Keynote: Antifragile Architectures
What is fragile? Fragile things are easily broken, damaged, or destroyed. When faced with stressors, they crumble. Then what is the opposite of that? Many of us would answer something like “robust” or “resilient.” Things that maintain their integrity when faced with stressors. But it’s possible that we’re wrong.
In his book Antifragile, Nassim Nicholas Taleb challenges this idea by inventing the word that forms the book’s title. Antifragile is the true opposite of fragile. Whereas fragile things are easily broken, damaged, or destroyed when faced with stressors, antifragile things improve, become stronger, or become more powerful when faced with stressors.
Can we build software systems like this? Dick Gabriel explores the idea of ultra-large scale systems that self-regulate (and in fact thrive) in the face of unexpected changes and stressors in his essay “Design Beyond Human Abilities,” and Russ Miles explicitly calls out the idea of Antifragile Software in his book by the same name. During this session we’ll explore these ideas and what they mean to us as developers and architects.
About Matt Stine
My passion is taking a metaphysical approach to software engineering: what is the nature of the collaborative game that we continuously play, and are there better, more contextually-aware ways to play that game?
By day I lead a team tasked with taking a first-principles-centric approach to intentionally enabling programming language usage at the largest bank in the United States.
By night I write and teach my way through a masterclass in software engineering and architecture targeting early-career software engineers working in large-scale enterprise technology organizations.
What is the primary goal?
To win the game. More seriously: to get 1% better every day at providing business value through software.
Who am I?
I'm a 22-year veteran of the enterprise software industry. I've played almost every role I can imagine:
- Software Engineer
- Software Architect
- Technical Lead
- Engineering Manager
- Consultant
- Product Manager
- Field CTO
- Developer Advocate
- Conference Speaker
- Author
- Technical Trainer
- Technical Marketer
- Site Reliability Engineer
- Desktop Support Specialist
I've worked at Fortune 500 companies, a tenacious teal cloud startup, and a not-for-profit children's hospital. I've written a book, and I've hosted a podcast. I've learned a lot along the way, including many things I wish I'd known when I first got started. And so now I want to pass those learnings on to you, especially if you've only just begun your career.
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