Communication for Developers: estimates, code reviews, and other hard problems
summary
Shows how to make estimates unambiguous by splitting scope, giving developer‑days, an uncertainty factor, assigned headcount and assumed availability (example: 55 man days → 4 months with one developer and a 4‑day productive week), and naming target environment; prescribes PR hygiene: small PRs or annotated large ones, pick 1–3 reviewers for one approval, set a merge deadline, and don't force push during review; recommends linking issues, building in the open, TLDRs, and using emojis judiciously.
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chapters (38)
- 0:00Developers need to talk more
- 1:54My communication failures
- 3:41Hard truth about human communication
- 5:53Communicate estimates clearly
- 8:45Estimates vs commitments
- 9:48Talking to business
- 10:52Code comments for the future
- 12:16Useful error messages
- 12:59Breadcrumbs in code
- 14:04Building in the open
- 15:30Irreplaceable is failure
- 16:14Coordinating complex releases
- 16:57Finding PR reviewers
- 18:21PRs reviewer friendly
- 19:47Rebasing without breaking reviews
- 20:29Good code review
- 21:59Help in code reviews
- 23:04Picking communication battles
- 24:10Avoiding useless greetings
- 24:51Repeating yourself is normal
- 25:12Getting responses to questions
- 27:02Explaining needs
- 28:08Clear responses to requests
- 28:50Power of smiles in remote
- 30:16Messages easy to scan
- 30:59Replace chats with calls
- 32:51Targeting right people
- 34:16Understanding others' needs
- 35:20Ensuring message understood
- 36:03Adjusting to audience
- 36:45Why formalities matter
- 37:07Language in global teams
- 38:13Importance of brevity
- 38:56Readable documentation
- 39:17Open beats private
- 40:20Tailoring to topic
- 41:24Culture-specific communication
- 42:31Q&A: Emojis and friction
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