Process Efficiency - keep an eye on the little things in software development
Published: 2024-03-25 22:48:37

This episode revolves around the theme of efficiency, illustrating its importance through a specific example of inefficiency in software development: the prolonged time taken for test execution. It delves into the repercussions of inefficiency, emphasizing wasted time and resources. Furthermore, it extrapolates this concept to broader scenarios, advocating for the identification and rectification of inefficiencies across various contexts to optimize processes. The discussion culminates with a proposal for improvement, suggesting strategies to mitigate inefficiencies, particularly focusing on enhancing test execution speed. Overall, it underscores the critical need to address inefficiencies to minimize waste and optimize outcomes, concluding with a hint at potential future elaboration on the topic.

### Summary

**Introduction to the Topic of Efficiency:**
- Discusses the importance of efficiency in various projects and personal work experiences.

**Example of Inefficiency:**
- Describes an example related to writing tests in software development, where the process takes a significant amount of time to execute.

**Analysis of Inefficiency:**
- Examines the implications of inefficiency, such as wasted time and resources, particularly focusing on waiting time during test execution.

**Extrapolation to Other Scenarios:**
- Expands the discussion to highlight the broader implications of inefficiency beyond software development, emphasizing its relevance in different contexts.

**Importance of Addressing Inefficiency:**
- Stresses the significance of identifying and addressing inefficiencies to minimize waste and optimize processes, especially in smaller teams with limited resources.

**Proposal for Improvement:**
- Suggests considering strategies to mitigate inefficiencies, particularly in the context of optimizing test execution time in software development.

### Podcast

Check out on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3JOmoPKF3AuGTelhwjMMDd?go=1&sp_cid=c13c6333498d3c94fe4c91c5ca3c53bc&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop).

### Transcript

**0:01**

Hey there, hope you’re doing well. In this video, I want to talk about efficiency, both in general and with examples of inefficiency I’ve encountered in various projects I’ve worked on.

**0:21**

Identifying and fixing inefficiencies is crucial for improvement. Let’s discuss some examples to better understand this concept. I’ve previously mentioned the idea of “death by 1000 cuts” when addressing performance issues. It’s rarely about one significant problem, but rather many small ones that need addressing.

**0:43**

Let’s extend this line of thought. I recall a project I was involved in some time ago. It was day one, and there were around 10-12 developers on the team. The specifics of the project aren’t important; what matters is the inefficiency we encountered.

**1:07**

In our development process, writing tests was a standard practice. However, the tests took considerable time to execute, sometimes up to two minutes just to start running due to loading dependencies like Spring beans.

**1:50**

Testing incrementally, after writing a few lines of code, is more efficient. Personally, I prefer this approach to writing a large amount of code before testing, regardless of whether it’s UI, middleware, or backend development.

**2:27**

If you run tests every 15 minutes, spending no more than five seconds per test, you ensure your code functions as expected. However, waiting two minutes for the tests to start adds up over time, leading to significant downtime.

**3:36**

In this scenario, a developer could spend up to an hour each day waiting for tests to complete. Extrapolating this across a team of 10 developers, it becomes apparent how much time is wasted collectively.

**4:50**

This inefficiency highlights the importance of optimizing processes, particularly in software development. While this example is specific to coding, similar inefficiencies exist in other areas and industries.

**5:49**

Addressing inefficiencies is crucial for maximizing productivity and minimizing wasted time and resources. This is especially true for smaller teams or those with limited resources.

**6:34**

In the next part of this video series, I’ll explore additional examples of inefficiency and discuss potential solutions to improve productivity.

**7:08**

Thank you for watching.