Databases
- Database schema changes are hard A wonderful talk by Robert Lechte that reimagines what object-relational mapping (ORM) frameworks could be and provides a practical alternative for database management.
- Turning the Database Inside Out If you are attempting to build event-driven services, then read this post or watch the original talk. Both are dense with important concepts and the conception of change data capture.
- Curse of the Data Lake Monster Confused on the differences between a data warehouse and data lake? This post by Thoughtworks clarifies the distinction along with the importance of creating models that match the mental models of functions within an organization rather than a single model to rule them all.
Software Engineering
- The Mythical Man Month: Essays on Software Engineering This is a foundational software engineering tome. Read it. Read it again. Study it. The wisdom in this book continues to be relevant since its publication by Frederick Brooks in 1975.
- Out of the Tar Pit Following The Mythical Man Month, Ben Moseley and Peter Marks discuss the difference between accidental and essential complexity. They then provide practical and insightful advice for minimizing the complexity from common causes. This paper alone will change the way you develop software.
- Papers We Love For an a la carte approach to your knowledge of computer science.
Complexity
- Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension Systems, software, and disaster. A wonderful book, by Samuel Arbesman, with insights into our ever growing complex ecosystem of technology. As systems become complex, we must close the gap between of how we think the system works and how it really works. Samuel Arbesman illuminates the differences between the physics-based (reductionist) and biology-based approaches to understanding the world and their applications to technology.