3481
Dark Matter Developers: The Unseen 99% (2012)
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is a currently-undetermined type of ...
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 4,748 posts.
3482
Thinking of a Cybersecurity Career?
Thousands of people graduate from colleges and universities each year with cybersecurity or computer science degrees only to find employers are less than thrilled about their hands-on, foundational skills. Here’s a look at a recent survey that identified some of the bigger skills gaps, and some thoughts about how…
3483
Healthy Self-Doubt
At some point in my software engineering/leadership career, it became evident that I was expected to have Impostor Syndrome. Indeed, it became clear that all underrepresented people in tech were expected to have Impostor Syndrome. I noticed this mostly in groups of women where especially the younger women would talk…
3484
Don't Become a Scientist (1999)
Don't Become a Scientist!
3485
Targeted Bets: An alternative approach to the job hunt
A simple personal website and blog
3486
What does a research grant pay for?
People don't usually share what a research grant pays for, so here are the budgets from mine.
3487
There is no software maintenance
Every time I hear about software maintenance as a distinct activity, I cringe. That’s because it is based on the outdated notion that first software is developed, then it is maintained. But t…
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A Tale of Two Interviews, Part 1
It’s job hunting time for me again. I took quite a chunk of time off after leaving my last job. Now that I’m ready to dive back in, I’ve been thinking more and more about the job hunting process I went through the last time. I’d like to tell you about the last two interviews I had during my job hunt. This is the story…
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Every thought about giving and taking advice I’ve ever had
It’s easy to give useless advice that feels profound. For example, one of the pieces of advice I give most often to people is to write more. So a few months ago I suggested to a friend of mine that they should write about the situations in which they started procrastinating and explained that writing forces you to…
3492
How to Learn Hacking
The “ hacking ” we'll be talking about in this document is exploratory programming in an open-source environment. If you think “ hacking ” has anything to do with computer crime or security breaking and came here to learn that, you can go away now. There's nothing for you here.
3493
Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process
The context is smarter than you.
3494
Resilience and Waste in Software Teams
Resilience is coping with unexpected events and environmental change. To have resilience, you need slack. Slack in software development lets people do the little tasks that keep the work moving smo…
3495
99 Out Of 100 Programmers Can’t Program – I Call BS
Why the claim that 99 in 100 programmers can't program says more about a company's job ads and interviews than about programmers.
3496
Software development is a loser’s game
Great code doesn’t save you, but bad code will kill you #HoskWisdom
3497
Is There Any Room for the Not-Passionate Developer?
A reflection on the software industry, on the place it leaves for non-passionate programmers, and the consequences
3498
Where do individual contributors go once they peak?
On why senior individual-contributor designers shouldn't have to move into management to grow—and how the industry can build a real IC leadership track.
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3500
Does Your Code Pass the Turkey Test? (2008)
Over the past 6 years or so, I’ve failed each item on “The Turkey Test.” It’s very simple: will your code work properly on a person’s machine in or around th...
3501
The interruptible programmer
I’m 37, and I’ve been a (professional) developer for 16 years. You would have thought that in that time, I’d have figured out an effective work style which delivered the desired outcomes (code cut, products shipped etc) without causing detrimental knock-on effects - but, sadly, you’d be wrong. I think the style in…
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3503
Good engineers make terrible leaders
Yuval Noah Harari in his highly celebrated book Sapiens says that human values are shared myths and that there is no objective basis in humanism. I agree with him. In several separate exchanges on Twitter, I’ve debated the claim that technology has caused progress in human society or that there’s never been a better…
3504
Always be ready to leave (even if you never do)
After 7 years at the same company, I'm moving on. But the practices that made my exit smooth aren't exit strategies—they're professional habits everyone should build, whether they're staying or leaving.
3505
Why I Quit A Six Figure Job
I had the best job in the world. My immediate team of ten people were all world class, and everyday I was able to work on hard and interesting challenges with them. Hours were flexible—many of us worked seven to four (by choice!)—and there was virtually never any overtime. It wasn’t unheard of to have our end of week…
3506
Dead Air on the Incident Call
Silence can mean different things to different people in different situations. In this post, I’ll present a few incident scenarios and explore the role of the incident commander in breaking (…
3507
After working +1200 hours in oDesk
No matter if you are applying for a job in the real life or through Internet, one point that everyone is going to agree is that cover letters matter as much as a good cv.
3508
Don’t Know What to Do with Your Life? Seek Bargains (2012)
A Career Crossroads In the early winter of 2004, I was a senior at Dartmouth College and in the fortunate position of having two good ... Read more
3509
In defense of the Google Chef (2011)
I'm on the road with very limited internet connectivity so I can't do the homework I normally would before posting this, so it's possible th...
3510
Maslow's Pyramid of Code Review (2015)
Maslow's pyramid can help us think about what great code reviews look like.