Emily Bache on software quality, technical excellence, and driving change

In this episode of Distributed, host Jack Hannah speaks with Emily Bache, a technical coach and the creator of Samman Coaching, about her work helping teams improve their development practices.

Emily shares her experiences with test-driven development and refactoring, and explains how these practices can transform both code quality and team dynamics.

Highlights:
- The impact of test-driven development on software quality
- How to introduce new practices in a resistant environment
- Why collaborative coding, like ensemble programming, accelerates team growth
- The role of leadership in creating a culture of continuous learning and quality

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) – Kicking things off with Emily Bache
(01:25) – First experience with extreme programming in 2000
(02:28) – Struggling to get a new team on board with XP
(04:03) – Why TDD transformed Emily’s coding approach
(05:22) – Becoming a full-time technical coach and YouTuber
(06:48) – Defining what a technical coach actually does
(07:21) – Inside a high-performing architecture team’s microservices shift
(09:04) – Can siloed experts still outperform collaborative teams?
(14:42) – Simple tactics to nudge your team toward better practices
(20:57) – Ensemble programming explained: many minds, one keyboard
(24:45) – Why refactoring skills matter in the age of AI assistants

References
Approval Tests (https://approvaltests.com/) and the weekly Approval Tests Ensemble (https://github.com/approvals/ApprovalTests.Python/blob/main/docs/Contribute.md)
ChatGPT & Copilot are NOT Refactoring Tools (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXGBIX8gudE)

Where to connect further:
Connect with Emily Bache on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilybache/) and Samman Technical Coaching Society (https://sammancoaching.org/)
Follow Tuple (https://x.com/tuple)
Want to hear more? Check out distributed.fm (http://distributed.fm)
Connect with Jack Hannah (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-hannah/)

Видео Emily Bache on software quality, technical excellence, and driving change канала Tuple