Software engineering is going through something. New tools, and new ways of working are appearing almost every week and it’s harder than ever to seperate the noise from the signal. Amid all of that change, one thing has become increasingly clear to me: understanding the fundamentals of our craft has never been more important.
That’s why I’m starting No Shortcuts.
Who I am
I’m a software engineer with over a decade of experience building software. I’ve watched Atlassian grow through several stages of its journey, and along the way I’ve operated in teams as small as two people up through departments as large as five hundred.
Being part of several stages of growth has taught me one thing: the fundamentals remain the same throughout. Whether you’re two engineers in a room or a department of five hundred, the core of the craft - clarity, trade-offs, ownership and judgement are all the same. The scale changes a lot of things but those fundamentals remain and actually become more important as you go.
I’m also a father of two, and balance is critical to me. Software is a marathon, not a sprint, and nothing has taught me that more clearly than trying to be a good engineer and a good dad at the same time. I’ll write about that side of the craft too - doing your best work and having a life worth living shouldn’t be mutually exclusive, we don’t talk about it enough, I hope to be able to do that.
What this newsletter is
No Shortcuts is my attempt to write down what I’ve learned about software engineering as a craft. You can expect three kinds of posts:
Leadership and the non-technical side of the craft - the skills that aren’t in the code, but essential to software engineering which is at it’s core a team game.
AI and our craft - how AI is enhancing (and changing) the way we build software, and how to think clearly about it using what we already know about software engineering.
Occasional technical posts - deep dives into the how and why, when a topic deserves the full treatment. Expect these to be centered around building.
Why “No Shortcuts”?
There are no shortcuts to mastery. There never have been and AI doesn’t change that. If anything, it makes the opposite true. The power of software automation is powerful, I truly believe that, but it can only be harnessed effectively through applying what we know about the craft. The ones who can reason about trade-offs, systems and people will be the ones that will be leveraging this technology to its fullest.
I want this newsletter to be for the people who are in it for the long game and building what the world looks like tomorrow. If that sounds like you, welcome!