Felipe Aquino

💡 Lead your remote/distributed teams with empathy (my own experience): Working with remote or distributed teams can be a challenge for Engineering Managers. Keeping your teammates aligned across different time zones, countries, or cultures requires excellent organization, best practices, and a lot of emotional intelligence. One thing I’ve learned is that beyond technology and processes, the human factor is probably the most important to manage. You’ll need to resolve conflicts, build trust, and boost productivity, but you won’t be able to do it without empathy—I can assure you of that. A few quick practices that have helped me are: ▶ Clear goals: Ensure everyone is following the same direction. Keep the goals visible to the team (e.g., JIRA board, Slack, etc.), and provide friendly reminders if you have stand-ups with them. ▶ Good communication and cadence: Schedule regular check-ins. Make sure the team feels heard. ▶ Flexibility and cultural differences: Be flexible with schedules and learn how to communicate with different cultures, as not everyone works in the same way. Practice deep listening with your teammates and set clear expectations. Learn what is "normal" for them and find a balance to create a good fit within your team. ▶ Foster a safe environment: Create open discussion spaces for the whole team, plus 1:1 meetings. A meeting I’ve been using a lot, which often gets overlooked, is the retrospective. But for your team to participate and share their true feelings, they need to feel comfortable. What has been your experience leading distributed teams? I’d love to hear other points of view, thoughts, and reflections! Remember, I’m creating more content related to engineering management at https://daniheredia.com/ So sharing it is always more than welcome 🙇‍♂️ #leadership #engineeringManager #remoteTeams #empathy #distributedTeams #distributedTeams #emotionalIntelligence #diversity #cultures #newsletter #team #teamWork

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What countries have an 8-4 hour working time overlap with the US and a huge pool of Fullstack Engineers? 👇👇👇 🇧🇷 Brazil: 180,000 software engineers -> EST: 8 hours overlap -> PST: 5 hours overlap 🇦🇷 Argentina: 48,000 software engineers -> EST: 7 hours overlap -> PST: 4 hours overlap 🇲🇽 Mexico: 40,000 software engineers -> EST: 8 hours overlap -> PST: 6 hours overlap 🇨🇴 Colombia: 32,000 software engineers -> EST: 8 hours overlap -> PST: 6 hours overlap 🇨🇱 Chile: 18,000 software engineers -> EST: 7 hours overlap -> PST: 4 hours overlap ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 💬 Drop a comment and I’ll shoot you a report on US startups hiring full-stack devs—where, how, and the $$$! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. If you want to learn more about how YC, A16z, and other startups are climbing to the top, consider following me.

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A few days ago, I started working on a prefetch implementation based on the recommendations from Unified Streaming’s documentation: https://lnkd.in/dKhQ6phN. Here’s the code: https://lnkd.in/dhwWeWdX (NGINX + Lua and a web server written in go for testing purposes) I haven’t tested it in production yet, but I would appreciate hearing from anyone with experience implementing something similar. If that’s you, could you please share your results? #videostreaming #livestreaming #videoengineering

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Returning to Java from Kotlin has me thinking again about nulls and null-safety. Kotlin has softened me somewhat on the subject of nulls, because its handling of them is safe and elegant: declaring a type as T? is more or less equivalent to declaring it as Maybe T in Haskell, and null is just a compact representation of None in that case. The compiler will simply reject anything that tries to pass null, or the unchecked value of a variable of nullable type, to a non-nullable receiver. It's one of the two things about the language I'm really going to miss (the other being the Ruby-like block syntax). After a phase of thinking Optional<T> should be used to do the same thing in Java, I'm actually swinging back more towards annotating optional fields and parameters as @Nullable, and relying on tooling (the IDE, build-time linting) to enforce Kotlin-like null-discipline. But there's a skeleton in the closet: older (pre-record-type) Java often has a lot of POJOs with default no-argument constructors lying around. You construct one, everything's null, you set fields one by one with the setters. It's much harder to impose null-discipline of any kind in this scenario. People depend on this behaviour, too - they create test value objects by newing up instances of POJOs and setting only the fields the code under test is interested in, and everything works. You can say "you should make it impossible to construct an object in an invalid state" all you like, but you're going to break all those tests if you actually take the ability to partially populate a value type away from them. Lombok doesn't help, either - there's no way to compile-time check that all the mandatory fields have been added to a builder before calling build(). And even with record types, the ability to use builders to supply field values by name, rather than relying on their order in the constructor signature, is going to be hard to take away from people working with value types with a dozen or more fields. Java is just an ever-burning tire fire around these issues, and always has been, and it's a major reason why "legacy" code tends to suck so much. At the moment the best I think I can do is try to promote a general pattern: if you can't ensure correctness on construction, validate correctness immediately after construction (and prevent illegal mutation after that). At least then you can eliminate ad hoc null checks downstream of validation, and be clear about when missing values are actually to be expected.

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🎤*tap, tap, tap* Is this thing on?? If you're letting fear get in the way of using metrics to extend your management style, you're missing out on chances to better support your ICs. Check out my talk to learn how my team and I employed them safely, leveling up our 1-1 conversations around job satisfaction, burnout prevention, self-advocacy, and healthier team dynamics. ✨✨ https://lnkd.in/dPyJjRjx

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Test Driven Development & Developer Advocacy - Interview With Guilherme Ferreira You're not a real developer unless you do TDD. Gui Ferreira is a TDD expert -- but no, not even he would tell you this. In our chat together, we covered a lot of ground. It was great to sit down with a fellow Dometrain course author to go over: - His career journey - Developer advocacy - Test-driven development - And MUCH more! Huge thanks to Gui for the talk, and I'd love to do more in the future! 👇Check the comments for the video link!👇

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This is a result of ambiguous naming. It is designed-driven development or "Know your contract and then start coding"—making your code testable.

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Software Architects too often ignore: - Client-side architecture - K8s CNCF DevOps ecosystem architecture - Deep Learning e2e pipeline architecture + model taxonomy You cannot be a well rounded Software Architect if you exclusively focus on backend systems only.

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Measuring engineering work by just counting issues, PRs or story points is like measuring how much it rained by counting the puddles. 🌧️ Sure, it gives a rough idea, but you're probably way off. Learn more about how Jellyfish has advanced this representation of engineering with their Work Allocation model.

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Five years ago, we started MuukTest with a question: Could we make "Great Software Testing and Automation" easier? My cofounder Renan Ugalde & I each have 20+ years of Software Development & QA experience. We've seen Bad Software Testing and Great Software Testing - way too much of the former, not enough of the latter: Bad Software Testing:  - Nonexistent professional testing team, expecting "developers to do all their own testing" (which 'works' until it doesn't) - Wild, non-disciplined, exploratory testing that doesn't help  - Testing that's treated as a second-class citizen in an engineering org, not as a partner - Reactive, under-resourced testing teams  - Testing with deficient coverage and no automation at all - Testing that's treated as the last step in an assembly line - Massive teams of testers, treated like a boiler room - Testing that slows engineering down I spent years of my life in Software QA and Testing roles like this… where I spent my Christmas holidays frantically, manually running regression tests across an entire application that *had* to be released yesterday. This is bad Software Testing. It is stressful for everyone and doesn't lead to good outcomes. Great Software Testing is:  - Proactive - A mix of (smart, disciplined, strategic) manual exploration and automation - Partner to engineering - Happens throughout the engineering cycle - Performed and coordinated by small teams of testing experts  - Employs amazing tools - Helps engineering move faster - Delivers insights, not more work Since 5 years ago, we have always believed that 'Great, Fast, Efficient Software Testing' will be made possible by AI. Bad testing happens because of bad ideas and bad tools, but with AI helping with a lot of the heavy lifting of test automation and maintenance, 'Great, Fast, Efficient Software Testing' is possible for more teams. Proud of our work in AI, making Great Software Testing possible for ANY software team. Great Software Testing means better software, faster development, happier customers, and better outcomes for all. 

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💡 Continuous Feedback is key to Building Stronger Teams: As an Engineering Manager, I’ve learned that one of the most powerful tools we have it’s feedback. I think feedback fosters team growth and engagement. I'm not speaking only about annual reviews. It’s about making feedback a part of your day-to-day management style. What have I discovered over the years? 🔄 Real-time feedback builds trust: sharing it openly and regularly, it creates a culture of transparency opening the door for honest conversations. 🌱 Not only focussed in performance: empower growth in your teams, if they're growing, the performance and results will do it consequently. 📈 Small corrections prevent big issues or problems, giving us time to adjust our team's direction. 💬 Two-way street: be open to receiving feedback, not only from your manager but also from your team. I regularly ask my team, "What can I do better?". You can also create a quarterly feedback form to gather their input So, you'll create a team culture in which engagement, better problem-solving, and a stronger sense of ownership will make the difference 🚀 What has been your experience on this? I’d love to hear other points of view, thoughts, and reflections! Remember, I’m creating more content related to engineering management at https://lnkd.in/drVtNeji ♻ So sharing it is always more than welcome 🙇‍♂️ #leadership #engineeringManager #teamGrowth #feedbackCulture #empathy #feedback #emotionalIntelligence #diversity #cultures #newsletter #team #teamWork

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SAFe works as well as TDD Different companies use them: SAFe • Large scale • Low tech culture • Revenue focused (large contracts) TDD • Medium Scale • High tech culture • Tech focused (incl. non-tech teams) Both are great in their niches. This builds their ideology. Most engineers are somewhere in between. In need of pragmatic solutions, For their context alone. TDD or SAFe may work, but: There are no silver bullets in tech. -- PS: I'm back to writing the newsletter! Join Thinking in Tech to find order in the chaos of tech https://lnkd.in/e72CwPkJ

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Why Ruby on Rails for Back-end Development? ✅ Ruby on Rails' convention-based approach speeds up development, allowing for rapid deployment of back-end systems. ✅ It's proven in handling large-scale applications, ensuring smooth performance as your project grows. ✅ With a wealth of gems and plugins, Ruby on Rails simplifies complex tasks and integrates seamlessly with other technologies. ✅ Tap into a thriving community for guidance, updates, and solutions, ensuring your backend stays up-to-date and secure. If you're looking for a reliable, scalable, and efficient back-end framework, Ruby on Rails is the go-to choice 🚀🚀 #RubyOnRails #softwaredevelopment #technology #webdevelopment

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Observation: 9/10 SWE's quit at “reading the docs”. Cut through the BS with this easy trick: Take action and build. Writing code is 100x easier than the docs make it sound. “Reading the docs” gave me crazy imposter syndrome: -Git -WPF -Kafka -OAuth -Angular -GraphQL -RabbitMQ -Kubernetes In ALL cases, I conquered my fears by building. Except for WPF. I gave up on that. And Kafka, that's for another day. Forcing yourself to build/code/deploy melts analysis paralysis. Then you'll say "oh that was pretty easy". Trust me, we aren't building rockets. Practice AND Study build true mastery.

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💡 [TIP] How do you handle unexpected news as an Engineering Manager? In day-to-day work, you and your teams sometimes receive unexpected news that can shake the team's motivation. As Engineering Manager, how are you handling this? Here is how I’m approaching these situations in case it helps you reinforce your own mindset: 1️⃣ Understand this reality: companies evolve. One day, your best teammate might leave. Another day, you might decide to move on. And on another day, the company might make changes. That’s just how it works. 2️⃣ So, I ask myself this question: What opportunities can my teams and I find in this situation? 3️⃣ If you're following step number 3️⃣ , I can ensure you that you'll find at least 1 opportunity to grow. 4️⃣ Communicate this to your teams and remain open to deeply listening to their thoughts and proposals. 5️⃣ Create your own plan to seize the opportunity. The ideal world doesn’t exist. And perhaps it doesn’t because “ideal” means something different to everyone. 🙂 This may sound obvious, but when we receive unexpected news, we tend to ask ourselves why and try to understand it, investing energy in something that probably isn’t up to us. This leads to frustration and exhaustion when it’s unnecessary. I choose to keep fighting to protect my #energy and #motivation. What about you? More content related to engineering management at https://lnkd.in/dNePvQJV #team #growth #engineeringmanager #manager #productivity

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"It takes too long", "it slows me down", "you can't design software that way", "it doesn't fit my feature" - I've heard all these in the past and my usual response is "give it a try". Experimentation is a key part of R&D - sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail, but we always learn from it. And that's not just restricted to a department looking at new tech or processes - it's just as important (maybe more so) for an individual looking to improve themselves. So if you've never used TDD before (or fallen off the wagon) then go on, give it a go ;)

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We've changed one of our key Kotlin Multiplatform recommendations: share source instead of binaries. Touchlab has been working with native mobile teams adopting Kotlin Multiplatform for several years. Our approach and best practices have evolved over time and continue to do so as the technology and ecosystem have matured. One key recommendation that has changed is how teams should initially start piloting KMP. In short, most teams share binary dependencies, which exacerbates the disparity between the Android and iOS developer experiences. We now recommend sharing Kotlin source code instead of binary dependencies: https://lnkd.in/gXHSnvhq. Maximizing the iOS developer experience is critical, and this is an area where the difference between the Android and iOS experiences is significant. It's also a "mechanical" issue (I.E., it's not a "people thing"). Resolving the issue is simple. As always, I'd love feedback on this concept from anybody considering or currently adopting KMP. 🎸 #Xcode #Kotlin #KotlinMultiplatform #iOSDevelopment

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#CQRS can be a good solution for solving complex problems. You shouldn't apply this architecture everywhere, but it's important to know it. After several projects where I used it, I can confirm that it's not that easy but can be very helpful! 🤯 I found this amazing article about it and the implementation with #java. It's a good starting point for understanding it. Have you ever tried to use the CQRS architecture? Credits by João Esperancinha for the article! https://lnkd.in/dP5u5tFz

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𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 and 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗕𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 in a nutshell 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Immutable - It can be a problem if used indiscriminately with concatenation, for example. Take a look at my post about 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲/𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 (𝗦𝗖𝗣) https://lnkd.in/dReWsDQP 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 - Mutable - Non Thread-safe - Faster but not safe in multi-threaded scenarios 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗕𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 - Mutable - Thread-safe - Slower than StringBuilder due to synchronization #Java #JavaPerformance

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