About

Hello. My name is Tom Mango and I live in Philadelphia, PA. I'm a dad and husband, a Director of Engineering at Recharge, and the Co-Founder and Engineering/Ops behind Limited Run.

With nearly 25 years of experience, I've been a software engineer, entrepreneur, and engineering leader. I'm deeply passionate about engineering operations, establishing high-performance organizations, and developing highly available web services.

I write here at Compromised Software about engineering leadership, side projects, and things I’m learning, trying, and using.

You can also find me on Mastodon, GitHub, and LinkedIn.

Why "Compromised"?

In software development, 'compromised' can be closely connected to 'pragmatism', something I and many others have strived to internalize over our careers.

Pragmatic software development involves making practical decisions that often require balancing ideal solutions with real-world constraints, such as time, budget, and resources. This balance can lead to compromises, where the best possible solution may be adjusted to fit practical limitations.

For example, a pragmatic approach might involve choosing a less elegant but quicker solution to meet a tight deadline. While this is a compromise on the ideal, it is often necessary to ensure progress and delivery. Therefore, "compromised" in this context reflects the practical, realistic decisions that are essential in effective software development, aligning closely with the principles of pragmatism.