Eric Dobbs

I'm a Learning Expert—esp. in schools of hard knocks.

I learn best by doing. And by getting back up after falling down.

1979 I got my first computer: an Atari 400. Also the year my parents got divorced.

2000 was when I first started thinking I was a programmer. I started writing Java and was a committer in several Apache projects that spun out of Jakarta: Turbine, Torque, and Fulcrum.

My languages at that point: BASIC, Pascal, HyperTalk, AutoLISP (AutoCAD dialect of LISP), Turing (an OO Pascal from U of Toronto), perl, and Tango (1990's competitor of Cold Fusion), and a little javascript.

2013 I took a job where the hardest problems getting the least attention were infrastructure: automated testing and deploy.

2017 I saw a conference talk by John Allspaw which inspired another career change, launching me into the space of software incidents.

Didn't know I was starting a learning journey into cognitive systems engineering and resilience engineering.

The years since have featured some of the richest learning in my life as I have grown into an expert practitioner in learning from incidents.

I am new (as of this writing) to the practice of Domain Driven Design.

In this wiki, I prepare to lead a workshop for the 2025 Explore DDD Conference held in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, April 17.

LFI is a powerful generator of insights about a software business. I am new to DDD practice, but I recognize the expertise encoded in DDD—especially the shared experience of embracing complexity. I believe that DDD practiced well would be a powerful tool for harnessing insight into supple models and maintainable software. Together they might be a powerful feedback loop to help software businesses adapt to relentless change.