Hello! And, welcome to The Code Gardener—an occasional newsletter about writing software well. My name is Alan. My friend, Fito, and I will be your hosts. Between the two of us, we have over 45 years of experience writing software. In that time, we've picked up a thing or two. Now we want to share. Our approach to development is different. We believe that software development is more like tending a garden than building a bridge. To keep the codebase healthy, you need to spend time weeding and feeding it. So, pull on your Wellies, roll up your sleeves, and let's get our keyboards dirty in a big ball of mud!