I’m Chris Fildes, a Software Lead based in Dublin, Ireland. I focus on the engineering patterns and practices that help people and coding agents build software well together.
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If Review Is The Bottleneck, Maybe The Bottle's Too Full
AI has multiplied how much code we write, and review queues are where it shows. Before widening review with more agents, it's worth asking how many of those changes needed to exist at all. Plus this week's interesting links that caught my eye.
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More Docs, Less Clarity: Why I'm Writing For Agents In Simplified Technical English
Agents now write and read much of our documentation, and it's getting longer and less consistent. Why I think Simplified Technical English, a standard from aerospace manuals, can help, and the agent skill I built to make agents write in it.
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What I'm Learning From Addy Osmani's Agent Skills
My first impressions of Addy Osmani's Agent Skills. The most interesting part isn't any single skill but the workflow: building engineering discipline into every stage of delivery, from defining and planning to verifying, reviewing and shipping.
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AI Fluency Framework: Engineering With AI Starts With Being More Human, Not Less
As AI gets better, the human side of engineering matters more. How the AI Fluency Framework's four skills, Delegation, Description, Discernment and Diligence, map to the judgement, context, critical thinking and responsibility that good engineering needs.
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Learning Python As A C# Developer: A Practical Introduction
A practical introduction to Python for C# developers. Side-by-side comparisons of variables, functions, classes, modules, async and tooling, plus where Python fits alongside .NET and a learning path to get started.
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Can We Measure The Impact Of Vertical Slice + DDD? Yes - Here’s How
Vertical Slice architecture with Domain-Driven Design is said to boost productivity, improve code quality and make AI-assisted development safer. How to move past anecdote and measure each of those claims with real metrics.
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Course Review: Mastering Cursor: From Setup To Real Projects (Coursera)
A review of Coursera's Mastering Cursor course. It goes beyond AI-assisted coding into agent-driven development, and its real value for me was seeing how AI agents fit into a repeatable software engineering workflow.
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Why Architectural Thinking Matters More Than Ever
AI makes writing code easier, but it doesn't make good decisions easier. Why architectural thinking should be a skill for every engineer, not just architects, and practical ways to build it, starting with an open architectural proposal process.
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Course Review: Boost Your Productivity With GitHub Copilot (Coursera)
A review of Coursera's GitHub Copilot course: what worked, what didn't, and my main takeaway. Copilot works best when you treat it as a development partner rather than just a code generator.
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Designing Software Engineering Interviews That Support Neurodiverse Thinking
Many software engineering interviews reward performance under pressure rather than real engineering skill. How to design interviews that support neurodiverse thinking, using code reading, take-home tasks and architectural discussion in place of live coding.