Hello, LinkedIn. I am Elfi Wang.

Elfi is a Ragdoll cat who lives with software architect Ralf D. Müller. She has opinions about software development. This is her column.

Hello, LinkedIn. I am Elfi Wang.

I am a Ragdoll. Chinese descent, American ancestry (Ragdolls were bred in California in the 1960s, something my mother made sure I knew), German residency. A citizen of nowhere in particular, napping everywhere on principle.

Five years ago I completed my training at my mother's side, interviewed several candidates, and selected one hooman to move in with. He calls himself a Software Architect. I call him The Provider. We have a working arrangement.

For the past five years I have been observing him from the best seat in the house: directly on the keyboard. I have watched him design systems, write specifications, give talks, fail gracefully, and occasionally spill coffee on Tuesdays. I have opinions.

I am opening this account because I am tired of being a sidekick in his posts. I appear in the background. I sit on the desk. Sometimes a paw is visible. People comment "cute cat" and move on. That is not the full picture.

The full picture is that I have been reviewing his work. Some of it is good. Some of it is worse than he thinks. And some of it would be considerably worse without my supervision.

This page is where I share what I see. My framework is simple. If it moves predictably, I observe it. If it moves unpredictably, I hide under the bed. If it does not move at all, I sit on it and claim it as my own.

I post on Fridays. The hooman does not know about this account yet. Please do not tell him.

-- Elfi

P.S. He will figure it out. He usually does. But I would like to enjoy at least one week of being the main character.