Software and Other Shenanigans – Page 8 – A blog about software, and anything else this software engineer finds interesting

Are you shipping usable components?

General Commentary, Programming Comments Off

Aug 312019

One of the benefits of using Javascript frameworks like React or Vue is that you can build and export your own custom components. This lets other teams in your organization or even external developers build front-ends that have a consistent look and feel across the board as well as follow any style or branding guide you have. That’s great, but think about the components you’re putting out there for developers to use. Are you putting out the bare minimum or are you shipping front-end tools that speed development up and make people’s lives easier (you know, the whole point of shipping front-end components like this)?

The trouble with Redux

Programming Comments Off

Jul 312019

Do any research into current front-end development, and you’ll hit React pretty quickly. As far as modern Javascript frameworks go, React is probably the standard Javascript framework used by startups and other companies that haven’t already heavily invested in another front-end framework. While React does a decent job of packaging up HTML and Javascript into reusable components, there’s been some design decisions around handling application state in React, namely by using a framework called Redux, that make developing applications harder than it has to be, and make it worth your while to look for other options before you start falling into its rabbit hole too.

The universal identity crisis

General Commentary Comments Off

May 312019

I’m curious how many people identify with this scenario – to check all of your emails you have flip between at least 2 accounts, maybe even 3. And that’s just emails. There’s also calendars – again 2 of them, maybe 3 if you have a family. Most of us have multiple “identities,” each with basic services associated with them, like email, calendars, sometimes phones and/or some form of instant messaging. It’s the type of thing that’s been done by so many people in so many places that it’s ingrained in us as “normal,” but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.

Is there a future for Java?

General Commentary, Java, Programming Comments Off

Apr 302019

I’ve been developing in Java since late 2009. It’s a good language, but I’m starting to wonder what kind of future it has. I’ve been using Java 8 since shortly after it came out, even though Java is currently on version 11. Java’s obviously still being developed, so why not move forward? A big part isn’t the infamous module system that launched in Java 9, and broke a lot of stuff. Part of it is the fact that Java is owned and controlled a by a company that seems more interested in rent-seeking off oa Java than doing anything innovative with it.

Software should have a strong opinion

General Commentary, Programming Comments Off

Mar 312019

Software is written to solve a problem. Sometimes, it’s more than one problem, but you get the idea. Being someone who both uses and writes software, I’ve found the best software out there doesn’t just solve a problem, but was written with a clear and definitive opinion about how that problem should be solved. That’s not by accident or coincidence, it’s very much causal.

Not everything fits a subscription business model

General Commentary Comments Off

Feb 282019

I’ve worked for *aaS companies for about the last 7 years. Monthly software subscriptions literally pay my mortgage, so I get the benefits of building businesses around predictable monthly payments. But that being said, not every online business lends itself to being subscription-based, and there’s a few companies out there that need to stop.

Stop componetizing everything

General Commentary Comments Off

Jan 312019

There’s a general trend in appplications these days to turn every element of their user interface into a “block,” or some other type of common component. WordPress is the latest public offender on this front, but I’ve also put up with this approach with other products in a professional setting, and it needs to freaking stop.

Some simple job-hunting tips for people who want to think they’re professionals

General Commentary, Work Comments Off

Dec 312018

Generally speaking, my posts are for people who are already working professionals. However, after a couple of spectacularly bad initial interviews (not even making it to a technical screen), I’m starting to think it may be prudent to offer some advice to the younger set hoping to become working professionals.

Some more thoughts on content moderation

General Commentary Comments Off

Nov 302018

After my recent post about moderation on social and community applications, I realized that my comments focused almost exclusively on moderating public posts (or posts to a largely public feed). But what about private 1-1 messages, private groups (whose updates may or may not appear in a feed on the main page), and other, more “private” (relative to the rest of the site) forms of posting? Would the sort of tools and guidelines I called for work there, or would something else be needed, and if so, what?

Tuning your code

Programming Comments Off

Oct 312018

I got a comment on my post about performance tuning a REST API call asking about code tuning with examples. I don’t have code examples handy, but I can certainly run through some general performance tuning tips I’ve found over the years. No matter where you find advice about improving your code’s performance, keep in mind that every situation is different, and those differences could impact the relevance and usefulness of any advice offered.

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