About
Who is Ralf Westphal?
Iāve worked in the software industry since 1986 as the co-founder/CEO of two companies for a total of 12 years and since 1998 as a freelancer.
Getting to the bottom of fundamental questions of software development and working collaboratively is what drives me.
Itās a search for truth. And itās a fight against illusions, unquestioned beliefs, deep seated habits.
Maybe thatās all an effect of having taken some red pill? I donāt know.
What I know, though, is thatĀ Iām on a quest for whatever works better.Ā Finding new (or forgotten) ways to make software development easier, to lessen its pains, thatās what Iām focused on.
And quite often the starting point for all this is my own experience: I imagine, that whatās burdening me must be burdening others, too. HenceĀ by making things better for myself, I think, I can improve things for others, too.
So, when I finally chose the path of a freelancer it seemed, that a fitting description for what Iām doing is āOne Man Think Tankā: Every day Iām making it my job to think hard about stuff otherās donāt have much time to think about. And as Iām thinking about it (and researching what others have done) and uncovering ways to make work (and life) easier, I can also help those who donāt find time for that while being busy running their businesses.
A more detailed description of my lifeās journey you can find inĀ my resumĆ©.
Currently I'm living in Bansko/Bulgaria and doing all my business online. It's a cool as well as beautiful place to live.
Working online/remotely is in no means an obstacle, but a boon. It makes meetings of all sorts more flexible, more fine grained, and supports a more a sustainable way of being of service to my clients.
Where Iām coming from
I started out as a software developer infatuated with technology. I loved to try out the latest frameworks and tools. And I applied technologies in the software I developed for my clients. And it all started in 1980 with a TRS 80.
But then somehow that changed. I began to write about technologies instead of building products with it myself.
Then I got interested in the structures into which technologies are embedded. Software architecture became a topic in my articles, talks, and consulting engagements.
And then, moving onto yet another level of software development, I started to think about how software structures could not just be made functional, but long ālivingā, i.e. be easy to evolve in the face of ever changing requirements. Reading āClean Codeā by Robert C. Martin got me onto that track.
ButĀ Iām an eclectic.Ā I donāt want to be glued to any one thinker or approach. I could not help but let my thinking about clean code development evolve. Although Iām still all for getting code clean at the most detailed level, Iām also concerned about the prerequisites for that: designing models of code and analysing requirements. And even beyond that I find it important to keep the overall software development process in the picture.
āClean codeā or āAgilityā or āLeanā are just labels to me. Following their canonical descriptions to the last letter drains the life out of them. Cargo cult is always lurking around a corner; itās easy to mistake these means for an end.
Iām not peddling off-the-shelf trainings under these labels. Rather I believe in taking them as quarries to break useful advice from ā and to add my own experience and views.
This ā hopefully ā results in my clients to do the same: to take nothing at face value, to constantly reflect and adapt, to make their own observations and experiments.
Ultimately my work revolves around being alive, being viable ā and staying happily and relaxed in business.
Whatās it all about?
- Clean codeĀ development.
- Writing software in a responsive,Ā non-wasteful,Ā relaxedĀ manner.
- BeingĀ reliableĀ in what you do.
- Making your software delivery moreĀ predictableĀ and less a of matter of gut feeling.
Thatās what my job is about.
Or to summarize it in one word:Ā my concern isĀ sustainability.
Because every code base, every developer, even every team and every company are resources. And resources can be used in ways so they last long ā or they can be misused, even abused and burn quickly.
How I contribute
My way of contribution to improving the sustainability of software development is byĀ teaching. Or more generally byĀ inspiringĀ andĀ provoking.
Because even if Iām ultimately wrong in what Iām suggesting, I will at least be ārattling your cageā. And that might get your thinking unstuck. And that will hopefully get you into action ā which then will lead to some change and improvement.
As a freelancer Iām by definition not part of my clientsā businesses. My vantage point is not limited by a particular organizationās culture, beliefs, traditions, habits, politics.Ā Thatās helpful toĀ inject new ways of thinking and doing into organizations that feel stuck.
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