Fighting Software Entropy

Explore strategies for combating software entropy in this 47-minute conference talk from YOW! 2022. Learn how REA Group tackles the challenges of evolving and maintaining software systems as Alison Rosewarne and Stewart Gleadow discuss measurement techniques, processes, company-wide objectives, and platform product strategies. Discover approaches to lowering total cost of ownership and reducing cognitive load while addressing issues like changing preferred approaches, team turnover, accumulating tech debt, and shifting ownership. Gain insights into architecture practices, engineering excellence, continuous improvement, and platform adoption to break the cycle of build, atrophy, replatform, and repeat. The presentation includes key takeaways for each major topic, providing actionable advice for software professionals looking to fight decay and maintain long-term software health.

Intro
What is entropy?
What is software entropy
How can we fight software entropy?
Architecture practice
Key takeaways
Engineering excellence
Key takeaways
Continuous improvement
Key takeaways
Adopting platforms
Key takeaways
Recap
Key takeaways
Outro
Q&A