Boo! 👻

What's scarier: a terrible pair programming session, or trying to dig up helpful context in a repository full of unexplained pull requests? Not to fear, this month the Shopify Engineering blog has tips to avoid these spooky situations. Or, if you're in the mood for a fright, join us on Twitter where we're discussing the biggest programming mistakes we've ever made. Not into Halloween tricks? No worries, we have treats too, like the chance to win $3500 in prize money by entering the  Shopify Air Gapped Wallet Asset Verification Challenge. All this and more in your October roundup below.


- Your Editor, Ashley Sawatsky

A Flexible Framework for Effective Pair Programming

CULTURE  •  BY RAYMOND CHUNG

Pair programming is an underrated but hugely beneficial skill for developers at every level. Raymond, a Technical Educator for Shopify’s Dev Degree program, shares his tips for running great pair programming sessions, including setting an agenda and goal, different activities and styles, communication, and more. 

On the Importance of Pull Request Discipline

DEVELOPMENT  •  BY YASH KAPADIA

If the code works, does it matter if the PR sucks? Yash argues that yes, it does. Check out his post on why we could all use a little more PR discipline in our lives.

The Engineering Story Behind Flex Comp

DEVELOPMENT  •  BY ERIC POIRIER

This post isn't so much about what we built (a new employee compensation system) but how we built it. The story behind Flex Comp is a case study in navigating ambiguity, building fast and staying aligned while working asynchronously, and optimizing for iteration. We also deep-dive into technical aspects of the build, like how we restructured Kafka event encryption.  

Finding Relationships Between Ruby’s Top 100 Packages and Their Dependencies

DEVELOPMENT  •  BY  KEVIN LIN

Do big Ruby gems depend on small Ruby gems? Kevin investigated this during his internship on the Ruby Dependency Security team while working on implementing MFA to RubyGems users. 

How to Structure Your Data Team for Maximum Influence

DATA SCIENCE & ENGINEERING  •  BY  LEVI BOWLES

Levi applies his real-world experience managing data teams to review traditional frameworks for structuring data teams (think: swim lanes, etc.), and breaks down the new Diamond Defense framework he’s found to be most effective at driving impact for data teams that support multiple areas of the business.

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