If you’re enjoying the insights shared here on the blog, you might enjoy my training too.
“Foundations of Software Craft” uses an innovative format, enabled by the modern internet and online collaboration tools. It works well for teams and individuals learning core coding skills for good design.
To learn more about this training, just click the link below.
This is a companion post to my video with the same title. Whether you’re using an AI tool to write them or not, you need tests. If you’re doing Continuous Delivery, the tests in your pipeline are essential to determine releasability. Unfortunately, it’s often a source...
This article also appears as a video on the Modern Software Engineering Channel. Developers have been using the Test Pyramid forever to decide what kinds of tests to invest in. This model has also been much criticised as not giving terribly helpful guidance. In this...
This article also appears in video form on the Modern Software Engineering Channel. Agentic AI-supported software development is probably the biggest shift in our field since high-level languages appeared in the 1950’s and 60’s. As a software developer you can’t...
I’ve just spent a couple of days at "GoWest Nordic Venture Capital Forum" in Gothenburg, (where I live), which aims to bring together entrepreneurs, investors and all kinds of other organisations in the general startup ecosystem. Although I have attended hundreds of...
Here’s a question for you. What is the difference between a Spy and a Partial Mock? How about a Strict Mock? Test Double? Stub? What if I code it by hand instead of using a framework. Does that make it a Fake? Actually, I don't think so! The language around mocks is...
Refactoring is one of the most impactful skills I teach in my work as a Samman Technical Coach. I do a lot of Learning Hour training sessions to teach particular refactorings. Sometimes these sessions go better than others, and until now I was improving them only...
Kent Beck is one of the original authors of JUnit, an open source tool that kick-started a huge shift in programmer behaviour that I and others have found immensely valuable. In 2019 he published his "Test Desiderata" with advice about the properties he values in...
(this post is designed to accompany my video "The Skill That Separates Good Developers from GREAT ONES") AI coding agents are rather good at coming up with syntactically valid, working code these days. It also does design, reasoning about how to arrange that code. So...
How to Succeed with Technical Coaching Software Developers are constantly shifting between activities. It might all be 'coding' but when you look more closely there are hundreds of distinct activities and decisions being taken about what to do next. The picture above...
Code Katas are small exercises which can help you to practice coding skills in a safe environment. They are fun little problems with quirky themes that should hold your attention and be enjoyable to work on. I've personally been doing code katas for more than 20 years...
Hi – I´m Emily!
I am a consultant with Bache Consulting and chair of the Samman Technical Coaching Society. As a technical coach I work with software development organizations who want to get better at technical practices like Test-Driven Development, Refactoring and Incremental Design. I also write books and publish videos. I live in Gothenburg, Sweden, although I am originally from the UK.
If you’re enjoying the insights shared here on the blog, you might enjoy my book too.
“Technical Agile Coaching with the Samman Method” offers a practical guide to improving how developers collaborate and write code. You’ll learn hands-on techniques for Test-Driven Development, Refactoring, and effective team coaching.
To learn more about the book, just click the link below.
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