Hiya!
I'm Andrew. A father, husband and software engineer living in Scotland.
I've been building software since Turbo Pascal on an Amstrad - an old language no one remembers on an old computer no one used.
During the day, I work at TransferGo as a Staff Engineer. I've built Compliance, Risk and Anti-money Laundering things, then rebuilt the Profiles domain. Now I've joined the Developer Experience team, helping engineers get better at working with AI.
I'm teaching software development concepts using metaphors on YouTube and writing interactive and animated articles.
My spare time is spent with family, kayaking, 3D printing, and coaching youth football.
- Your Codebase is Your Prompt
- Evaluating our Test Pyramid
- Cognitive Debt
- Pipe Operator
- Primitive Obsession
- Composition over Inheritance
- Accidental Intent Cancelling
- Profiles #4: Hidden Coupling
- Profiles #3: Event Inconsistencies
- Profiles #2: Implementing Branch by Abstraction
- Profiles #1: The Profiles Bounded Context RFC
The Open-Closed Principle perfectly explains the replicator from Star Trek
Adding a latte shouldn't require opening the replicator. That's the Open-Closed Principle, and the holodeck safety protocols going offline is what happens when a design ignores it.
My video titles are honest. That's the problem.
My video titles are usually just the name of the pattern. I won't do clickbait, so I'm experimenting: put the boring, accurate name on the thumbnail and use the title field as a hook.
The Four-Eyes Principle Isn't Slowing You Down
AI is accelerating PR volume and cracking a review bottleneck that's been straining for years. The proposed fix — let any engineer approve anything — guts the signal four-eyes is supposed to provide. There's a better answer, and it predates AI.