The Leverage Principle: A Software Architect's Guide to Optimizing Development and Operations

Software development is expensive and it is far more expensive than it needs to be. The pace of development has increased dramatically with the arrival of cloud-based apps and continuous delivery and the processes for software development and operations have to adapt to this new reality.

One definition of leverage is using something to maximum advantage. The goal for every software development project should be to utilize every asset – everything you've previously built, everything your team learned about the business needs and domain, every skill and bit of expertise in a technology platform. Utilize these previous investments rather than creating them new every single time. Not only is it wasteful and expensive to rebuild assets that have already been created, it jeopardizes your company’s success.

Key questions addressed in The Leverage Principle:
• How can I streamline our software development projects and decrease waste?
• How can I quantify our technical debt?
• How can I manage code complexity?
• What are some effective methods for working with legacy code?
• How can DevOps be more effectively managed?
• How can I build high performance development teams?

The Leverage Principle offers techniques for extending software life, reducing cost, and streamlining project development and operations. The overall approach is pragmatic rather than academic. This book is written by an engineer, rather than a manager, resulting in an "in the trenches" feel. This book assumes familiarity with Agile, Scrum, TDD, Continuous Integration, Refactoring, Reviews, Incremental Development, Continuous Delivery, Acceptance Testing, Unit Testing, and System Testing.