the language you use to query that data. SQL is standardized, easy to learn, and powerful. Different relational database management systems (RBDMS) like MySQL and PostgreSQL use variations of SQL to query data in different ways, but they're easy to learn once you know SQL.

All SQL databases are ACID-compliant to make sure data is properly recorded and valid even in the face of power failures, errors, and other problems. ACID stands for:

Atomicity: Every entry into a database is treated as a single unit that either succeeds or fails completely. When it fails, the database remains unchanged. When it succeeds, the database is updated.
Consistency: All new data must follow the constraints, cascades, and triggers of the database. No new entry can corrupt or challenge the integrity of the database.
Isolation: Data that is entered concurrently will see the database in the same state as if the data had been entered sequentially. The level of isolation determines the visibility of this process to the database's users.
Durability: Once a transaction succeeds, it stays in the database no matter what. Power failures, crashes, or anything of the like will not revert the state of the database. This means that completed transactions are held in non-volatile memory.

The final point is about scaling. SQL is most easily scaled vertically, i.e. by upgrading the machine that hosts the data. Chuck in more RAM, storage, and CPUs to improve the performance of an SQL database. While it is possible to scale an SQL database horizontally, by sharding or partitioning the database, it's not nearly as easy as scaling things up vertically.

What Is NoSQL?

NoSQL is actually an umbrella term that covers many different ways of organizing data, including organizing it in a table structure like you would a regular SQL database. That's why NoSQL is sometimes referred to as Not Only SQL, because it can support SQL-like structures and queries in some scenarios.

But the underlying thread that connects all NoSQL implementations is non-relational data, or data that isn't particularly structured. A NoSQL database is most commonly a document that you can easily add new data to without having to worry about structure or constraints. Two NoSQL database services that use this document structure are MongoDB and DynamoDB.

Another way to organize data in a NoSQL database is with a graph, where all data points are intricately connected. There's a reason these types of NoSQL databases are popular with social media companies.

Different from an SQL database, NoSQL databases can easily scale horizontally. You just add more partitions. Sometimes, you don't even have to do anything; The vendor will do it for you. That's the main benefit of a NoSQL database: it's extremely performant and highly scalable in comparison with an SQL database.

Should I Choose SQL or NoSQL?

Your default choice should be SQL. Its flexible query language makes it easy to find information, its constraints keep your data clean, and its relational data model allows you to connect separate SQL databases. It is a well-documented database system with plenty of support to be found online.

However, NoSQL absolutely has its use cases. Here's when you should consider it:

When you have large amounts of unstructured data. NoSQL can handle a wide variety of data types, from documents to graphs to key-value pairs. Its ability to scale horizontally means that your database stays performant regardless of the unstructured nature of your data.
When you need flexibility. NoSQL databases don't have a rigid schema you need to follow. This means you don't have to spend too much time setting it up. It also means you can introduce a new data field without having to modify an existing database schema. Of course, the cost of this is often inconsistent data.
When scalability and availability are of the utmost importance. NoSQL databases are extremely fast, which makes them ideal for social networks and real-time applications like online gaming or instant messaging.

How to Prepare for a Hike

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 10:39:40 +0000

Going for a hike is the perfect antidote against hours of screentime. It's a way to connect with nature, quiet the mind, and burn off excess calories. On top of that, hiking is inexpensive and easy to get into. But making the most out of every hike, both the one that takes a few hours and the one that takes days, requires proper preparation. Here are 7 tips on how to prepare for a hike.

1. Plan Your Route

Planning your route is more than just deciding where you'll hike and what trail you'll take. It also means figuring out:

when you'll do the hike
the distance of the hike
how long the hike will take
what the conditions of the trail are
what weather it will be on the day of the hike
how much elevation the trail has
how you'll get to the trail
what you'll take with you
who will come with

Once you've determined these variables, you'll know much more about your hike. Because of this simple exercise, which should take a few minutes at most, you'll be in a much better place to get the most out of your hike or even adjust it while you're on the trail.

2. Drink Water, Eat Food

Don't hike on an empty stomach. You'll have less energy and your hike will be less enjoyable. Instead, before you begin, drink plenty of water and eat some carbs and lean protein. Think oatmeal, chicken breast, eggs, yogurt, dried fruit, string cheese, beef jerky, et cetera.

That doesn't mean you're off the hook while hiking either. Regardless of the length of your hike, always bring water. The effects of dehydration are severe and begin sooner than you think. Bring some snacks too, ideally ones that don't take up too much space, are easily digestible, and aren't too messy.

3. Wear the Right Clothing

Unless you're hiking a flat trail on the hottest of days, wearing the right clothing for a hike usually means wearing multiple layers. Your base layer should be made of a fabric that keeps sweat away from your skin, like wool or polyester. Over your base layer, wear a fleece or insulated jacket for warmth. On top of that, if needed, you can add a raincoat to protect against the rain and the wind.

When it comes to footwear, you're looking for a shoe with a sturdy sole that's waterproof but made of breathable materials. Most importantly, it's a shoe you feel comfortable walking in. When it comes to your head, bring a hat and sunglasses to protect your face from the sun.

4. Learn Basic Navigation and Survival Skills

When it comes to navigation and survival, a little preparation goes a long way. Take a topographic map, a compass, and a first aid kit with band-aids, gauze, cotton pads, and disinfectant. You may never need them, but do you want to be the person who doesn't have them when you need them?

Taking these essentials also means you need to know how to read a topographic map and how to use whatever you've taken in your first aid kit. None of this is rocket science, but you do have to take maybe half an hour to sit down and learn it. As an extra tip, download the offline map of your hike's general area on your phone. When you lose connection, you'll have a second map to fall back on.

5. Respect the Environment

If you are to enjoy the many benefits of hiking, it's only right that you respect the surroundings that make your hikes possible (and beautiful). The Leave No Trace program has a good list of principles to follow when hiking:

Plan ahead and prepare
Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Dispose of waste properly
Leave what you find
Minimize campfire impacts
Respect wildlife
Be considerate of other visitors

6. Know Your Limits

Hiking is deceptively demanding and, while it's good to sometimes challenge your physical limits, you also have to understand your hiking experience and fitness level. You can't expect to hike a grade five (the highest grade for a hike) when you're out of breath hiking the hill to your supermarket. Start with easier hikes and work your way up gradually.

During a hike, you need to listen to your body. Sometimes the weather's too hot or too cold. Sometimes, it's simply not your day. When you notice signs of overexertion, it's time to inform the group that you need to rest or turn back. Such signs include fatigue, muscle aches, dizziness, faintness, et cetera. Don't ruin the experience of a wonderful hike and understand your (and other people's) physical limits.

7. Always Stay Safe

This one comes last, but it's the most important one. Your safety and the safety of your group are paramount. Preparing for a hike helps a lot. So does hiking with one or more people or, at the very least, when you hike alone, letting someone know where you're going and when you expect to be back.

Other things to stay safe that we haven't mentioned in this article are fully charging your phone, taking a GPS device, following the trail, respecting other hikers, and always being willing to break off your hike in case of an emergency. Understand what is dangerous and what is safe, and always err on the side of caution to make every hike a great experience.

You're Not a Workhorse: How to Overcome Workaholism

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 10:20:39 +0000

It's easy for a software developer to turn into a workaholic. Not only does their regular work require long hours of sustained focus, but they are always under some pressure to learn new technologies in an ever-changing technological landscape: blockchain, AI, this framework, that library.

You may recognize this feeling: When you're not working or learning, you feel as if you're falling behind on other developers who look more successful, earn more money, and may replace you before long. You're anxious when you're not working, so you never stop.

But you know it isn't sustainable. You're on the road to burnout, something your body tells you in subtle and, sometimes, not-so-subtle ways. But it's not easy to simply stop working. You struggle to relax. You can't take your mind off work. These are the signs of workaholism. And here are five ways to pull yourself away from that workaholic mindset.

1. You Are More Than Your Work

Workaholics conflate their self-worth with their work. You are worthy only because your work is, only because you've worked eighty hours last week, only because you were the only one who could make the code work. While it's good to take pride in what you do, your work doesn't exclusively define who you are. Humans are multi-faceted beings who play multiple roles in their everyday lives.

So as an exercise, think about who else you are in life. Are you a parent, a sibling, a runner, a painter, a musician, a beekeeper, a gamer, a friend? These roles define you just as much as your work does. How much each role takes up will vary throughout your life, but you should give each role at least some breathing space.

Besides, the workaholic in you isn't very smart. If you don't rest, the quality of your work declines, both within a workday and over longer stretches of time. The most productive developers are those who understand how to rest deeply, so they can return to work well-rested and motivated. You don't have to kill the workaholic inside you. You just have to convince it of the benefits of rest.

2. Set Hard Rules

If you're a workaholic, chances are you're disciplined. You're strict with yourself. Once you're convinced that you need rest, it's a good idea to set a hard stop for your work. Decide on a time after which you won't do anything work-related. You'll even try not to think about work.

This is made much easier when you have a system where you offload tasks that are still roaming in your mind. Instead of remembering that you need to reply to Mary's email, put that task in your favorite task management app for whenever it's due. When you have a trusty system that will remind you of the right tasks at the right time, you'll be able to relax much better after your hard stop.

You can offload your tasks from wetware to software in a shutdown ritual that you do every time you're about to stop work. Such a ritual will make it easier to stick to your hard stop. It could be something as simple as offloading your tasks, closing your laptop, and saying out loud "I'm done with work."

3. Plan Your Free Time

This may seem a little paradoxical, but it's a great idea to plan your free time. A clean calendar may look relaxing, but to a workaholic, it's often simply more space to worry about work. You don't have to schedule all your free time, but at the very least plan a few activities throughout the week and the weekend.

If you're a remote developer, it's a great idea to schedule a few social activities. Loneliness in remote work cannot be underestimated. A coffee with a friend may be the perfect antidote, even for introverts. Or go on a date night with your partner. Book a movie. Plan a long hike on Sunday. Whatever it is, have something to look forward to. It will take your mind off work.

4. Find a Hobby

You know you're a workaholic when you've convinced yourself that your work is your hobby too. It's not. You may enjoy programming, but the programming that you do before and after a day of programming can't be considered your hobby. A hobby is a different activity altogether, and preferably something that doesn't involve a screen.

Many people don't have hobbies, but they are a great way to detach from work. The difficulty with a hobby is that you have to find one first. That requires experimentation. You will need to try new things. Some of those things you won't like. Some things you won't care about. But the experimentation is worth it.

Go dancing. Paint some Warhammer 40K models. Learn how to play drums. Figure out how to bake. Eventually, you'll find something that sticks. A new world will open, with more detail than you could ever imagine. Finding the right hobby can bring you tremendous joy and return balance to your life.

5. You Are Not Alone

Whether it's a therapist, family, a friend, or someone who's willing to listen, don't be afraid to speak to someone about your workaholism. You are not alone. Many people have the same fears and insecurities that accompany a workaholic attitude. People who have gone through it can provide guidance that goes far beyond what's written in a blog post.

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. Not only do you realize you have to do something about your workaholism, but you're willing to reach out to others to try and solve it. On its own, that's already more progress than most. There is much more to life than work. Finding the right balance may take time, but you'll live a healthier and happier life when you do.

The Best Engineering Manager Conferences to Attend in 2023

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 11:45:00 +0000

Conferences are back and they're better than ever. The last few years have shown us that it is entirely possible to organize and attend an engaging conference, with dozens of speakers across multiple days, in an entirely online environment. While most conferences are in-person once more, many now have an online component that makes them all the more interesting.

The below conferences are tailored specifically for engineering managers, i.e. the people who lead teams of engineers. They focus on cutting-edge technology, security, project management methodologies, and programming best practices. These engineering manager conferences are great opportunities to learn, network, and demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning.

January

CES

Date: January 5 - 8
Location: Online, Las Vegas
Ticket Price: $279 (online) - $1,275 (Las Vegas)

Branded "the most influential tech event in the world", CES showcases the latest and greatest in consumer technology, from 3D printing to robotics to quantum computing. It is a gigantic event with over 3,100 exhibitors, including 323 of the Fortune Global 500.

NDC London

Date: January 23 - 27
Location: London
Ticket Price: £1,450 - £3,250

NDC launched in Oslo in 2008 as a conference for .NET and Agile development. Since then, it has grown to encompass all technologies relevant for software developers and engineering managers. If you can't make it to the NDC in London, there are other NDCs in Oslo and Porto.

February

FOSDEM

Date: February 4 - 5
Location: Brussels
Ticket Price: Free!

FOSDEM is a two-day event in the capital of Europe that promotes the use of open-source software. FOSDEM's events include keynotes, developer rooms with specific information about an open-source topic, lightning talks where speakers only have fifteen minutes to talk about something open-source, and stands to get in touch with open-source projects.

Deep Learning Summit

Date: February 8 - 9
Location: Amsterdam
Ticket Price: TBD

The Deep Learning Summit brings together the latest technological advancements in AI with practical examples of how you can use AI to solve problems in your company (or in society at large). Conference speakers are either AI academics or industry experts, and topics include data efficiency, meta-learning, and deep neural networks.

DevExecWorld

Date: February 15 - 23
Location: Online, Oakland
Ticket Price: $100 - $895

DevExecWorld is a conference specifically geared toward leadership roles in the tech industry, whether that's CTOs, engineering managers, technicians, or others. Topics include how to scale a development team, how to lead developers, how to build a diverse team, and emerging engineering trends.

March

DevOps Live

Date: March 8 - 9
Location: London
Ticket Price: Free!

With over 10,000 attendees across two days, DevOps Live is the largest gathering of DevOps and cloud professionals. This year's themes for the conference are DevOps in the enterprise, DevSecOps, Cloud Native, and skills/talent/culture. DevOps Live is part of the Tech Show London, the UK's most important tech event.

Agile International Conference

Date: March 9 - 10
Location: Miami
Ticket Price: $399 - $499

Agile software development has been extremely popular for over two decades, to the point where "agile" is now a term that can extend to many other processes across a business. The Agile International Conference will see speakers talk about product management, business agility, enterprise Agile transformations, and more.

LeadDev

Date: March 14 - 15
Location: New York
Ticket Price: $999 - $2,998

LeadDev is a great conference for engineering managers because it focuses on effective engineering management and leadership. LeadDev New York will give you the ability to better understand engineering metrics, nurture team culture, create growth strategies, and build effective engineering teams.

April

Laval Virtual

Date: April 12 - 16
Location: Laval (France)
Ticket Price: €77 - €154

Already in its 25th edition, Laval Virtual is the biggest AR/VR/Metaverse event worldwide, with over 10,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors. If you're curious about how good AR and VR technologies have become and how they can transform business processes, this is the conference to visit.

International JavaScript Conference

Date: April 24 - 27
Location: Online, London
Ticket Price: £494 - £1079

The JavaScript ecosystem is enormous, so it should come as no surprise that there are many conferences devoted to it. The International JavaScript Conference is one of the more technical ones, with sessions that discuss A11y testing in Angular, microservices architecture in Node.js, and how to optimize Angular runtime performance.

API Conference

Date: April 24 - 27
Location: London
Ticket Price: £494 - £1,079

Not many conferences focus exclusively on API design and management, but the API conference does. If you want to learn more about the latest trends in web APIs and API design, and how tools like GraphQL and Swagger fit into an API project, this is the conference for you.

May

Women in Tech Conference

Date: May 9 - 12
Location: Online
Ticket Price: $49 - $790

This is the largest conference for women in tech, bringing together talent from all over the world in an online conference with over 100,000 (!) visitors and 700 speakers. Topics include leadership & company culture, navigating the C-suite as a working mother, founders in tech entrepreneurship, and more.

Devoxx UK

Date: May 10 - 12
Location: London
Ticket Price: £545 - £745

Already in its tenth edition, Devoxx UK is a popular developer community conference that welcomes over 13,000 developers every year. There are over 170 sessions, covering Java, AI, robotics, security, and developer best practices. There's something for everyone here!

MIT Sloan CIO Symposium

Date: May 15 - 16
Location: Cambridge, MA
Ticket Price: $495 - $995

As the premier CIO event in the United States, the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium brings together IT executives from around the world with leading faculty members from MIT. Panelists and speakers will discuss the future of technology and tech best practices. If you want to know what's on the minds of the most powerful CIOs and CDOs, this is a great conference to attend.

June

Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit

Date: June 5 - 7
Location: Washington
Ticket Price: $3,925 - $4,300

Gartner is one of the most respected tech consultancy firms in the world, best known for their Magic Quadrant market research report. Their Security & Risk Management Summit in Washington brings together CISOs, Security Execs, Risk Management Leaders, and Data Security Managers to discuss contemporary challenges in privacy, risk, and security.

American CIO & IT Summit

Date: June 6 - 7
Location: Chicago
Ticket Price: x

Possibly the most exclusive conference on this list, the American CIO & IT summit is invite-only. Featured speakers for the 2023 event include the CISO of HP, the CIO of Honeywell, and the CIO of Daimler Trucks NA, among others. The conference is on this list because many of the sessions will be made available online once the conference is over; perfect if you don't have an invite.

Collision

Date: June 26 - 29
Location: Toronto
Ticket Price: CA$ 445 - CA$ 12,495

Collision is one of the largest tech conferences in North America, with over 35,000 attendees every year. Previous speakers included the CEO of GitHub, actress Lupita Nyong'o, the CEO of Substack, the Founder of Calendly, and the former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt.

July

Block 3000

Date: July 6 - 7
Location: Lisbon
Ticket Price: €300 - €2,000

Block 3000 is Europe's largest international conference about blockchain, web 3.0, and cryptocurrencies. If you live in Europe and are curious about anything blockchain-related (DeFi, NFTs, even the Metaverse), this is an interesting conference to attend.

ProductCon Online

Date: July 20
Location: Online
Ticket Price: Free (early bird) - $149

ProductCon is the largest online product management conference in the world, and tickets are free until the early bird sale ends on April 12 this year. ProductCon presents its visitors with keynotes and speaker sessions from product leaders at Facebook, Amazon, Google, and many other big tech companies.

Agile2023

Date: July 24 - 28
Location: Orlando
Ticket Price: $1,849 - $2,599

The Agile Alliance is a global non-profit membership organization that's founded on the seminal Manifesto for Agile Software Development. They organize an annual conference where attendees can explore and advance Agile values and principles in a space where people and ideas flourish.

August

DEF CON

Date: August 10 - 13
Location: Las Vegas
Ticket Price: TBD

Talk about a legendary conference. DEF CON will organize its 31st conference in 2023. It's the ultimate hacker conference, with its ticket price TBD and only payable in cash. Anyone who has a general interest in software, computer architecture, hardware modification, or anything hackable should be interested in this conference.

Blockchain Futurist Conference

Date: August 14 - 17
Location: Toronto
Ticket Price: $99 - $299

Canada's largest crypto, web 3, and blockchain event, the Blockchain Futurist Conference is already in its fifth edition. Past speakers included the founder of Ethereum, the founder of Solana, and legendary radio host Larry King. The conference has a hackathon, NFT galleries, crypto training for beginners, marketplaces, and more.

DevCom

Date: August 20 - 25
Location: Online, Cologne
Ticket Price: TBD

DevCom is Europe's biggest community-driven game developer conference. It is the official game developer event of gamescom, which is the world's largest computer and videogames event. Much of the conference will be streamed on its official Twitch channel.

September

SaaStr Annual

Date: September 6 - 8
Location: San Francisco
Ticket Price: $799 - $1,549

SaaStr focuses on everything SaaS. Every year, over 12,500 cloud and SaaS founders, VCs, and execs come together in a conference with over a hundred sessions about the best in SaaS, VC matchmaking, and AMAs with top industry experts, as well as a festival, outdoorsy vibe that make it unlike any other conference on this list.

Industry of Things World

Date: September 17 - 19
Location: Berlin
Ticket Price: €2,549 - €3,249

Industry of Things World is the leading industrial IoT event in Europe. Its main focus is industry 4.0 and how companies can take advantage of digitization, networking, and big data. Speakers include the Director of Supply Chain Learning at Coca-Cola and the Global Incubation Director at Engie.

Digital Transformation Week

Date: September 26 - 27
Location: Online, Amsterdam
Ticket Price: Free!

The Digital Transformation week is a free in-person event in Amsterdam with over 5,000 attendees, the majority of which are Director level or higher. Digital transformation is at the heart of this conference, and topics include AI, big data, blockchain, IoT, edge computing, and cybersecurity.

October

QCon

Date: October 2 - 6
Location: San Francisco
Ticket Price: TBD

QCon is a long-running conference about understanding the emerging software trends you should pay attention to. For this year, that includes topics like WASM, software ethics, MLOps, Kubernetes strategies, and much more. QCon is a conference for the first two days, after which it switches to a workshop format for the last two days.

Coalesce Online

Date: October 16 - 20
Location: Online, San Diego
Ticket Price: Free (online) or $700 (San Diego)

Coalesce is an analytics engineering conference. Have a look at its 2022 talk replays for an idea of the topics: scaling your data team, refactoring an inherited project, data automation, metadata, and data accessibility.

Google Cloud Next

Date: TBD
Location: TBD
Ticket Price: TBD

As an engineering manager, it's quite likely you're currently using or have used a Google product. Google Cloud Next is the best conference for staying updated with all Google's products. If you're curious about how their 2022 conference went, here's a 13-minute video summary.

November

Microsoft Ignite

Date: November 15 - 16
Location: TBD
Ticket Price: TBD

Just as Google Cloud Next is the best conference to know about Google's products, Microsoft Ignite is the best to know about Microsoft's products. Expect keynotes from Microsoft's C-level execs and partner stories about how they used Microsoft products.

December

AI & Big Data Global

Date: November 30 - December 1
Location: London
Ticket Price: TBD

The AI & Big Data Global conference focuses on the use of next-generation technologies and strategies to make companies more productive. Over 6,000 attendees congregate for the event, including CIOs, data analysts, tech providers, chief data scientists, and many others.

AWS re:Invent

Date: TBD
Location: Las Vegas
Ticket Price: TBD

AWS re:Invent is Amazon's biggest conference and usually comes with a swathe of impactful, exciting product and service launches tied to cloud infrastructure and AWS services. The conference is usually in early December, and is a great way to end the year with one of the biggest and most inspiring engineering manager conferences.

The Challenges and Benefits of Remote Work on Personal Relationships

Thomas De Moor — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 11:23:00 +0000

Remote work is often considered the better alternative to office work. There are many good reasons for that: there's no commute, it's better for the planet, you have more time for yourself and your family, and you're usually much more flexible in determining your working hours.

But the difficulty with all this good news about remote work is that many underestimate the drastic changes that come with switching from an office job to a remote job. This is particularly true when it comes to personal relationships. Your social dynamics will change entirely, and it's important to at least be aware of those changes.

Remote Work Changes Things for the Better

On the positive side, remote work usually provides you with the flexibility and freedom to spend more time with your family and friends. You will also have more time to do the things you love and be able to do them at unconventional times.

Examples can include going for a run Monday morning, seeing your retired grandparents more often, doing groceries when there's no traffic, cooking for your partner so dinner is ready when they come home, taking a work break to play with your kids, et cetera.

This is genuinely a wonderful change that immediately improves the quality of your life and is usually cited as the biggest benefit of remote work. With this one (big) change of switching to remote work, your work-life balance immediately improves.

But Here Are Some Things to Consider

But there are other important things to consider. First on the list is that you will essentially spend almost no time in person with your colleagues. When you're the only remote worker in the house and you have no kids, this means you will have very few social interactions during your workday.

Extroverted remote workers will immediately sense this and will naturally want to hang out more with friends and family before or after work. The sudden loneliness of remote work may actually be more dangerous for introverted remote workers, who aren't naturally inclined to message a friend for a coffee or a drink after work.

So introverts, take note. Remote work loneliness creeps up on you. Don't think you can go a whole month without seeing anyone. It's a steady path to burnout. Make a conscious effort to hang out with people, because it will stop you from feeling isolated and disconnected.

Another thing to consider is that the boundaries between your professional and personal lives will blur. After all, you're now living both lives in the same house. It's important to keep them both properly separated, which may involve:

Telling your family and friends you're actually working throughout the day and may not be available to do chores or hang out. You may have more freedom as a remote worker, but this doesn't mean others can use that freedom to move you around.
Choosing a time when you'll start and stop working. Otherwise, your day will have no structure and you'll either not work enough or work too much (probably the latter). Again, remote work usually gives you the flexibility to move your working hours around, but it's generally still a good idea to stick to some kind of schedule.

Finally, if your partner also works remotely, you will suddenly spend much more time together. This can create an entirely different dynamic in your relationship, something that many couples will have noticed during the pandemic. Proximity can make you grow closer, but it can also do the opposite and create distance.

Whichever way it goes will depend on you. Again, you'll just need to be more conscious about it. If you're in a relationship, it doesn't matter if you're both in the same house the whole day, still schedule time for each other and keep communicating openly and honestly about your feelings, wants, and needs.

To Conclude

Remote work will have a drastic impact on your personal relationships. Usually, the changes that come with remote work are for the better, but you also need to realize that they will not always be unequivocally positive. Sometimes, they'll just be different.

None of these changes are unovercomeable or even reasons why you shouldn't work remotely, but it's important to be aware of them so 1) you don't feel lonely and 2) you use remote work to build stronger, healthier relationships with the people closest to you.