A big theme in the keynotes and conversation during Velocity Conf in NYC a few weeks ago was the role of ops in an "ops-less" and "server-less" world. It's also been a big feature in discussions on twitter and in conversations I've had with coworkers and friends in the industry. There are several things that stand out to me in these conversations: first, that some ops engineers (sysadmins, techops, devops, and SREs) are worried that they will be phased out if developers and software engineers are responsible for the operational tasks in their systems; second, that developers and software engineers do not have the skills needed to take over responsibility for operational tasks; and third, that building reliable systems is impossible without an operations organization.
Read moreThe Architecture Interview
In today's post, I want to share some of the things I've learned about how to structure and run these types of interviews. If you're here because you want to know how to ace the architecture interview, you should keep reading, because I think the best ways to prepare for these things is know how interviewers think about them.
Read moreHow I Wrote My First Technical Book
I just finished writing my first book, Production-Ready Microservices, and I've gotten a lot of questions about how I approached it, how I wrote it, and what the process was like from start to finish. The book is currently in the last stages of technical review and copyediting, so I thought I'd take advantage of this little break before I dive into writing my next two books and write something up about the whole process.
Read moreHow I Manage My Time
A short post describing how I structure each of my days.
Read moreFrom the Fledgling Physicist Archives: An Introduction to Axions
An introduction to axions I wrote several years ago on fledglingphysicist.com, covering the Strong CP Problem, the Peccei-Quinn Mechanism, and axions in cosmology.
Read moreMy ebook is available for free download!
The second chapter of my upcoming book Production-Ready Microservices has been turned into a short ebook. Download it for free on the O'Reilly website while it's available! You can get it in epub, mobi, and pdf formats.
Read moreWho's On Call?
Implementation of an on-call policy requires answering precisely these questions: who is responsible for on-call duties for an application/service, and how is that responsibility defined? More succinctly, who owns on-call?
Read moreThe cover design of my new book is finished!
I'm so excited to share the cover design for my new book Production-Ready Microservices. I've been working on this project this entire year, and have been writing non-stop ever since I began working with O'Reilly in May. There's a lot more work to be done (this last stretch of writing, editing, more writing, more editing is the hardest part), but we are nearing the finish line and I can't wait to share all my microservice thoughts with you!
Read moreFrom the Fledgling Physicist Archives: If Susan Can Learn Physics, So Can You
Originally posted on my blog fledglingphysicist.com, here is "If Susan Can Learn Physics, So Can You".
"Like most of us, I had heard throughout my life that math and physics were really difficult. If you weren’t “smart”, you shouldn’t even bother trying to learn either, people would say...That is one of the biggest, most hurtful, and most destructive lies anyone can perpetuate...Anyone can learn physics. Anyone can learn math. Being “good at it” or “smart” is beside the point."
Read moreEmbracing Failure
The best complex systems are those that are prepared for failure, actively pushed to fail, and recover from failures gracefully. By applying these lessons to our own lives, and learning to embrace failure, we can become the best versions of ourselves.
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