When nothing else works- Kobayashi Maru

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The environment was tense and nerve-wracking. Freshly dry-cleaned suit, neatly creased pants and lightly gelled hair, everything I could prepare for a new job was engineered for perfection. I even had a brand new ball pen with a brand of the technology I was here to consult about. The funny thing about the pen last evening: I travelled one and a half hours on the sweaty London Tube, battling my fear of bed bugs. As I said, I had everything engineered to perfection.

I was eager to impress my clients with my skills, but also aware that I could quickly end up in the doghouse. I approached the challenge with the same confidence level as a penguin in a tuxedo - not exactly built for success, but willing to waddle forward anyway.

I was the 21st team member; the last twenty filled multiple positions across the development spectrum. The project template was nothing new; Someone sold the idea of twenty people at different levels to the client. They bought it. There was just one problem - no solid requirements or plan. A vague idea that all the lines of business had to go live together.

This situation is not new. 

We have often landed in a position like this, where the client has a sliver of an idea; they have paid Salesforce billing but need to figure out where to begin. A Solution Architect is only as good of a help as the requirement provided for the project. There is only a solution if there are requirements.

It is a no-win situation- a Kobayashi Maru.

The Kobayashi Maru is a Star Trek training exercise designed to test Star-fleet Academy cadets' character in a no-win scenario. The test is famously unbeatable and is designed to evaluate how cadets handle a situation without a clear solution.

Captain Kirk famously beat Kobayashi Maru by reprogramming the simulation and winning the no-win situation.

And there is a lesson here. When there are no requirements but a vague idea of a project, there is a need to bring the concept of a minimum viable product. 

A minimum viable product is a basic version of a product with enough features to satisfy early customers and gather feedback for future development. This vital process allows clients to validate their vague ideas, reduce development costs, and make informed decisions on what features to prioritise. With an MVP, we can test the waters before investing heavily in development. 

More importantly, we can get a team of twenty-one moving in a direction. Planning an MVP is a small portion in the grand scheme of things, but it's a start. The stakeholders get something solid in their hands; they have a system to feel and explore, bringing out the picture even more clearly. The ever-daunting task becomes bearable, manageable and achievable. 

Suddenly, we see the end goal in sight.  

So, have you ever found yourself in a Kobayashi Maru situation before? How did you handle it? Let me know in the comments below!

TL;DR

- When I was starting a new job as a Tech Architect, the project had no solid requirements or plan, just a vague idea.

- We created a minimum viable product scope to validate vague ideas, reduce development costs, and make informed decisions on what features to prioritise.

- Planning an MVP is a small portion in the grand scheme of things, but it's a start.

- The stakeholders get something solid in their hands, making the ever-daunting task bearable, manageable, and achievable.

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An algorithm to make the perfect coffee

The warm aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air, and as I take my first sip, I can't help but feel a sense of calm wash over me. The world outside is still and quiet, as if it's holding its breath, waiting for the hustle and bustle of the week to begin. You take a moment to reflect on the past week and set intentions for the weekend ahead while enjoying your coffee. It's a small yet meaningful ritual that sets the tone for the rest of your day. It's Friday after all.

A fellow developer had recently commented, "Why do I need to know about maps and sets? Flows will do most of the job for us..."

Why must we study programming fundamentals when we have a very powerful platform like salesforce focused on less or no code? And that is where the sip of beautiful coffee mingled on the tongue, and an answer came to the fore. We get so many good coffee machines in the market, then why do we need to learn how to make filter coffee?

We get amazing pod machines, professional coffee machines and even traditional press machines, so why do we still need to understand the basics of making coffee?

Just like how you need a proper structure to make a good cup of coffee, developers need to use proper data structures to manage and organize data in Salesforce effectively. In other words, Salesforce platform, flows are like the tools and equipment that help you make a perfect cup of coffee. You will get a tool to effectively replace one part of the coffee making process, but that should only aid your journey in making coffee.

And tools will break-down or wear out, what will remain is your knowledge. And that is why we keep the bare-bones as is. And that is why, even if Salesforce provides us with a nice shiny tool to build our processes, to model data, knowing the data structures is as much essential as knowing the tool itself.

Knowing that an array starts from zero is as much essential as knowing you can call a flow from another flow. If the goal is to make the system as efficient as we can, we have to use all the tools we have. And sometimes, we only get boiling water for our coffee.

And since I did write about the algorithm for making the perfect coffee, here it follows.

1. Boil water in a kettle or on a stove.
2. Grind coffee beans.
3. Put a coffee filter or cheesecloth into a funnel or strainer and set it over your coffee mug or carafe.
4. Put the ground coffee into the filter.
5. Slowly pour the hot water over the coffee grounds in the filter.
6. Let the coffee steep for 3-5 minutes.
7. Remove the filter or cheesecloth from the funnel or strainer, and discard the used grounds.
8. Give your coffee a quick stir, add any desired milk or sweetener, and enjoy!

This is a bare-bone of making a coffee.

Happy Friday.

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What I learned from automating my house during the pandemic

An empty mind is an engineer's workshop. That saying is as old as time. Two things happened simultaneously in 2020 - The Pandemic hit, causing many jobs in IT to move from working from the office to working from home. We were expecting a baby and therefore had to take additional precautions, which meant a complete disconnect from human civilization, barring the occasional video calls.

The second thing during this period was moving into a brand-new flat. As you scour through manuals from Ikea, you start understanding the patterns. You can see which manual is copy pasted from other manuals; you can empathize with the manual-making team and how overworked they are to churn out new assembly guides for every new piece of furniture in the market.

That was when I looked at the house carefully and asked a pertinent question, why in the 22nd century, do we need switches? The light control is a stone-age activity; you move from your position, drop what you are doing, reach this non-descript mechanical plastic breaker circuit, and hit it with a click, causing the course to complete, and electricity passes through. Humans came to the moon in 1969; we have Voyager about to go to the outer edges of the solar system. Humans now can launch not one or two but 104 satellites in orbit with the mathematical precision in mm, so why on earn should I drop my cup of frothy coffee, rise and walk to the small plastic thingy on the wall to get more light in the room?

So I went complete hardware mode and picked up intelligent devices. 

1. For GU10 Spotlights, I used the INNR multi-coloured bulbs for living areas connected with Hue Bridge.
2. For the Screw Bulbs, I used TP-Link TAPO Yellow bulbs for the bedroom.
3. For the smart blinds, I used Louvolite electronic blinds that can be configured and used the Louvolite hub.
4. I have a Cubo AI camera for the nursery with motion sensing that detects when the baby moves closer to the edge of his cot.
5. Everyone has a robotic hoover in the house, but if you haven't, I recommend you get one. For the robotic hoover, I have used the Ecovacs Deebot 920 for automatic cleaning and mopping the house.
6. For orchestration, I had Alexa Echo for ages, but I decided to upgrade to Alexa Show, which is wall-mounted for the new house. Having Alexa Show, which is mounted on the wall, gave a sense of a control panel for the whole place when we did not want to use the voice command.

Here are some of the most comical takeaways I experienced along the way:

Compatibility is Key (But Not Always Easy): I quickly learned that compatibility is crucial for a smooth-running smart home. But, when I thought I had everything set up perfectly, one of my devices would suddenly go rogue and refuse to play nice with the others. It was like trying to herd cats, but with technology.

The Joy of Voice Integration (or the Lack Thereof): Integrating my smart lights and blinds with Alexa was much fun - when it worked. But, when Alexa refused to listen to me or misheard my commands, it was like talking to a stubborn child who wouldn't listen.

Scheduling and Automation: Setting up schedules and automation for my smart lights and blinds was a real hoot. I felt like a mad scientist, coming up with elaborate plans to outsmart my devices. Of course, they usually didn't follow my commands, but it was still a good laugh.

Debugging and Troubleshooting: This was where the real fun began. Debugging and troubleshooting my smart lights and blinds was like trying to solve a mystery, complete with red herrings and false leads. As a result, I learned to be creative in my troubleshooting methods, like shaking the device, shouting at it, or even trying to bribe it with treats (kidding, of course).

In conclusion, automating the lights and blinds in my home was a hilarious adventure filled with laughs, frustration, and much learning. 

And as I write this article, I can ask Alexa to turn on my living room lights or close the blinds without moving an inch from my seat; that gives a sense of power.

P.s. Many of my devices happened before Matter protocol came into being. Therefore, my devices were already orchestrated before 'matter', and consequently, it didn't affect me.

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