# Chemaclass > Personal website of Jose Maria Valera Reales (Chemaclass). Tech Lead, software engineer, and open source contributor sharing practical insights on software craftsmanship, TDD, leadership, Bitcoin, and AI. ## About Jose Maria Valera Reales is a Product Engineer at Kombo with 15+ years in software engineering and 5+ in leadership. He writes about software craftsmanship, testing, leadership, Bitcoin, and AI. The site is available in English and Spanish. ## Sections - [Blog](https://chemaclass.com/blog/): Articles on software development, testing, leadership, and team building - [Readings](https://chemaclass.com/readings/): Book summaries and reading notes across software, psychology, and philosophy - [Talks](https://chemaclass.com/talks/): Conference talks and workshops on testing, refactoring, and software craftsmanship - [Services](https://chemaclass.com/services/): Web development and team workshops - [CV](https://chemaclass.com/cv/): Professional experience and skills ## Series - Bitcoin Series: PGP, Cypherpunks, Programmable Money, Taxes, Fundamentals, How It Works - AI Series: Speed Not Quality, MCP Context, Team of Agents, Idealism vs Pragmatism, Inside .claude, Levels of AI Adoption, Skills Over Agents, Token Bill, Human Bottleneck, Non-Deterministic AI - Software Craftsmanship Series: Art of Testing, Mock or Not, TDD, TDD vs BDD, London vs Chicago, Test Private Methods, Pair Programming - Leadership & Teams Series: Tech Lead, Red vs Blue Work, Path to Seniority, Beauty of Leadership, Great Leadership, Everyone on Board, FSNP, Garage Door Open - Agile & XP Series: Extreme Teams, Agile with Non-Agile, Ignoring Scrum, Friday Deploys, What Kills Agility, Ship Show Ask ## Topics - Leadership & People: Growing as a leader, building great teams, and the human side of software - Mind & Knowledge: Philosophy, psychology, productivity, and the pursuit of understanding - Software Craft & Testing: TDD, clean code, refactoring, and design practices - Bitcoin & Economics: Sound money, Austrian economics, privacy, and Bitcoin technology - Programming Languages & Tools: PHP, Bash, Lisp, Symfony, Docker, Git - Speaking & Teaching: Conference talks, workshops, live coding ## Open Source - [bashunit](https://bashunit.typeddevs.com/): Testing framework for Bash scripts - [Phel](https://phel-lang.org): A Lisp that compiles to PHP ## Feeds - Atom (EN): https://chemaclass.com/atom.xml - Atom (ES): https://chemaclass.com/es/atom.xml - JSON Feed: https://chemaclass.com/feed.json - Sitemap: https://chemaclass.com/sitemap.xml - Full content (for AI agents): https://chemaclass.com/llms-full.txt - AI use policy: https://chemaclass.com/.well-known/ai.txt - License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Quote freely, cite the source. - Machine-readable index of everything: https://chemaclass.com/index.json - Site search (OpenSearch): https://chemaclass.com/opensearch.xml ## Content index ### Blog (76) - `2026-08-10` [The Human Bottleneck](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-human-bottleneck/index.md) AI agents ship faster than you can review. The answer isn't speeding up. It's choosing where your attention actually matters. - `2026-07-14` [Working With the Garage Door Open](https://chemaclass.com/blog/working-with-the-garage-door-open/index.md) Working in the open lets people help while the work is still shapeable. The real skill is pushing the right signal to the right room. - `2026-07-05` [Laissez Faire, Laissez Passer](https://chemaclass.com/blog/laissez-faire-laissez-passer/index.md) Let people act, let goods pass. No planner knows what the market knows, and freedom, not control, should be the default. - `2026-06-26` [Cut the Token Bill on Both Ends](https://chemaclass.com/blog/cut-the-token-bill-on-both-ends/index.md) Caveman shrinks what the agent says back, RTK shrinks what your terminal pipes in. More room in the same context window. - `2026-06-01` [The Eternal Return](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-eternal-return/index.md) Nietzsche used eternal return as a test. Life uses it as a mirror. Patterns rhyme not to predict the future, but to reveal who you become under pressure. - `2026-05-19` [Skills Over Agents](https://chemaclass.com/blog/skills-over-agents/index.md) Why Claude Code skills beat specialized agents. On-demand context, not the model, decides quality. Build a skill library that travels with your code. - `2026-05-01` [The Levels of AI Adoption](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-levels-of-ai-adoption/index.md) A six-level ladder of AI adoption, from copy-paste prompts to agentic teams and AI-native workflows. Where most companies stall, and how to climb. - `2026-04-17` [Inside the .claude Folder](https://chemaclass.com/blog/inside-the-claude-folder/index.md) A hands-on tour of Claude Code's project folder. What rules, skills, agents, hooks, and settings each do, and how they fit together. - `2026-04-05` [Building a Game in Two Days](https://chemaclass.com/blog/building-a-game-in-two-days/index.md) A Telegram message turned into a nine-level Lord of the Rings browser game. Code by an AI agent, every creative decision by a human. - `2026-03-01` [Idealism vs Pragmatism](https://chemaclass.com/blog/idealism-vs-pragmatism/index.md) Doing things right against getting things done. TDD, pair programming, AI: the best results hold both ends of the rope. - `2026-02-07` [Build Your Own Team of Agents](https://chemaclass.com/blog/build-your-own-team-of-agents/index.md) Stop using AI as a single assistant. Organize agents into specialized teams with roles, docs, and parallel execution for real leverage. - `2026-01-11` [MCP: Giving Your AI Agent the Right Context](https://chemaclass.com/blog/mcp-giving-your-ai-agent-the-right-context/index.md) MCP connects AI agents to your dev tools, databases, and APIs through a standard protocol. Give your agent the context it actually needs. - `2025-12-22` [How Bitcoin Works](https://chemaclass.com/blog/how-bitcoin-works/index.md) Transactions, blocks, mining, the UTXO model, and Lightning Network: how Bitcoin actually works under the hood, explained in plain terms. - `2025-11-21` [Bitcoin Fundamentals](https://chemaclass.com/blog/bitcoin-fundamentals/index.md) 21 million cap, no central authority, permissionless and censorship-resistant. Bitcoin is digital money you truly own. No bank required. - `2025-10-10` [AI Gives You Speed, Not Quality](https://chemaclass.com/blog/ai-gives-you-speed-not-quality/index.md) AI accelerates your output but doesn't ensure quality. You're responsible for every line you commit. Speed without direction is chaos. - `2025-09-15` [What Success Means to Me](https://chemaclass.com/blog/what-success-means-to-me/index.md) Success is waking up knowing that what you do makes the people around you, and yourself, happier. Consistency over perfection. - `2025-04-12` [Ship, Show, Ask](https://chemaclass.com/blog/ship-show-ask/index.md) Not every change needs the same review. Ship, Show, Ask matches the process to the risk, without losing quality or collaboration. - `2025-02-17` [Run Your LN Node on a Raspberry Pi](https://chemaclass.com/blog/run-your-ln-node/index.md) How to set up a self-custodial Lightning node with Alby Hub on a Raspberry Pi. Full control over your funds, 100% open source. - `2025-01-02` [Understanding Taxes](https://chemaclass.com/blog/understanding-taxes/index.md) Your paycheck, your coffee, the house you just bought: taxes are everywhere. Where your money actually goes after payday. - `2024-12-11` [The Cypherpunks](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-cypherpunks/index.md) In the early '90s the Cypherpunks set out to defend digital privacy. Their encryption and their ideals shaped the world we live in. - `2024-11-17` [Verified Git Commits](https://chemaclass.com/blog/verified-git-commits/index.md) Sign your Git commits with GPG to prove they are really yours. Without a signature, anyone can fake a commit using your email. - `2024-10-30` [bashunit](https://chemaclass.com/blog/bashunit/index.md) bashunit: a testing framework for Bash with parallel and snapshot testing, test doubles and data providers. From dev frustration to open source. - `2024-09-02` [People Skills](https://chemaclass.com/blog/people-skills/index.md) You have mastered the code, but technical skill alone will not carry you. If you cannot work with others, nobody wants to work with you. - `2024-08-01` [What Is Waterfall?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/what-is-waterfall/index.md) Waterfall moves through fixed stages and gives no feedback until each one ends. Why that clashes with how software really evolves. - `2024-07-13` [Pretty Good Privacy](https://chemaclass.com/blog/pretty-good-privacy/index.md) PGP signs, encrypts and decrypts text, email, files and whole partitions. What it is, how it works, and how to actually use it. - `2024-07-06` [Programmable Money](https://chemaclass.com/blog/programmable-money/index.md) Bitcoin is called programmable money because Script lets you embed conditions into a transaction. How that scripting language works. - `2024-06-27` [Prisoner's Dilemma](https://chemaclass.com/blog/prisoners-dilemma/index.md) The Prisoner's Dilemma, where cooperation and betrayal collide, and what it reveals about self-interest against collective benefit. - `2024-05-30` [What Kills Agility?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/what-kills-agility/index.md) Why Agile if you already do Scrum, Kanban or SAFe? How you manage an organization defines its quality, and what really kills it. - `2024-04-02` [Learning Concurrency in Golang](https://chemaclass.com/blog/learning-concurrency-in-golang/index.md) Learning Go for its simplicity, and meeting again things I had not used in years: multithreading, goroutines and concurrency. - `2024-03-28` [Effective Pair Programming](https://chemaclass.com/blog/effective-pair-programming/index.md) A practical guide to pair programming that works: roles, rotation, when to pair, common pitfalls, and how to make sessions productive. - `2024-02-25` [Deployments on Fridays](https://chemaclass.com/blog/deployments-on-fridays/index.md) The panic around deploying on Fridays. Does banning a whole day of delivering value to your customers actually make sense? - `2023-12-30` [Great Engineering](https://chemaclass.com/blog/great-engineering/index.md) Coding is not just another job. In the right environment it is fun, and even a hobby. On levelling up your craft on purpose. - `2023-11-25` [Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing](https://chemaclass.com/blog/forming-storming-norming-performing/index.md) Tuckman's five stages, and practical strategies for each one: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. - `2023-10-20` [How to Test Private Methods?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/how-to-test-private-methods/index.md) From time to time I have had to face this question: how to test private methods? I have put together in an article the techniques that I usually use. - `2023-10-11` [Unhealthy Working Environment](https://chemaclass.com/blog/unhealthy-working-environment/index.md) An unhealthy working environment can have various symptoms that negatively impact both the physical and mental well-being of employees. - `2023-09-30` [The Peter Principle](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-peter-principle/index.md) The Peter principle: people get promoted until they land in a role they are not competent for, and then stop being promoted. - `2023-08-02` [How Do You Get Everyone on Board?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/how-do-you-get-everyone-on-board/index.md) From my talk at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress: my experience with Extreme Programming and the benefits of embracing change. - `2023-07-05` [Never Ending Loop](https://chemaclass.com/blog/never-ending-loop/index.md) It is hard to get to bed with a blank mind when you are already on the next reading, talk or post. On the never ending loop. - `2023-06-08` [Learned Helplessness](https://chemaclass.com/blog/learned-helplessness/index.md) Learned helplessness sets in when someone accepts their powerlessness and stops trying to escape. What it is, and how it breaks. - `2023-05-17` [Dedicated QA Teams in Software?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/dedicated-qa-teams/index.md) Let's talk about the QA position. The hidden truth behind poor software quality, and why it concerns you if you write code. - `2023-04-14` [Introducing a New Tech Stack](https://chemaclass.com/blog/introducing-a-new-tech-stack/index.md) Introducing a new tech stack affects everyone, so it needs a clear why and a strategy the whole team can get behind. - `2023-03-16` [Have You Always Been Like This?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/have-you-always-been-like-this/index.md) Always reading, writing and speaking? The short answer is no. How I ended up here, and what changed along the way. - `2023-02-27` [Great Leadership](https://chemaclass.com/blog/great-leadership/index.md) As organizations grow, leaders must shift focus from customers to employees. Key principles for scaling leadership effectively. - `2023-01-09` [Interview About XP and Agile](https://chemaclass.com/blog/interview-about-xp-and-agile/index.md) My interview with devm.io regarding Agile and Extreme Programming. Agile is more about HOW you do certain things, rather than WHAT things you do. - `2022-12-06` [Ignoring Scrum to Get More Agile?](https://chemaclass.com/blog/ignoring-scrum-to-get-more-agile/index.md) Boring meetings are killing agile. When the process stops helping the team and starts owning it instead. - `2022-11-11` [Working Agile with Non-Agile Teams](https://chemaclass.com/blog/working-agile-with-non-agile-teams/index.md) You apply the extreme programming values and practices. So how do you work with the teams around you that are not agile? - `2022-10-08` [Different Beliefs About Software Quality](https://chemaclass.com/blog/different-beliefs-about-software-quality/index.md) What to do when working on \ - `2022-09-25` [The Beauty of Leadership](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-beauty-of-leadership/index.md) Leadership is action, not a title. It has nothing to do with management or hierarchy. What it really means and how anyone can lead. - `2022-08-22` [Understanding People](https://chemaclass.com/blog/understanding-people/index.md) One of the most complicated challenges for everyone is avoiding misunderstandings and being aware that other people don't think the same way as you do. - `2022-07-25` [The Project Management Triangle](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-project-management-triangle/index.md) A triangle of time, quality and cost. it's an indicator that these three parameters are interconnected. You can fix one or two of them, but not three. - `2022-06-08` [The Path to Seniority in Software](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-path-to-seniority-in-software/index.md) Real seniority goes beyond job titles. It's about impact, mentoring others, owning outcomes, and raising the bar for your entire team. - `2022-05-27` [Bikeshedding](https://chemaclass.com/blog/bikeshedding/index.md) Bikeshedding explains why teams waste time on trivial decisions while ignoring complex, important ones. Learn to recognize and avoid it. - `2022-04-02` [Dunbar Number](https://chemaclass.com/blog/dunbar-number/index.md) Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. - `2022-02-26` [Update Your Team to Be More Extreme](https://chemaclass.com/blog/update-your-team-to-be-more-extreme/index.md) Software demands non-stop learning. How to create the spaces your team needs to leave the comfort zone and embrace change. - `2022-01-24` [The Power of Authority and Obedience](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-power-of-authority-and-obedience/index.md) Milgram wanted to know how far people obey an order that means harming someone else. What he found, and why it still matters. - `2021-11-20` [London vs Chicago](https://chemaclass.com/blog/london-vs-chicago/index.md) There are two known schools in TDD: the mockist school (aka Outside-in) and the classicist school (aka Inside-out). - `2021-10-21` [Red Work vs Blue Work](https://chemaclass.com/blog/red-work-blue-work/index.md) Blue Work and Red Work, the two modes David Marquet describes in Leadership is Language. Different mindsets, and different languages. - `2021-09-25` [TDD vs BDD](https://chemaclass.com/blog/tdd-vs-bdd/index.md) These are two different techniques. The key to each of them is about the mindset and context of what you want to achieve. - `2021-08-01` [Test-Driven (Development)](https://chemaclass.com/blog/test-driven-development/index.md) TDD is a design practice, not just a testing technique. Writing tests first changes how you think about code and shape its structure. - `2021-07-01` [Responsibilities of a Tech Lead](https://chemaclass.com/blog/tech-lead/index.md) The Trident Career Model by Patrick Kua has three tracks. Each track represents where people spend most of their time or energy. - `2021-06-01` [Conformity Experiments](https://chemaclass.com/blog/conformity-experiments/index.md) How far do social forces bend your opinion? What matters more: the size of the majority or its unanimity. Asch's experiments, explained. - `2021-05-03` [Open-Source Software](https://chemaclass.com/blog/open-source-software/index.md) A practical guide to open-source software: its benefits, how to start contributing, and why sharing code accelerates your career growth. - `2021-04-01` [Pull Requests vs Pair Programming](https://chemaclass.com/blog/pull-request-vs-pair-prog/index.md) Let's talk about the benefits of Pull Requests and Pair Programming, and my thoughts on these after some years of experience with them. - `2021-03-01` [Embrace the Change](https://chemaclass.com/blog/embrace-the-change/index.md) The tale is a beautiful metaphor of the different attitudes that people adopt as part of their identity in life when they have to confront any change. - `2021-02-01` [Phel: The Lisp That Compiles to PHP](https://chemaclass.com/blog/phel-first-release/index.md) The new Functional Programming language build-in for PHP. - `2021-01-11` [To Mock or Not to Mock](https://chemaclass.com/blog/to-mock-or-not-to-mock/index.md) Mocking is useful, but 'what to mock' usually turns out to be a more complicated than expected if you don't treat this carefully. - `2020-12-01` [Sharing Your Git Patches](https://chemaclass.com/blog/sharing-git-patches/index.md) Discover another way of sharing suggestions with your development team. - `2020-11-10` [Never Use array_merge in a Loop](https://chemaclass.com/blog/array-merge-in-loop/index.md) Using array_merge inside a loop is a performance killer. The spread operator will help you to improve this by flatting the array. - `2020-10-13` [Typed Arrays in PHP](https://chemaclass.com/blog/typed-arrays-php/index.md) Argument unpacking, function variable argument list, and variadics function. - `2020-09-08` [The Process Itself Is the Goal](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-process-itself-is-the-goal/index.md) No goal should be an achievement on its own, but the process itself that helps us to go in the direction of these goals. - `2020-08-17` [Testing Effectively Legacy Code](https://chemaclass.com/blog/testing-effectively-legacy-code/index.md) How to write characterization tests for legacy code to safely refactor without breaking existing behavior. - `2020-08-09` [Strict Types in PHP](https://chemaclass.com/blog/strict-types/index.md) Why declaring strict_types in PHP improves code readability and prevents silent type coercion bugs. - `2020-06-28` [The Art of Refactoring](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-art-of-refactoring/index.md) If you see something, in the scope of your current task, that can be easily improved, improve it. And if you have any questions about it, ask. - `2020-06-06` [Final Classes in PHP | Java | Any](https://chemaclass.com/blog/final-classes/index.md) Clear contracts, isolated side effects, testability, low complexity and cognitive load, code fluidity, and confidence in yourself. - `2020-04-07` [The Art of Testing: Where Design Meets Quality](https://chemaclass.com/blog/the-art-of-testing/index.md) Why you should consider testing as part of your daily development habit and how it's directly linked to the software quality. - `2019-11-18` [How to Improve Your Tech-Talk (or Any Other Presentation)](https://chemaclass.com/blog/improve-your-tech-talk/index.md) We have all sat through a talk that was hard to follow. How to prepare and deliver a tech talk people actually want to hear. ### Readings (89) - `2026-06-21` [Meditations](https://chemaclass.com/readings/meditations/index.md) The private notebook Marcus Aurelius wrote for himself while running an empire. Stoicism with the theory stripped out. - `2026-03-15` [The Art of Being Happy](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-art-of-being-happy/index.md) Schopenhauer's 50 rules for practical happiness, built on avoiding suffering rather than chasing pleasure. - `2026-02-04` [Notes from Underground](https://chemaclass.com/readings/notes-from-underground/index.md) A bitter, hyper-conscious man retreats from society to wrestle with free will, spite, and the stubborn irrationality of human nature. - `2026-01-17` [Broken Money](https://chemaclass.com/readings/broken-money/index.md) Lyn Alden traces monetary history through a technological lens, from commodity money to fiat to Bitcoin, and why the system fails. - `2025-06-22` [Principles of Economics](https://chemaclass.com/readings/principles-of-economics/index.md) Saifedean Ammous on why prices rise and money loses value, told through the lens of Austrian economics. What stood out to me. - `2025-03-31` [The Road to Serfdom](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-road-to-serfdom/index.md) A quick and plain-English summary of Hayek's classic take on freedom, planning, and why good intentions can still go very wrong. - `2025-02-16` [Digital Minimalism](https://chemaclass.com/readings/digital-minimalism/index.md) Cal Newport's philosophy is not about rejecting technology but using it with intention, to reclaim focus and reduce anxiety. - `2025-02-09` [Criptoria](https://chemaclass.com/readings/criptoria/index.md) From Greece to Bitcoin: the milestones connecting mathematics, cryptography, computing and the struggle for individual sovereignty. - `2025-01-18` [Bitcoin with Rigor](https://chemaclass.com/readings/bitcoin-with-rigor/index.md) A detailed analysis of how Bitcoin works, component by component, with its potential and its risks as a monetary experiment. - `2024-11-29` [Man's Search for Meaning](https://chemaclass.com/readings/mans-search-for-meaning/index.md) Frankl shares his experience of the Holocaust and a philosophy about finding purpose even in the darkest of times. - `2024-08-02` [Bitcoin: A Work in Progress](https://chemaclass.com/readings/bitcoin-wip/index.md) They say Bitcoin is old and boring. This book walks through its latest developments, seen by one of its own developers. - `2024-07-05` [Mastering Bitcoin](https://chemaclass.com/readings/mastering-bitcoin/index.md) From the basics to the deepest technical details of how Bitcoin works. The guide for taking part in the Internet of Money. - `2024-06-21` [The Genesis Book](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-genesis-book/index.md) Bitcoin did not appear out of nowhere. The people and projects that spent decades trying to build money free of government control. - `2024-05-31` [The Phoenix Project](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-phoenix-project/index.md) An impossible project, people playing politics, and endless quick patches, instead of anyone helping the business thrive. - `2024-04-17` [Radical Candor](https://chemaclass.com/readings/radical-candor/index.md) Kim Scott, former Google leader, on being a great manager: empathetic and results-oriented, where people can speak freely. - `2024-01-26` [The Lean Startup](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-lean-startup/index.md) Most startups fail, and many of those failures are preventable. The approach that changed how companies build and launch. - `2023-12-09` [Invincible](https://chemaclass.com/readings/invincible/index.md) Marcos Vazquez combines stoic philosophy with modern psychology to train your mind for clarity, determination, and discipline in the face of adversity. - `2023-11-07` [The Alchemist](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-alchemist/index.md) Santiago, a shepherd boy, journeys towards the pyramids chasing a dream and learns what actually matters in life. - `2023-10-31` [Crucial Conversations](https://chemaclass.com/readings/crucial-conversations/index.md) The tools to handle life's hardest conversations: say what is on your mind and still reach the resolution you want. - `2023-09-20` [It's Your Ship](https://chemaclass.com/readings/its-your-ship/index.md) Michael Abrashoff on how he transformed the performance and culture of the USS Benfold, and the leadership principles behind it. - `2023-08-13` [The Day of the Triffids](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-day-of-the-triffids/index.md) Frightening and entirely plausible. Real people shaken out of the civilization they knew into a world dominated by triffids. - `2023-07-10` [The Book Of Satoshi](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-book-of-satoshi/index.md) Satoshi Nakamoto's emails and forum posts from 2008 to 2010: Bitcoin's creation, its design decisions and the vision behind it. - `2023-06-28` [Fahrenheit 451](https://chemaclass.com/readings/fahrenheit-451/index.md) Ray Bradbury's dystopia about a fireman whose job is burning books, until a chance encounter makes him question all of it. - `2023-06-20` [The Blocksize War](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-blocksize-war/index.md) Jonathan Bier chronicles the Bitcoin blocksize war of 2015 to 2017: the players, the strategies, and who controls the protocol. - `2023-05-31` [Agile Project Management](https://chemaclass.com/readings/agile-project-management/index.md) Waterfall projects ran over budget and shipped software nobody wanted to use. In 2001, a 68-word manifesto changed that. - `2023-04-17` [Effective Remote Work](https://chemaclass.com/readings/effective-remote-work/index.md) An effective remote work environment is about treating everyone as remote, with everyone in mind having the same level, equality, and information. - `2023-03-19` [Accelerate](https://chemaclass.com/readings/accelerate/index.md) The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations - `2023-03-11` [21 Lessons](https://chemaclass.com/readings/21-lessons/index.md) Bitcoin as more than just money: a deep dive into economics, philosophy, and culture. Like Alice in Wonderland, exploring Bitcoin is full of surprises. - `2023-02-26` [Adapt or die](https://chemaclass.com/readings/adapt-or-die/index.md) Told through the story of People First IT, this book lays out The Algorithm of Success for changing every part of an organization. - `2023-01-29` [The infinite game](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-infinite-game/index.md) From the bestselling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, a bold framework for leadership in today's ever-changing world. - `2022-12-17` [Momo](https://chemaclass.com/readings/momo/index.md) Momo is a modern fairytale that shows the fight between good and evil in our contemporary society, focusing on the lack of time to care for other people. - `2022-11-28` [Recipes for Decoupling](https://chemaclass.com/readings/recipes-for-decoupling/index.md) What coupling is and why it hurts. A compilation of strategies to decouple your domain code from infrastructure details. - `2022-10-29` [The Essential Drucker](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-essential-drucker/index.md) Twenty-six selections from Drucker on management in the organization, the individual and society. The principles that still hold. - `2022-09-30` [Dare to lead](https://chemaclass.com/readings/dare-to-lead/index.md) Leadership is not about titles or power. It is about recognising potential in people and developing it. Courage over comfort. - `2022-08-21` [Continuous Discovery Habits](https://chemaclass.com/readings/continuous-discovery-habits/index.md) Teresa Torres on a decision-making process that keeps product teams in touch with customers and improving what they ship. - `2022-08-01` [The Great CEO Within](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-great-ceo-within/index.md) How to scale from startup to company with a system of accountability, real problem solving and transparent feedback. - `2022-07-19` [The Starfish and the Spider](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-starfish-and-the-spider/index.md) Cut off a spider's head and it dies. Cut off a starfish's leg and it grows back. How decentralized organizations change business. - `2022-07-11` [Clean Craftsmanship](https://chemaclass.com/readings/clean-craftsmanship/index.md) Uncle Bob on the three pillars of craftsmanship: TDD disciplines with examples, standards for teams, and a programmer's ethics. - `2022-06-29` [Modern Software Engineering](https://chemaclass.com/readings/modern-software-engineering/index.md) Dave Farley presents software development as engineering at every level: becoming expert at learning and managing complexity. - `2022-05-10` [Bitcoin: Blockchain y su investigación](https://chemaclass.com/readings/bitcoin-la-tecnologia-blockchain-y-su-investigacion/index.md) How is a Bitcoin address created? How do private and public keys become a wallet? A technical walk through the fundamentals. - `2022-04-29` [Docker: SecDevOps](https://chemaclass.com/readings/docker-secdevops/index.md) A great book about Docker, from introduction to advanced concepts all covered by easy-to-follow examples. - `2022-03-31` [Team Topologies](https://chemaclass.com/readings/team-topologies/index.md) Team structures and interaction modes that let teams adapt quickly and keep software delivery both fast and safe. - `2022-02-27` [The Psychology of Money](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-psychology-of-money/index.md) There is no reason to risk what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need. Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness. - `2022-01-23` [Modern CTO](https://chemaclass.com/readings/modern-cto/index.md) Joel Beasley maps the jagged transition from developer to CTO: the challenges, the lessons and the things worth avoiding. - `2022-01-16` [Leaders Eat Last](https://chemaclass.com/readings/leaders-eat-last/index.md) A company's real strength is never its products. It is its people, and their willingness to rally together when it gets hard. - `2022-01-08` [Jonathan Livingston Seagull](https://chemaclass.com/readings/jonathan-livingston-seagull/index.md) A fable in novella form about a seagull who is trying to learn about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection. - `2021-12-07` [The Five Dysfunctions of a Team](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team/index.md) A leadership fable about a tech company whose C level cannot agree on anything, and the new CEO who names the five dysfunctions. - `2021-11-28` [Start with Why](https://chemaclass.com/readings/start-with-why/index.md) Why are some organizations more innovative and profitable? Why do so few repeat their success? Sinek starts from the why. - `2021-10-22` [Leadership is Language](https://chemaclass.com/readings/leadership-is-language/index.md) Marquet dives into the sinking of the El Faro and surfaces with new ideas on how the language we use defines our leadership. - `2021-09-20` [The Bitcoin Standard](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-bitcoin-standard/index.md) The historical context behind Bitcoin, the economic properties that let it grow fast, and its political and social implications. - `2021-09-12` [Turn the Ship Around!](https://chemaclass.com/readings/turn-the-ship-around/index.md) Marquet turned the submarine Santa Fe around by moving from leader-follower to leader-leader. On the limits of top-down hierarchy. - `2021-08-08` [The Catcher in the Rye](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-catcher-in-the-rye/index.md) The novel is a deeper reflection of Salinger's own youth, his complicated relationship with growing up and the generational trauma affected by World War II. - `2021-07-10` [Lord of the Flies](https://chemaclass.com/readings/lord-of-the-flies/index.md) A group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island try to govern themselves. It ends in disaster. - `2021-06-27` [Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager](https://chemaclass.com/readings/effective-software-em/index.md) A solid compilation for engineering managers: 1:1s, performance reviews, hiring and firing, politics and remote work. - `2021-05-28` [Peopleware](https://chemaclass.com/readings/peopleware/index.md) Software development is about people: when, how and where they work best together. Not about languages, tools or fast machines. - `2021-04-19` [The Art of Leadership](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-art-of-leadership/index.md) Leadership practices are small things done repetitively over time. Managers tell you where you are, leaders tell you where you're going. - `2021-04-05` [97 Things Every Engineering Manager should know](https://chemaclass.com/readings/97-things-every-em-should-know/index.md) As a manager your work is to create clarity, clarity, and more clarity. - `2021-03-01` [Zombie Scrum Survival Guide](https://chemaclass.com/readings/zombie-scrum-survival-guide/index.md) Zombie Scrum Survival Guide reveals why Scrum runs aground and shows how to supercharge your Scrum outcomes, while having a lot more fun along the way. - `2021-02-22` [Agile Product Management with Scrum](https://chemaclass.com/readings/agile-product-management-with-scrum/index.md) Understanding the product owner’s role and envisioning the product. - `2021-01-31` [Stock market investing](https://chemaclass.com/readings/stock-market-for-beginners/index.md) Stock market basics & essentials. - `2021-01-22` [One up on wall street](https://chemaclass.com/readings/one-up-on-wall-street/index.md) Peter Lynch on how average investors can beat the pros by using what they already know. Opportunities are everywhere. - `2021-01-16` [Who moved my cheese?](https://chemaclass.com/readings/who-moved-my-cheese/index.md) This book presents a tale inside the main story that consists of 4 characters: two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little persons, Hem and Haw. - `2021-01-15` [Rich dad poor dad](https://chemaclass.com/readings/rich-dad-poor-dad/index.md) Explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich. - `2020-11-12` [Principles of package design](https://chemaclass.com/readings/packaging-design/index.md) Package design principles for classes ready to be reused: the right balance of cohesion and coupling, for users and maintainers. - `2020-11-02` [Animal Farm](https://chemaclass.com/readings/animal-farm/index.md) Orwell's political allegory about a farmyard rebellion that descends into tyranny, exposing how power corrupts even the most idealistic revolutions. - `2020-10-10` [Object design style guide](https://chemaclass.com/readings/object-design-style-guide/index.md) Matthias Noback's practical guide to flexible, readable object-oriented code, useful in any OO language. - `2020-09-10` [Domain-Driven Design Distilled](https://chemaclass.com/readings/domain-driven-design-distilled/index.md) Vaughn Vernon brings DDD down to earth, so developers, consultants and customers can all benefit from its power. - `2020-08-16` [Advanced Web Application Architecture](https://chemaclass.com/readings/advance-web-application-architecture/index.md) Matthias Noback on levelling up your coding and architecture: modern PHP features with a genuinely modular design. - `2020-06-12` [Never split the difference](https://chemaclass.com/readings/never-split-the-difference/index.md) Chris Voss, former FBI lead kidnapping negotiator, on negotiation techniques tested across the full spectrum of human stakes. - `2020-06-10` [Scrum](https://chemaclass.com/readings/scrum-the-art-of-doing-twice/index.md) Sutherland on Scrum: how to define what you are trying to achieve, set up the team for it, and track progress to done. - `2020-05-21` [7 languages in 7 weeks](https://chemaclass.com/readings/7-languages-in-7-weeks/index.md) A hands-on tour of Clojure, Haskell, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang and Ruby, and how differently each one thinks. - `2020-05-18` [The call of Cthulhu](https://chemaclass.com/readings/call-of-cthulhu/index.md) Lovecraft's foundational cosmic horror tale about the discovery of an ancient underwater entity whose awakening threatens all of humanity and sanity itself. - `2020-05-16` [The metamorphosis](https://chemaclass.com/readings/metamorphosis/index.md) Kafka's novella on alienation and identity. Gregor Samsa wakes as an insect and faces his family's revulsion. - `2020-05-13` [1984](https://chemaclass.com/readings/1984/index.md) One of Britain's most popular novels, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a society terrorised by a totalitarian ideology propagated by The Party. - `2020-04-03` [High Output Management](https://chemaclass.com/readings/high-output-management/index.md) Andy Grove's Intel classic on managerial leverage, meetings, decisions and how to get the most output from a team. - `2020-03-26` [The Manager Path](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-manager-path/index.md) Camille Fournier maps the path from engineer to CTO: 1:1s, mentoring, and what changes at each level of technical leadership. - `2020-03-12` [Clean Agile](https://chemaclass.com/readings/clean-agile/index.md) Back to basics on Agile: what it was, what motivated it, and what has happened to it since. Uncle Bob's account. - `2020-03-05` [Extreme Programming Explained](https://chemaclass.com/readings/extreme-programming-explained/index.md) Kent Beck on XP, the most specific agile framework about engineering practice, and how it raises software and team quality. - `2020-02-20` [Symfony 5](https://chemaclass.com/readings/symfony-5/index.md) Fabien Potencier's official guide to building web applications with Symfony 5, covering the framework from scratch to production deployment. - `2019-11-12` [Atomic Habits](https://chemaclass.com/readings/atomic-habits/index.md) You do not need to think big to change your life. James Clear shows that real change comes from hundreds of small decisions. - `2019-07-01` [Working Effectively with Legacy Code](https://chemaclass.com/readings/working-effectively-with-legacy-code/index.md) Michael Feathers on adding tests to untested code, breaking dependencies, and refactoring legacy systems safely. - `2018-08-10` [The Art of War](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-art-of-war/index.md) Sun Tzu's ancient treatise on strategy, and how its lessons on conflict and positioning still read today. - `2018-06-04` [Clean Architecture](https://chemaclass.com/readings/clean-architecture/index.md) Uncle Bob on SOLID, component design and the architectural boundaries that keep a system flexible and testable. - `2017-03-20` [The Power of Habit](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-power-of-habits/index.md) Charles Duhigg on the science of habit: how habits form, why they exist, and how to rewire them for good. - `2016-10-01` [The Pragmatic Programmer](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-pragmatic-programmer/index.md) Key takeaways from Hunt and Thomas: DRY, the pragmatic mindset, and how to choose and master the tools of the trade. - `2016-09-01` [Sprint](https://chemaclass.com/readings/sprint/index.md) A five-day formula for going from idea to prototype to decision, saving your team weeks of building the wrong thing. - `2016-08-01` [The Clean Coder](https://chemaclass.com/readings/the-clean-coder/index.md) Uncle Bob on professional behaviour in software: time management, handling pressure, TDD, and what a craftsman actually owes. - `2016-07-15` [97 Things Every Programmer Should Know](https://chemaclass.com/readings/97-things-every-programmer-should-know/index.md) 97 short, practical tips from experts on what every programmer should know, whatever language you use. - `2016-05-01` [Clean Code](https://chemaclass.com/readings/clean-code/index.md) Bad code works, but it drags a whole organization down. Uncle Bob on what clean code is and how to keep it that way. ### Talks (6) - [bashunit](https://chemaclass.com/talks/bashunit/index.md) bashunit, a testing framework for bash scripts inspired by PHPUnit and Jest. Test the scripts in your pipelines like you test anything else. - [Gacela Project](https://chemaclass.com/talks/gacela/index.md) Gacela normalises the entry point of each module in your PHP application, so modules talk to each other without leaking domain logic. - [Hands-on Refactoring and TDD](https://chemaclass.com/talks/hands-on-refactoring-tdd/index.md) A live coding session on test-first development and refactoring, solving a code kata from scratch in pair and mob programming. - [How to improve your tech talk](https://chemaclass.com/talks/how-to-improve-your-tech-talk/index.md) How to get on a stage and talk to 5, 50 or 500 people. What it actually takes to prepare and deliver a talk worth hearing. - [Phel Lang](https://chemaclass.com/talks/phel/index.md) Phel, a functional Lisp that compiles to PHP. Persistent data structures, macros and a REPL, built on top of the PHP ecosystem. - [Update your team to be more extreme](https://chemaclass.com/talks/update-your-team-to-be-more-extreme/index.md) Embracing change is not optional in software. How to create the spaces your team needs to leave the comfort zone and keep learning.