Talks

On this page you can find the descriptions related to the talks I created over the years.


“Thoughts on (Modern?) Software Development – Observations from a 20 years-long journey”

“If someone is taking a journey, he (or she) can tell a story. Therefore I would take my staff and hat and would choose to travel.” (Matthias Claudius, 1740-1815)

The present talk was designed with exactly this, 1000-times heard (and slightly updated), German proverb in the back of the head. Initially created for a student audience („From education to employment: A requirements-set for modern software developers“), it tries to outline what the presenter identified as relevant for a productive survival in the software development business (aka „the wild“). Category: „Possibly not so new – but subjectively noteworthy“.

Topics covered:

  • What are the characteristics of software development?
  • What is experience and how do you gain it?
  • A learning model – The Dreyfus-Model
  • Cognitive biases
  • Factors of influence when you are developing software
  • „Precision, guess work, unreliable data and questionable knowledge”
  • Observations about people who code
  • Hype Driven Development
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Micro challenges
  • Macro challenges
Sources
... see here.
Recordings
… see: ASQF Net Week 2024 (in German)

“Solutions for (Modern?) Software Development – Approximations from a 20 years-long journey”

„For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.“ (H. L. Mencken, 1880-1956)

The talk tries to find an approximate answer to the following question which more and more clearly surfaced while I progressed through my 20 years of professional software development:

“How can we nudge the complex system of ‘software development’ into directions, which do not (repeatedly) lead us into dead ends?”

The following four topics are covered:

  1. Effectively managing complexity
  2. Effectively managing cognitive load
  3. Effectively performing human interactions
  4. Learning how we as humans tick

Topics covered:

  • The Status Quo – „The Cloud”
  • The Real Challenge – “The Cloud”
  • Management of complexity – (d)MiB
  • Management of complexity – Check your metaphors
  • Management of cognitive load – Attention
  • Management of cognitive load – Distractions
  • Management of cognitive load – Inconsistencies
  • Human interactions – The Project Management Triangle
  • Human interactions – The Software Management Triangle
  • Human interactions – This thing called trust…
  • Human interactions – What matters most in IT?
  • Human interactions – The learning organization
  • How we humans tick – The way we operate…
  • How we humans tick – The Dreyfus-Model
  • How we humans tick – Cognitive biases
  • How we humans tick – Sustainable pace
  • Ok now, Alex: What is the goal?
Sources
... see here.