Software Delivery Notebook

Podcast: Software Delivery Notebook

  • Looking back at NATO ’68

    Looking back at NATO '68
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Looking back at NATO ’68
    Loading
    /

    Looking back at the history of software delivery is like discovering the kind of diamond mine you see in cartoons. Lights reflect from perfectly cut gemstones that simply need to be plucked from the walls.

    Well, way back in 1968, there was a NATO software engineering conference. Surely, there’s nothing to learn about software engineering from such an ancient conference? Well, maybe there is.

    People chasing shiny new things, struggling to measure software delivery without driving the wrong behavior, and estimation are all topics that continue to be relevant even today.

    That sounds remarkably like agile thinking doesn’t it; iterative development and adjusting based on feedback.

  • Impact of generative AI in software development

    Impact of Generative AI in Software Development
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Impact of generative AI in software development
    Loading
    /

    Dives into the new DORA report, titled Impact of Generative AI in Software Development, which looks at the outcomes of using AI for code, docs, and other software delivery tasks.

    The report looks at benefits and problems at the individual and team levels, uncovering some surprises along the way like the vacuum hypothesis and the five key perspectives on AI.

    Here’s another one of those head-scratching moments. Despite all these positive indicators in code and in process the researching surprisingly links AI adoption to negative impacts on overall software delivery performance.

  • Mapping your deployment pipeline: A guide to Continuous Delivery

    Mapping Your Deployment Pipeline: A Guide to Continuous Delivery
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Mapping your deployment pipeline: A guide to Continuous Delivery
    Loading
    /

    This white paper from Octopus Deploy provides a comprehensive guide to mapping and improving deployment pipelines for achieving Continuous Delivery. It explains Continuous Delivery’s core principles and benefits, emphasizing its role in increasing deployment frequency and reducing risk.

    Establish a basic deployment pipeline with stages like commit, build, acceptance, and production while highlighting the importance of automation and monitoring. Discover the cultural factors influencing DevOps’ success and find strategies for identifying and overcoming constraints to optimize the software delivery process.

    Research has shown that these external approvals actually slow down deployments, increase lead times, and don’t even improve quality or reduce failure rates. In fact, they often have the opposite effect.

  • AI code quality trends

    AI code quality trends
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    AI code quality trends
    Loading
    /

    Digging into the 2025 AI Copilot Code Quality report from GitClear and Alloy, which looked at 211,000,000 lines of code and made projections for 2025.

    Find out how AI is increasing the speed of change, and the knock on effects of optimizing for short-term speed. Or, more poetically: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when AI agents we use for speed.”

    Good developers focus on building systems that are not just functional, but also elegant and efficient. They refactor their code, meaning they constantly look for ways to improve the structure and make it more reusable.

  • US software deployment trends 2025

    US Software Deployment Trends 2025
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    US software deployment trends 2025
    Loading
    /

    Explore the findings and surprises of software deployment trends across the US by state and city, published by Octopus. Learn about the population deployment index and how California is gaining ground on Texas!

    Find out whether the most frequent deployers align with Bloomberg’s brain concentration index and hear some potential influences on deployment frequency.

    This population deployment index really highlights how important it is to look beyond the raw numbers and look at the context of each state’s tech ecosystem.

  • Lincoln Labs: Decades ahead of its time

    Lincoln Labs: Ahead of its time
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Lincoln Labs: Decades ahead of its time
    Loading
    /

    It’s time for a history lesson! We start by looking at early software delivery models by looking at MIT’s Lincoln Labs and the SAGE project.

    The process used for SAGE was documented by Herbert Benington in 1956. How did they tackle building the first large computer programming when none of the tools we use existed?

    Find out why Lincoln Labs were telling us how to start with a small working system before evolving it to meet more needs decades before the Agile revolution.

    Get ready for a blast from the past, as today we’re going deep on the SAGE air defence system […] It’s like they were laying the foundation for Agile development, but like, decades before it was even a thing.

  • Developer productivity at Google

    Google Developer Productivity: Code Quality and Beyond
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Developer productivity at Google
    Loading
    /

    A peek inside Google’s research on developer productivity, which looks at causal relationships to find what helps developers get stuff done (and what gets in the way).

    Looks at factors like shifting priorities, documentation, time spent in meetings, distributed and remote working, and technical debt.

    “Maybe it’s not just the presence or absence of documentation that matters, but the quality and purpose of that documentation.”

  • Measuring software delivery

    Measuring software delivery
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Measuring software delivery
    Loading
    /

    Tackles the subject of measuring software delivery in organizations based on the white paper Measuring Continuous Delivery and DevOps. Relevant to teams using Agile, Lean, Continuous Delivery, and DevOps.

    Delves into leading and lagging indicators, qualitative and quantitative metrics and more. Takles some common dead ends and things to keep in mind when choosing metrics.

    “Data! We love it. In software it’s the key to making smart moves. Sometimes it feels like we’re measuring everything except the stuff that makes a difference.”

  • Changing organizational culture

    Changing organizational culture
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Changing organizational culture
    Loading
    /

    Explores the culture of organizations using Westrum’s typology and looks at how you can change it using John Shook’s lessons from NUMMI.

    You’ll find out how to classify your culture and how to improve it to create positive change in your organization.

    “Generative cultures are all about open communication, sharing knowledge, and focussing on solutions not blame. Information flows freely, people feel safe speaking up, and problems are seen as opportunities to improve.”

  • Accelerate State of DevOps 2024

    Accelerate State of DevOps 2024
    The Software Delivery Notebook
    Accelerate State of DevOps 2024
    Loading
    /

    A look at the key points in DORA’s Accelerate State of DevOps Report 2024.

    Dives into the findings on AI, platform engineering, user-centricity, transformational leadership, and stable priorities.

    “So, it’s not just about adopting the latest tools and technologies. It’s about creating a culture where people can thrive and where innovation can flourish…”