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Maintainable

Robby Russell
Technical Debt
Software Maintenance
Software Development
Legacy Code
Maintainability
Ruby On Rails
Legacy Systems
Ruby
Documentation
Open Source
Automated Testing
Software Architecture
Microservices
Fusionauth
Open Source Software
Software Maintainability
Rubygems
Code Quality
Refactoring
Identity Management

Do you feel like you're hitting a wall with your existing software projects? Are you curious to hear how other people are navigating this? You're not alone. On the Maintainable Software Podcast, Robby speaks with seasoned practitioners who have overcome the technical and cultural problems often associated with software development. Our guests will share stories in each episode and outline tangible... more

PublishesMonthlyEpisodes228Founded7 years ago
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Latest Episodes

What does it take to keep a product healthy after more than 15 years of continuous evolution?

In this episode, Robby Russell talks with Chris Coyier, co-founder of CodePen, about the long game of maintaining software. Chris shares how CodePen has ev... more

YouTube

Sally Lait joins Robby Russell on Maintainable to explore software maintainability through a different lens… not just code quality, but how teams work together over time.

Sally is a fractional technology leader and advisor with more than two decades... more

YouTube

Software maintenance is often framed as a technical problem. Refactoring code, fixing bugs, or upgrading dependencies. In this conversation, Robby Russell talks with Rein Henrichs about a different lens, one centered on understanding.

Rein is a Prin... more

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Software doesn’t become hard to maintain only because the code is messy. It often becomes hard to maintain because the reasoning behind it disappears.

In this episode of Maintainable, Robby Russell talks with Russ Olsen about trade-offs, legacy syst... more

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Key Facts

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Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

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Recent Guests

Sally Lait
Fractional technology leader, speaker and advisor with 2+ decades in software
Independent/Consulting
Episode: Sally Lait: Confidence Is the Real Metric
Rein Henrichs
Principal software engineer at Procore
Procore
Episode: Rein Henrichs: The Real Work of Maintenance Happens Before You Touch the Code
Russ Olsen
Independent software consultant and author
Author of Eloquent Ruby
Episode: Russ Olsen: The Hidden Cost of Forgetting Why the Code Looks Like That
Joel Oliveira
Engineering manager at Easy Cater
Easy Cater
Episode: Joel Oliveira: Predictability Is a Maintainability Feature
Lucas Roesler
Head of engineering at Contiamo with over 12 years of experience in the software industry.
Contiamo
Episode: Lucas Roesler: The Fast Feedback Loop Advantage
Brittany Ellich
Co-host of Overcommitted Podcast and a Senior Software Engineer at GitHub
GitHub
Episode: Brittany Ellich: Using AI to Maintain Software, Not Rewrite It
Don MacKinnon
Lead Architect and Engineering Manager at Search Craft
Search Craft
Episode: Don MacKinnon: Why Simplicity Beats Cleverness in Software Design
Chris Zetter
Software engineer, speaker, and author of the book 'Build a Database Server'
Episode: Chris Zetter: Building a Database to Better Understand Maintainability
Denis Rechkunov
Principal software engineer at Elastic
Elastic
Episode: Denis Rechkunov: When Consistency Becomes a Culture

Host

Robby Russell
Host of Maintainable, known for guiding conversations with experienced practitioners about software maintainability and long-lived systems.

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 112 ratings
  • So far great!

    Love this show. Each episode has something they've experienced which maps to my own experience in long-running codebases.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Exe Gete
    United States2 years ago
  • Entertaining and relevant.

    Appreciate it

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    McZul
    Germany3 years ago
  • A great listen!

    The host's ability to draw out detailed and meaningful conversations with each guest is awesome. This podcast is a must-listen for anyone keen on improving their knowledge in software.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Jimmy Kl.
    Philippines3 years ago
  • Great Perspetives on Keeping Software Alive

    Absolutely my favorite podcast. Robby does a great job covering the breadth of the industry and getting different insights and perspectives about what it takes to ensure a codebase can survive the test of time, employee turnover, industry changes, and so much more.

    It’s refreshing to get insights that balance technical idealism with the reality that building software is messy work done by imperfect humans who also have goals outside of writing that next line of code.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Garrett Dimon
    United States4 years ago
  • So far great!

    Listened to a few episodes so far, and there are substantial nuggets in each episode. Loving it!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Exe Gete
    United States4 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Sound quality and guest mic setups are occasionally noted as areas to improve, but the content remains highly valuable.
Listeners describe the show as consistently insightful and practical for real-world coding and team dynamics.
The host draws out detailed conversations, making it essential listening for those improving legacy systems.
Guest diversity and interview quality are highlighted as major strengths, with actionable tips in every episode.
Audiences appreciate the balance between technical depth and accessible storytelling, even for non-Rails developers.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#114
Israel/Technology

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Russ Olsen: The Hidden Cost of Forgetting Why the Code Looks Like That
Q: What's your view on rewriting legacy systems?
Rewrite incrementally, understand current system behavior, and replace parts one by one rather than attempting a big-bang rewrite; ensure business justification and safe incremental progress.
Russ Olsen: The Hidden Cost of Forgetting Why the Code Looks Like That
Q: What is the impact of long cycle times on maintenance, and how can teams improve?
Cycle times severely impact productivity; improving test coverage and developer ergonomics, even in small, incremental ways, can greatly improve maintainability.
Russ Olsen: The Hidden Cost of Forgetting Why the Code Looks Like That
Q: How should teams document big decisions and avoid losing context over time?
Use architectural decision records that explain the problem, context, solution, and trade-offs; ensure these records are accessible and revisited as teams evolve.
Russ Olsen: The Hidden Cost of Forgetting Why the Code Looks Like That
Q: What are a few common characteristics of well-maintained software?
Maintains understandability for the maintainers, good, scalable documentation that includes decision context, and an awareness of the trade-offs behind big architectural choices, not just the micro-level details.
Joel Oliveira: Predictability Is a Maintainability Feature
Q: So what do you believe are a few common characteristics of well-maintained software?
Joel highlights predictability, clear organization of code, and well-defined patterns as core indicators of maintainability. He emphasizes knowing where things live (MVC structure in Rails), avoiding a catch-all services directory, and leaning on stable patterns so teams can reason about the system quickly.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
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Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About Maintainable

What is Maintainable about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A practical, practitioner-focused series exploring what it takes to keep software systems healthy over the long term. Episodes center on maintainability, legibility, and reliability across codebases, teams, and organizations, with guests ranging from engineers and leaders to authors and consultants. Topics frequently include managing technical debt, architectural decisions, testing discipline, incident response, and building collaborative cultures that sustain long-lived systems. Noteworthy elements include a strong emphasis on real-world storytelling, incremental improvements over flashy rewrites, and actionable guidance that attendees can apply to their own projects or teams.

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Which podcasts are similar to Maintainable?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Maintainable:

1. The Pragmatic Engineer
2. Soft Skills Engineering
3. Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats
4. On Rails
5. Remote Ruby

How many episodes of Maintainable are there?

Maintainable launched 7 years ago and published 228 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Maintainable?

Recent guests on Maintainable include:

1. Sally Lait
2. Rein Henrichs
3. Russ Olsen
4. Joel Oliveira
5. Lucas Roesler
6. Brittany Ellich
7. Don MacKinnon
8. Chris Zetter

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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