About the Authors

Neal Ford is Director, Software Architect, and Meme Wrangler at ThoughtWorks, a software company and a community of passionate, purpose-led individuals who think disruptively to deliver technology to address the toughest challenges, all while seeking to revolutionize the IT industry and create positive social change. Before joining ThoughtWorks, Neal was the Chief Technology Officer at The DSW Group, Ltd., a nationally recognized training and development firm.

Neal has a degree in Computer Science from Georgia State University specializing in languages and compilers and a minor in mathematics specializing in statistical analysis. He is an internationally recognized expert on software development and delivery, especially in the intersection of agile engineering techniques and software architecture. Neal has authored magazine articles, seven books (and counting), and dozens of video presentations and has spoken at hundreds of developers conferences worldwide. The topics of these works include software architecture, continuous delivery, functional programming, and cutting edge software innovations, as well as a business-focused book and video in improving technical presentations. His primary consulting focus is the design and construction of large-scale enterprise applications. If you have an insatiable curiosity about Neal, visit his web site at nealford.com.

Dr. Rebecca Parsons is ThoughtWorks’ Chief Technology Officer with decades-long applications development experience across a range of industries and systems. Her technical experience includes leading the creation of large-scale distributed object applications, the integration of disparate systems, and working with architecture teams. Separate from her passion for deep technology, Dr. Parsons is a strong advocate for diversity in the technology industry.

Before coming to ThoughtWorks, Dr. Parsons worked as an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Central Florida where she taught courses in compilers, program optimization, distributed computation, programming languages, theory of computation, machine learning, and computational biology. She also worked as a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory researching issues in parallel and distributed computation, genetic algorithms, computational biology, and nonlinear dynamical systems.

Dr. Parsons received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Economics from Bradley University, a Master’s of Science in Computer Science from Rice University, and her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rice University. She is also the co-author of Domain-Specific Languages, The ThoughtWorks Anthology, and Building Evolutionary Architectures.

Patrick Kua is a Principal Technical Consultant at ThoughtWorks, having worked in the technology industry for over 15 years. He is well known for bringing a balanced blend between technology, people, and process to improve the effectiveness of software delivery. You can also find him speaking at many conferences on the topics of technical leadership, architecture, and building strong engineering cultures.

He is author of The Retrospective Handbook: A Guide for Agile Teams and Talking with Tech Leads: From Novices to Practitioners and established a regular training program to support developers transitioning into the role of a Tech Lead and/or Architect.

You can discover more about him at his website, thekua.com or reach out to him on twitter at @patkua