Better Than New: A Mender's Journey

Most software developers love creating something new. So when it comes to improving existing code, a common approach is a rewrite. While scrapping what you have and starting fresh might seem intuitive, there's an even better way to modernize software systems — mending. In this talk, M. Scott Ford will give you a glimpse into the mender mindset. You'll learn what makes menders tick, why they find so much personal satisfaction in nurturing existing codebases, and which projects will thrive under a mender's stewardship.

M. Scott Ford

For over 25 years, Scott has been a vocal champion of the software mending movement. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Code Whisperer of Corgibytes, which enables organizations get more value from their software improvement efforts. He is the lead host of the Legacy Code Rocks podcast, the founder of the Mendercon conference, and is committed to helping other menders find a sense of belonging in a world dominated by makers. Scott regularly teaches courses through O'Reilly, has authored several courses on LinkedIn Learning, and his maintenance philosophy has been featured in books such as The Innovation Delusion. In addition to fixing old code, Scott is an avid reader of sci-fi fiction and enjoys spending time with his family and kids.