_ Case studies and best practices for engineering leaders

Engineering Leader’s blog

Learn from some of the most accomplished engineering leaders. This blog brings you key insights from fellow engineering managers and tech leaders to level-up your management skills and to take your developer team to the next level.

Build Faster with Agile App Development: 3 Case Studies Compared

by Wendy Dessler / January 23, 2019

You know how agile works. You understand why it’s so successful. But, how does it work in real life? How do real-world businesses go from a completely different method—or no clear method at all—to agile without losing excessive time, money, and patience? In this post, we examine 3 distinct, real-life case studies of agile integration in agile app development to see the trials and tribulations play out for themselves. There’s something you can learn from their difficulties as well as their dedication to the method. 

Serverless Mobile App Development with Ionic and Firebase

by Anton Ivanov / January 9, 2019

When you’re looking to build an MVP and later a production mobile app as a small team, the task at hand may seem daunting. You’ll obviously want to focus on the actual mobile app design and the UI, which by itself is no small feat. On top of that, you’ll need to figure out how to develop and release the app for both iOS and Android platforms. This is exactly the situation I faced as a solo-founder and developer of DealCheck – a cross-platform app that helps real estate investors analyze potential properties to buy.
The Agile Way to Use Kanban in Software Development

by Shanie Weissman / December 5, 2018

The best way to direct and manage tasks across your software delivery system is to keep a close eye on workflow via a designated, centralized release management system. However, it often seems that regardless of the methodology you choose, or how carefully you monitor workflows, it is hard to predict the duration of individual tasks. Neglecting to properly steer resources can lead to bottlenecks, causing delays to downstream tasks and impacting delivery schedule. In this blogpost, we introduce you to Kanbanflow for effective, Kanban-based portfolio and project management.

Monolith to Microservices: 6 Signs Your Service Is a Jenga Tower

by Patrick Lee Scott / November 22, 2018

"I’d really like to make this change, but I’m afraid to, because I have no idea how that will affect the rest of the system.” If you’ve ever felt this way - most of us have at one point or another - it’s likely that the code you are working on is basically a Jenga tower. Pulling out one block could cause everything to come crashing down! It’s a typical situation when it comes to refactoring your architecture from monolith to microservices. Here are 6 signs your code base is like a Jenga tower!

How to Choose the Best Features for Your MVP

by Angela Beklemysheva / November 7, 2018

Have you ever felt at a loss about which features to include in your minimum viable product (MVP)? Have you ever wanted to build a strategy to help you choose the perfect features for your minimal viable product? The lean startup methodology can help you figure out what minimum viable product development should look like. If you can find and hire good software developers, they can help you figure out what features to include even faster.
Making Microservices Work: Why the Developer Experience Matters

by Will Ezell / October 17, 2018

A microservice architecture can help developers build, manage, and scale services more efficiently. It’s an architecture that’s ideal in a world where new devices, touchpoints, and consumer trends are emerging faster than ever before, which is why big brands like Netflix and Amazon are all leveraging microservices.

But adopting microservices brings about a cultural shift that can deeply impact the developer experience, either positively or negatively. 

5 Questions to Ask Your Offshore Software Development Agency

by Srdjan Sukara / October 10, 2018

Hiring an offshore software development agency to build your idea, trusting them with tens of thousands of dollars and putting your reputation on the line seems like a hard decision to make. 

Picking a good outsourcing company can be really tricky. I've heard fifty different stories about how people got burned. Communication that is not set properly, unclear project expectations and bad guidelines make it difficult for both sides. 

You assume the company you found has good intentions to build your product or service, but what if they are just there to take your money and pretend to do something? It's crucial that we do our homework and ask proper questions when choosing the right partner to create a win-win situation for both sides. 

5+ Reasons to Use Selenium with Docker for Application Testing

by Suraj Vijayaraghavan / September 13, 2018

Application testing is a key element to make sure your web applications run smoothly, as it tells you whether the tested scenario works without a hitch and the features run as validated. High test coverage, code reviews and pull requests are required for a fast pace and high-quality code. Docker gives you the best of this because you can run your tests in containers or isolate them in development and deployment.

Lack of Motivation Could Kill Your Software Team. Here's How to Fix It!

by Tyler Hakes / August 30, 2018

When it comes to software development, we talk a lot about the “hard” skills. Raw talent, individual intelligence, knowledge of frameworks and libraries. We all know these are important. But we often forget about the role of “soft” skills. At the end of the day, every software developer is human. (At least, for now.) As humans, we are driven and affected by more than just our abilities and IQ. Psychological and human elements play a huge role in the ability of a developer to do their job. One of the biggest factors is how individuals on a team feel about the work they’re doing. Do they feel invested and energized? Or are they just there to punch the clock and collect their paycheck?