Maintainable

In this episode of Maintainable, Robby speaks with April Wensel, Founder and Owner of Compassionate Coding. April shares her journey in the software industry and how she came to embrace compassion as a core value in coding and team dynamics. She explains why empathy is critical when working with legacy code, mentoring junior developers, and addressing technical debt.Episode Highlights[00:05:32] Introduction to Compassionate Coding: April discusses the mission behind Compassionate Coding and why human-centered development is essential.[00:13:36] Compassion and Technical Debt: How fostering a compassionate mindset helps teams navigate the challenges of maintaining legacy code and tackling technical debt.[00:20:10] Empathy in Code Reviews: April talks about the role of compassion in creating healthy, constructive code review cultures.[00:26:30] Onboarding with Compassion: The importance of pairing and empathy in onboarding new engineers, whether junior or senior.[00:31:55] The Refactor vs. Rewrite Debate: April