Welcome to The Software Enchiridion — a small book on software that keeps growing.
This is a field guide for those building, breaking, and rebuilding software in the real world. It takes its name from the Enchiridion of Epictetus — a “handbook,” not of rules, but of reminders. I found a copy of that little book in Camilla’s Bookshop in Eastbourne and it inspired me to turn around 20 years of notes into simple maxims that might, occasionally, offer some wisdom for those navigating the waters of the tech industry and software development.
(Image: My copy of the Enchiridion, printed in 1578)
What you’ll find here are short entries and essays that mix philosophy, psychology, engineering, and lived experience to help you become a calmer, sharper, more resilient developer.
Each entry is a compass point:
A maxim to hold onto when the sprint burns down and tempers rise.
A story from the trenches.
An occasional parable that turns a hard truth into something human and memorable.
The Enchiridion isn’t about frameworks or fads. It’s about you — the human behind the keyboard.
It’s about how we think, feel, and act when faced with complexity, failure, and pressure. It’s about staying creative in a culture that often confuses motion with progress.
If you’ve ever wondered why you sometimes feel more like an archaeologist than a developer, or why reading someone else’s code can feel like deciphering poetry, you’re in the right place.
Subscribing means joining a growing circle of curious people who are rediscovering what craft and character mean in modern software. You’ll get new Enchiridion entries — essays, sketches, and parables — direct to your inbox, each written to be read in under ten minutes (but thought about for much longer).
Because software isn’t just built. It’s lived.
So: read, reflect, share, argue — and subscribe.
Let’s build better software by helping people be better humans.
— Russ Miles, 2025
