Moriel Schottlender: The Challenges of Modernizing MediaWiki's Monolith
10/22/24 • 46 min
Welcome to another engaging episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast! In this episode, Robby sits down with Moriel Schottlender, Principal Software Engineer at the Wikimedia Foundation, to explore the complex journey of modernizing MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. Moriel shares her insights on what it takes to keep an enormous monolithic codebase maintainable while supporting an ever-growing and diverse set of global users. She highlights the importance of modularization, ownership, and the delicate balance between flexibility and stability in open-source software.
Key Takeaways
[00:00:51] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software: Moriel discusses the three crucial characteristics of well-maintained software: ownership, modularization, and documentation.
[00:01:09] Ownership and Rules for Contribution: Ownership goes beyond just fixing bugs—it involves understanding the architectural purpose and maintaining consistency even as teams change.
[00:03:35] Product Vision's Role in Maintainability: Why a clear product vision is essential for maintaining software, even in the face of organic growth.
[00:07:14] Balancing Experimentation and Long-Term Planning: Moriel shares insights into how Wikimedia balances rapid experimentation with careful, long-term architectural planning.
[00:07:32] The Evolution of MediaWiki: MediaWiki's growth from a small project to the backbone of Wikipedia, now supporting over 900 wikis, and the challenges that come with scaling.
[00:14:18] Modernizing a 23-Year-Old Monolith: Robby and Moriel dive into the challenges of modernizing MediaWiki’s architecture, including the difficulties of updating a monolithic structure.
[00:17:15]Wikitext vs. Markdown: Moriel explains why MediaWiki uses its own Wikitext language instead of Markdown and the unique challenges it presents.
[00:22:25] Architectural Flexibility for the Future: The importance of having a flexible architecture that can adapt to the evolving needs of users and technologies.
[00:26:04] Technical Debt and Modularization: How Wikimedia approaches technical debt in MediaWiki and prioritizes architectural interventions to improve modularity and maintainability.
[00:39:00] Community Contributions to MediaWiki: Strategies for increasing developer contributions and how Wikimedia empowers volunteers while maintaining software quality.
[00:41:59] Advice for Aspiring Open Source Contributors: Moriel shares encouraging words for anyone looking to contribute to open-source projects, emphasizing that everyone can make a meaningful impact.
[00:35:44] The Role of Documentation: Moriel discusses Wikimedia's efforts to improve documentation and ensure it's useful for both developers and end-users, leveraging the strengths of wiki-based contributions.
[00:30:29] Celebrating Small Wins: Moriel talks about how Wikimedia celebrates small victories to keep team morale high in the face of big challenges.
Resources Mentioned
Book Recommendation:
Connect with Moriel
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error-tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and other frameworks.
It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications.
Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time!
Use the code maintainable to get a 10% discount for your first year. Check them out!
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Welcome to another engaging episode of the Maintainable Software Podcast! In this episode, Robby sits down with Moriel Schottlender, Principal Software Engineer at the Wikimedia Foundation, to explore the complex journey of modernizing MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. Moriel shares her insights on what it takes to keep an enormous monolithic codebase maintainable while supporting an ever-growing and diverse set of global users. She highlights the importance of modularization, ownership, and the delicate balance between flexibility and stability in open-source software.
Key Takeaways
[00:00:51] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software: Moriel discusses the three crucial characteristics of well-maintained software: ownership, modularization, and documentation.
[00:01:09] Ownership and Rules for Contribution: Ownership goes beyond just fixing bugs—it involves understanding the architectural purpose and maintaining consistency even as teams change.
[00:03:35] Product Vision's Role in Maintainability: Why a clear product vision is essential for maintaining software, even in the face of organic growth.
[00:07:14] Balancing Experimentation and Long-Term Planning: Moriel shares insights into how Wikimedia balances rapid experimentation with careful, long-term architectural planning.
[00:07:32] The Evolution of MediaWiki: MediaWiki's growth from a small project to the backbone of Wikipedia, now supporting over 900 wikis, and the challenges that come with scaling.
[00:14:18] Modernizing a 23-Year-Old Monolith: Robby and Moriel dive into the challenges of modernizing MediaWiki’s architecture, including the difficulties of updating a monolithic structure.
[00:17:15]Wikitext vs. Markdown: Moriel explains why MediaWiki uses its own Wikitext language instead of Markdown and the unique challenges it presents.
[00:22:25] Architectural Flexibility for the Future: The importance of having a flexible architecture that can adapt to the evolving needs of users and technologies.
[00:26:04] Technical Debt and Modularization: How Wikimedia approaches technical debt in MediaWiki and prioritizes architectural interventions to improve modularity and maintainability.
[00:39:00] Community Contributions to MediaWiki: Strategies for increasing developer contributions and how Wikimedia empowers volunteers while maintaining software quality.
[00:41:59] Advice for Aspiring Open Source Contributors: Moriel shares encouraging words for anyone looking to contribute to open-source projects, emphasizing that everyone can make a meaningful impact.
[00:35:44] The Role of Documentation: Moriel discusses Wikimedia's efforts to improve documentation and ensure it's useful for both developers and end-users, leveraging the strengths of wiki-based contributions.
[00:30:29] Celebrating Small Wins: Moriel talks about how Wikimedia celebrates small victories to keep team morale high in the face of big challenges.
Resources Mentioned
Book Recommendation:
Connect with Moriel
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error-tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and other frameworks.
It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications.
Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time!
Use the code maintainable to get a 10% discount for your first year. Check them out!
Subscribe to Maintainable on:
Previous Episode
Kate Holterhoff: From Front-End Engineering to Developer Advocacy
Welcome to another engaging episode of Maintainable! Robby sits down with Kate Holterhoff, Ph.D., a Senior Analyst at RedMonk and former front-end engineer, to explore the intricate world of software maintenance, documentation, and the future of developer roles. Kate brings her unique perspective from her time as a practitioner at a digital marketing agency, her academic background, and her current role in developer advocacy.
Topics Explored
[00:00:00] Introduction to Kate's Background: Robby and Kate discuss her journey from academia to front-end engineering and now to being a Senior Analyst at RedMonk. Kate shares how her experiences have shaped her perspective on software maintenance.
[00:04:00] Well-Maintained Software: Kate dives into her definition of well-maintained software, emphasizing modularity, semantic readability, and the importance of considering future developers who will interact with the code.
[00:11:30] The Challenges of Agency Work: Kate reflects on her time at a digital marketing agency, where she often worked on projects that had passed through many hands. She discusses the importance of balancing quick deliverables with maintainability.
[00:20:45] The Role of Documentation: Kate shares insights on the value of documentation for distributed teams, highlighting her experience organizing documentation sessions ("documentation paloozas") to capture team knowledge and ensure maintainability.
[00:30:00] RedMonk and Developer Advocacy: Kate explains her role at RedMonk and how the firm differs from traditional analyst firms like Gartner. She discusses RedMonk's focus on developers as key decision-makers in the tech landscape.
[00:39:15] Front-End Developers as Kingmakers: Robby and Kate explore how front-end engineers are increasingly influencing the adoption of tools and technologies within organizations. Kate describes this trend as front-end developers becoming "kingmakers" in the industry.
[00:49:50] AI and Developer Tools: Kate discusses the integration of AI into developer tools, the potential benefits, and challenges for junior developers. She emphasizes the importance of understanding how to read code in an AI-assisted world.
Key Takeaways:
- Emphasize modularity and semantic readability to ensure code can be easily maintained by future developers.
- Documentation is crucial for maintainability, especially in distributed and contractor-heavy teams.
- Front-end developers are becoming key decision-makers, influencing tool and technology adoption.
- AI is increasingly integrated into developer workflows, making it essential for developers to focus on reading and understanding code.
- The definition of a 'developer' is evolving, with more abstracted tools and AI playing a larger role in development processes.
Resources Mentioned:
- RedMonk
- Kate Holterhoff on LinkedIn
- Kate Holterhoff on Twitter
- Darwin's The Origin of Species
Episode Highlights:
[00:00:00] Introduction to Kate's Background
[00:04:00] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software
[00:20:45] The Importance of Documentation
[00:30:00] What Does a Senior Analyst at RedMonk Do?
[00:39:15] Front-End Developers as Kingmakers
[00:49:50] The Role of AI in Developer Tools
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error-tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and other frameworks.
It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications.
Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time!
Use the code maintainable to get a 10% discount for your first year. Check them out!
Subscribe to Maintainable on:
Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.
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Next Episode
Katerina Skroumpelou: Bridging Engineering and Advocacy for Scalable Software
As a product advocate at Nx, Katerina Skroumpelou combines her engineering skills with a knack for connecting with clients. In this episode, she shares how clear documentation, scalable architectures, and a collaborative culture can transform software development for the better.
Key Takeaways
[00:01:25] Katerina’s Background: Robby and Katerina discuss her career journey, starting in engineering and recently moving into product advocacy.
[00:02:29] Characteristics of Well-Maintained Software: Katerina highlights key aspects of maintainable software—readability, scalability, and reliability.
[00:04:39] Product Advocacy at Nx: Katerina describes her unique role, bridging technical support and customer outreach to ensure clients make the most of Nx tools.
[00:07:01] White Glove Approach: The “white glove” service approach allows Katerina to dive deep into clients' codebases, offering a hands-on approach to using Nx effectively.
[00:09:52] Scalable Documentation Practices: Balancing clarity and detail, Katerina provides tips on structuring code comments and READMEs to be concise yet thorough.
[00:12:09] Managing Technical Debt: Robby and Katerina discuss the importance of keeping code up-to-date and scalable, especially in large systems with high demands.
[00:16:00] The Importance of Collaboration: Moving from solo work to team-based code reviews taught Katerina the value of a collaborative approach to maintainable code.
[00:19:15] Nx’s Monorepo Solution: How Nx provides cache and build tools to optimize mono-repo performance, boosting both speed and organization within projects.
[00:22:12] Nx Cloud and CI: Katerina discusses Nx Cloud’s role in enhancing CI workflows by allowing parallel tasks and cache sharing across teams.
[00:24:07] When to Consider Monorepos: Katerina explains the benefits of monorepos for organizing codebases and improving scalability.
[00:26:37] AI Tools in Development: Katerina shares her enthusiasm for new AI tools like StackBlitz’s Bolt and their potential to streamline app development.
[00:29:00] Finding Motivation at Work: Advice for developers who feel stuck or unmotivated in their current roles and ways to reconnect with the work they enjoy.
Resources Mentioned
Books:
- The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Katerina's social profiles:
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Turn hours of debugging into just minutes! AppSignal is a performance monitoring and error-tracking tool designed for Ruby, Elixir, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and other frameworks.
It offers six powerful features with one simple interface, providing developers with real-time insights into the performance and health of web applications.
Keep your coding cool and error-free, one line at a time!
Use the code maintainable to get a 10% discount for your first year. Check them out!
Subscribe to Maintainable on:
Or search "Maintainable" wherever you stream your podcasts.
Keep up to date with the Maintainable Podcast by joining the newsletter.
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