Beyond the Tab Key: The True Value of Human Developers in an AI World

The software development landscape has shifted dramatically. In 2024, a whopping 62% of professional developers use AI in their development process. This has done wonders for the productivity of an average software developer, and has led many people to assume this means that either we need fewer software developers or, more likely, we can get more and better software developed with existing staff. However, there are issues with this shift. Last year, I read and loved the 2024 GitClear AI report

Beyond the Basics: Making Configuration Management Work at Scale

In my previous article, I discussed five best practices for managing configurations in cloud-native applications. This article expands those recommendations by giving strategies for how to manage large scale configuration systems for large modern applications. The Configuration Explosion Problem Remember when our simple applications had a single configuration file? Those days are long gone. Today’s applications don’t just have more configuration—they have exponentially more complex configuration

Five Best Practices for Managing Configurations in Cloud-Native Applications

Managing configuration information in a complex, cloud-native application can be daunting. There is seemingly configuration everywhere. There’s configuration describing the network interconnections in your system, including routing rules and port blocking. There’s configuration for your load balancers, determining where to send traffic destined for your service. There’s configuration for security permissions needed for databases, caches, servers, third-party applications, and other system

Managing Complexity in a Cloud Migration

Migrating to the cloud can be daunting, especially when dealing with complex applications, which can have a life of their own. These applications can act in seemingly random ways when exposed to unexpected stimuli, such as moving from a stable data center environment to a more chaotic cloud environment. This inherent complexity makes migrating to the cloud risky, but there are ways to mitigate the risk. Piecemeal Migration Proper pre-migration preparation is critical to a successful cloud migrat

Is AI Code Automation Contributing to Code Complexity?

GitHub has published research on the growth and impact of AI on software development. Among their findings is that developers write code “55% faster” when using the GitHub Copilot code automation tool. But this finding doesn’t tell the whole story. Is this code high-quality? Is this code necessary? Is the code contributing to the long-term value of our applications? Does the code contribute to the operation of the application in a clear and concise manner? In other words, is Copilot (and similar

Why increasing complexity actually can decrease complexity

In the dynamic world of software development, complexity is often viewed as the arch-nemesis of productivity and efficiency. Yet, here lies the paradox: embracing complexity can actually pave the way to simplicity. How can this be the case? Let’s focus a bit on complexity in software development. We can often think of complexity as a big, tangled ball of yarn. The more you pull on one thread, the messier it gets. Now imagine breaking up that big ball of yarn into smaller, neat little bundles. Ea

Don’t Let Your Application Turn into Another Winchester Mystery House

Some time ago when I was living in Silicon Valley, I often drove by a curious-looking structure called the Winchester Mystery House every day on my way to work. The Winchester Mystery House is a San Jose mansion that was once the home of Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester, and the heir to the Winchester Rifle fortune. Originally purchased in 1884 as an unfinished eight-room farmhouse, it was expanded over the course of 36 years to an overall footprint of 24,000 square feet.   Alth