Accelerate
The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim · first published 2018
82% recommend16% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Research-backed case for what makes software teams perform well: frequent releases, CI/CD and automated testing, and team-level delivery metrics. Suits engineering managers who need data to justify practices to execs.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This book goes into depth on research that shows how DevOps techniques can make technology organizations more effective. Fundamentally, they can help create generative team cultures which in turn leads to higher performance, better retention and better outcomes. The book shares multiple years of research from the State of DevOps reports.
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In Continuous Delivery and DevOps: Lean software Development - Mary & Tom Poppendieck The DevOps Handbook - Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois Accelerate - Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim Continuous Integration - Paul M. Duvall, Andrew Glover, Steve Matyas Continuous Delivery - Jez Humble, David Farley
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗…that. You probably can't do it over night, but you gotta chip away at it over time at the very least. If you are looking for justification backed up by real world numbers, I highly recommend the book "Accelerate" by Nicole Forsgren, et.al.[2] [1] https://a16z.com/2014/04/16/shipping-is-a-feature-some-guidi... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno...
on “Agile Lite: Agile without all the burnout” ↗So...shouldn't the focus be fixing the fact that release cycles take several weeks? This is well researched and discussed in Nicole Forsgren's book: Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno...
on “A note of reflection after 10 years of “A successful Git branching model”” ↗I don't think anything exists out of the box unfortunately. You should be able to start tracking them manually as a starting point. Do read the book (Accelerate by Dr Nicole Forsgren) for more information about why these are important.
on “Ask HN: Engineering managers – how do you measure developer productivity?” ↗I prefer studies over anecdotes and found this: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno... According to this study, you can measure a team's progress and ability with: * number of production deployments per day (want higher numbers) * average time to convert…
on “Ask HN: What are useful OKRs and KPIs for SWEs” ↗…aware of any operating systems that are developed using agile methods, and second the empirical evidence is in that agile improves quality, so it would be better if they were. https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno...
on “First Look: macOS Monterey Public Beta” ↗> we need to figure out another way of working that isn’t agile, Isn't devops the next generation? (I mean devops as promulgated by Accelerate: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno... , not 'smoosh the devs and ops teams together, add Jenkins and hope for the best'.)
on “The Case for ‘Developer Experience’” ↗…Scrum Industrial complex (e.g. "here! you MUST take our certificate program!") and the drag setting pointless sprint boundaries and focus on just repeatedly, successfully, ship high quality software. The Accelerate book is a very good starting point - https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno...
on “Software engineering books” ↗…cogs-and-factory-lines style organizational models and hypotheses in software work. Here is btw. a book with empirical results about software work perhaps pointing a bit in the same direction: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno...
on “Work is work, in which returns diminish (2020)” ↗It's more about engineering management but 'Accelerate: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations' by Nicole Forsgren (Github VP), Jez Humble and Gene Kim is a must-read.
on “Ask HN: Top 10 Timeless Software Books That ChangedLife as Software Engineer?” ↗Accelerate https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Techno... Team Topologies https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-T... Making Work Visible https://www.amazon.com/Making-Work-Visible-Exposing-Optimize...
on “Ask HN: What are good books/blogs to read for a first time CTO?” ↗…specific exampleS: I have some detailed knowledge of hospital EHR systems, and they are so massively, hilariously broken in ways that modern software practices could easily help address. I suggest reading Accelerate [1] for data and examples of how agile applied to DevOps practice in particular means you can be more responsive and produce safer software, especially in that context. I, like you, also prefer software…
on “Moxie Marlinspike: Agile is killing software innovation” ↗…deployments are no longer flipping a switch and either breaking or not breaking - you get to turn outages into degradations. This approach is corroborated by the DORA research[0], and covered well in Accelerate[1]. It also features centrally in The Phoenix Project[2] and its spiritual ancestor, The Goal[3]. [0] https://dora.dev/ [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Tech... [2] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-Project-Helping-Business-An...…
on “Slow deployment causes meetings (2015)” ↗Author: Nicole Forsgren Book: Accelerate I picked up this book after hearing high praises from Martin Fowler and Dan North during conference talks. Forsgren and her colleagues have been doing research into DevOps and its effects on organizational…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗I’d start with reading the Phoenix Project (a “novel” about Devops) and also Accelerate. Also the Continuous Delivery book by Dave Farley and Jez Humble. Beyond that however it’s about taking a look at your processes and your particular challenges. Say if you have a old-school DB with…
on “Fulfilling the Promise of CI/CD” ↗