The pursuit of perfection in engineering and art
Northern Virginia Software Symposium
Reston · November 4 - 6, 2016
About this Presentation
It begins with a vision - an awe-inspiring idea that both excites and motivates you. Then the compromises begin… Budget, schedule, scope, work/life balance; you're forced to cut a corner here and there and the vision of perfection slips further and further away until the end result is fragile, fetid shell of your original idea. How can we deal with inevitable compromises while maintaining our integrity as engineers (and pride in our work)
Like many of his talks, Michael has a very unique perspective on this phenomenon. After nearly two decades of experience both as a software engineer and as a professional magician he leverages all his skills explores this topic in an entertaining and insightful manner. It turns out creating beautiful, perfect code is not very different from creating the perfect card trick.
Software Architect & Magician
Michael Carducci spent years learning to see things as they actually are; first as a magician, then as a software architect, now as both simultaneously. And somehow that’s not even the whole story.
He’s the author of Mastering Software Architecture (Apress, 2025) and is currently writing The Semantic Layer. He has spent over 25 years following interesting problems; through roles from individual contributor to CTO and back again, across industries and continents.
As a speaker, he applies the same toolkit he uses in close-up magic: attention, misdirection, timing, storytelling, and the instinct to take the long way around when that’s where the truth lives. Audiences at hundreds of conferences across four continents have described his talks as the kind that change how you think about a problem rather than just what you know about it.
He also makes YouTube videos about technology and curiosity with his wife Kate, because some ideas are too important (or too interesting!) to leave only in conference rooms.