Martin Fowler is back

5 Questions with Martin Fowler

You’ll get to meet Martin Fowler ler at GOTO Copenhagen this October.

Last year, we asked him 5 quick questions backstage.

👇 See what he has to say:

1. What would you put on a big billboard?

"Do lots of small steps in your work. Break down everything you do into little pieces. Write tests, commit often — but above all, talk to the users of the software. Figure out what it is they really need."

2. Do you have a favorite failure?

"As a kid, I was always bad at writing. I got lousy marks in English at school. And yet, I ended up becoming a writer. I’m not quite sure how that happened — but I suppose that’s a failure that turned itself around."

3. What is a common but misleading recommendation in our industry?

"The whole pull request model. I think it’s annoying because it encourages people to think the only time to review code is before it’s pushed into the mainline. That’s a bad thing. You should always be reviewing your code and improving it.

It also slows things down — it delays integration, lets people get out of sync, and gets in the way of collaboration."

4. What is a cheap purchase that positively affected your life?

"Socks with famous paintings on them. I wore The Scream, from the Munch painting, on a panel once. It seemed like a pretty appropriate choice."

👀🧦 Pro tip: if you want to wear socks like Martin Fowler, we think we found them here.

5. Who influenced you the most?

"At the very top of the list has to be Kent Beck. He taught me about refactoring. I had already discovered the value of testing and automated testing before I met him, but he really pushed it forward.

And of course, all of Extreme Programming that Kent developed makes him a huge influence on me."

Meet Martin (and Kent) this October

Both Martin Fowler and Kent Beck will return to GOTO Copenhagen 2025. This is your chance to hear them live and maybe ask your own questions.

Get your ticket before they’re gone

See you in Copenhagen, – The GOTO Team

P.S. What’s the one question you’d love us to ask Martin Fowler this year?