From Complex to Seamless – Succeeding in codebase migrations

Complex changes require careful planning and execution - from gathering product requirements and system design to implementation. Introduce variables, like timezone differences, varying levels of technical and domain knowledge and a newly formed team and the complexity deepens.

At Skyscanner we were faced with all of these difficulties in our migration of our Hotels product from React Native to Native. This talk will take you through our journey and how we not only overcame these hurdles, but leveraged them to our advantage.

Transcript

1. Succeeding in codebase migrations FROM COMPLEX TO SEAMLESS MARIA NEUMAYER @marianeum
2. “NEVER DO A REWRITE” - PROBABLY SOMEONE RIGHT NOW
3. “LET’S DO A REWRITE” - ME
4. “LET’S DO A REWRITE WELL” - ALSO ME
5. TAKE A STEP BACK
6. WHAT’S YOUR GOAL? TAKE A STEP BACK
7. Remove React Native … and?
8. Strong technical foundation Consistent experience Team confident in native development
9. FORMING A TEAM
10. 5 DIFFERENT TEAMS CHINA & UK 7 HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING DIFFERENT EXPERTISE AREAS
11. 5 DIFFERENT TEAMS CHINA & UK 7 HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING DIFFERENT EXPERTISE AREAS ONE TEAM
12. ACCEPT THE TIME DIFFERENCE
13. GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
14. GET PLANNING
15. SHARE KNOWLEDGE
16. INCREASE KNOWLEDGE
17. DIVE INTO THE PRODUCT
18. DIVE DEEPLY INTO THE PRODUCT
19. COLLABORATE WITH PRODUCT
20. DOCUMENT YOUR DECISIONS
21. BE CLEAR ABOUT SCOPE
22. BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT SCOPE
23. BE CONSISTENT ABOUT SCOPE
24. WHAT ➡ HOW
25. PERFORM SYSTEM DESIGNS
26. PERFORM SYSTEM DESIGNS TOGETHER
27. PERFORM SYSTEM DESIGNS ALL TOGETHER
28. IT’S NOT GOING TO BE PERFECT
29. IT’S GOING TO BE TIRING
30. CREATE FOCUS
31. CREATE OWNERSHIP
32. CREATE DOCUMENTATION
33. BALANCE YOUR PRIORITIES
34. LET’S GET BUILDING
35. WE KNEW WHAT TO DO
36. GET FAMILIAR WITH YOUR TECHNOLOGIES
37. VERIFY YOUR APPROACH
38. UNBLOCK OTHER WORK
39. System Design Skeleton Details
40. BE CLEAR ABOUT SCOPE STILL
41. PAIR ON THINGS
42. COLLABORATE A LOT
43. ALIGN THINGS CROSS PLATFORM
44. STAGGER THINGS CROSS PLATFORM
45. SHARE THINGS CROSS PLATFORM
46. BE CONSCIOUS ABOUT YOUR CHOICES
47. PRIORITISE COMPLEX WORK
48. INVESTIGATE COMPLEX WORK
49. KEEP IMPROVING YOUR APPROACH
50. ENJOY THE RIDE
51. EMBRACE THE TIME DIFFERENCE
52. GET FOCUS
53. WE’RE NOT QUITE DONE YET SO CLOSE
54. IT’S NOT JUST REWRITES
55. Planning Communication Iteration
56. THANK YOU FROM COMPLEX TO SEAMLESS Succeeding in codebase migrations MARIA NEUMAYER @marianeum