*Politics* is a four-letter word in the software development world, and many software developers would rather debug COBOL code than deal with workplace politics. But in this talk, I will show you that politics (workplace politics) is not a dirty game, but a useful skill for software developers that can be conducted ethically. We will explore how to make friends and influence people, aka cultivating allies, without being a jerk or a suck-up. I will also reveal how to spot the different kinds of allies, and when to play the political card to get things done and get ahead.