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The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 6,087 posts.
Towards an understanding of technical debt (2016)
Hello, world.
On Being an Engineering Manager
I’ve been acting in the role of Engineering Manager for 6 months now, so it’s a good time to review how things are going. Some of the points below could be obvious to some and not everything will work in all situations, but I hope I can accurately describe my perspective. A little bit of background for you, first, to…
Technical Recruiting Needs to Focus on Selling the Position
Developer and writer.
Going Solo, Successfully
Three years ago I quit my job and started consulting full time . It's worked out really well. I get to spend more time doing things I like to do and I've been able to deliver great products for clients. I wanted to go over some tips for starting a successful consulting business.
Intern at a YC Company
If you’re an ambitious undergrad or graduate student with an engineering background, YC can help you get an internship at a YC-backed company. You apply once, and your profile will be sent to over 50 YC startups that are looking for summer interns. The 50 companies participating in our Work at a Startup…
You Don't Need to Quit Your Job to Make
The startup storyline being told may not be the most optimal. The mental clarity of separating your lifeline from your projects may be the most thoughtful choice.
Fuck Your 90 Day Exercise Window (2016)
Written pieces, talks, and other bits by Zach Holman.
On Being a Principal Engineer
The manager’s pathI bought and read The Manager’s Path by the awesome Camille Fournier when it first came out. At the time, I was a senior Database Engineer aspiring to become a principal engineer ...
Strangler pattern, a powerful simple concept to do refactoring
Inspired by the strangler figs in Australia, a strangler fig application gradually draws behavior out of its host legacy application
Jeff Bezos Turned Narrative into Amazon's Competitive Advantage
Jeff Bezos's six-page memos are legendary in the startup world for good reason: clear writing and clear thinking go hand in hand.
I stopped using Intercom
This post has been on the back of my head for a couple of years now. I think we actually switched-off Intercom in 2016 or so… But the reasons should still stand now, or might even be stronger. Of course, things might have shifted, so please forgive me if some features are totally different by…
HTML, CSS and our vanishing industry entry points
Everyone is angry about CSS again. I’m not even going to try to summarize the arguments. However it always seems to boil down to the fact that CSS is simultaneously too easy to bother with, yet so hard it needs to be wrapped up in a ball of JavaScript in case it scares the horses. ... HTML, CSS and our vanishing…
The Over-Engaged Knowledge Worker
I recently listened to a discussion of knowledge work in the browser. Along the way people imagined idealized workflows and the tools that could enable them. This result felt familiar from concept videos since forever (such as this old Mozilla concept video ):
Helping to Build Cloudflare, Part 2: The Worst Two Weeks
It’s always best to speak plainly and honestly about the situation you are in. Or as Matthew Prince likes to put it “Panic Early”. Long ago I started a company in Silicon Valley which had the most beautiful code.
What we've learned about hiring engineering managers
Hiring a great engineering manager is not the same as hiring a great engineer. After hundreds of interviews and many great hires, here’s what we’ve learned.
Applied Machine Learning Is a Meritocracy
When making a start in a new field it is common to feel overwhelmed. You may lack confidence or feel as though you are not good enough or that you are lacking some prerequisite. You will explore these issues in this post and learn that such feelings can lead to actions that can consume a […]
Advice to new programmers
It’s not every day where students new to programming get to ask 709 software developers for advice. Overview There is a school here in Malmö, Sweden called The Game Assembly. This school focuses on teaching students game production. Everything from programming to art and design. This is a three year...
Getting Ahead by Being Inefficient
Inefficient does not mean ineffective, and it is certainly not the same as lazy. You get things done – just not in the most effective way possible. You’re a bit sloppy, and use more energy. But don’t feel bad about it. There is real value in not being the best.
My Losing Battle with Enterprise Sales
If you prefer to receive all of my writing in your inbox, you can subscribe here. I strive to publish weekly, on Tuesday mornings.
Coding Problems from Programming Job Interviews
Java Programming tutorials and Interview Questions, book and course recommendations from Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, edX etc
How to Be Successful
I’ve observed thousands of founders and thought a lot about what it takes to make a huge amount of money or to create something important. Usually, people start off wanting the former and end up...
Microsoft’s Azure DevOps: An Unsatisfying Adventure
As a software developer, I know first-hand how difficult it is to build quality products quickly and cheaply. It’s an art form that we sometimes get right, and other times devolves into something akin to the Obama era healthcare government site. Our level of control over the resulting product varies, and blame for…