211
There's No Such Thing as Software Productivity (2012)
Bill Caputo , through repeated conversations we've had, has convinced me of something very surprising. It was something that changed the way I think about the world, and how I do my job.
Topics /
Career & Management
The most popular blog posts about career & management on Hacker News. 259 posts.
212
Companies need junior devs
Junior engineers are foundational to whether a team can collaborate and innovate
213
On Good Software Engineers
I set out to find a simple definition that would help managers frame the fundamental things they expect from software engineers.
214
Haunted by my own projects
Sometimes the new and shiny thing is way more fun than the thing that I genuinely want to ship... later.
215
Bad stuff going down at the American Sociological Association
I knew the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, the American Political Science Association, the American Statistical Association, and the National Academy of Sciences had problems. It turns out the American Sociological Association does some bad things too.
216
Carta's 83b Oversight: A Tax Trap for Married Startup Employees (2023)
There's a blind spot in Carta's 83(b) election feature you need to know about if you're married and living in California.
217
What the The end of 0% interest rates means for software engineers
The end of 10+ years of 0% interest rates is set to change the tech industry. What do higher rates mean for software engineering jobs, developers, and careers; and how can you prepare for this shift?
218
Let's Stop Asking "Why Do You Want to Work for Us?" In Interviews
Most people want to work for your company for money, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
219
Notes from an Interviewer
These days I find myself interviewing quite a few candidates. Some are good, some aren’t. So it goes. However, there is another group who I feel could be good but just aren’t showing it…
220
Do literally anything
Feeling overwhelmed? Don't know where to start? Do literally anything.
221
Releasing my tools under the MIT License was probably a mistake (2023)
For basically as long as I can remember, I have been a staunch defender of permissive licenses over the more copyleft variety. I want you to use things I've written. On top of that I don't believe it's my place to force you to then open source things you have written that expand upon my source code. Hence my extensive…
222
Software Design Principles I Learned the Hard Way
If there’s two sources of truth, one is probably wrong. And yes, please repeat yourself.
223
Is the Job Market Dying?
how tech makes hiring worse
224
It's not enough for a program to work – it has to work for the right reasons
Successful software is buggy software.
225
Patrick McKenzie (patio11) on navigating complex systems
Few can measure the impact of a blog post they wrote, in the millions of dollars a year, but Patrick McKenzie has the receipts
226
Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter
I am no longer investing in new companies.
227
Psychological safety vs. high standards: A misunderstood dynamic
The term “psychological safety” is often misleading. When managers hear safety, many dismiss it as a soft style that implies complacency. Meanwhile, psychology implies too much mumbo jumbo. High-profile figures like Elon Musk advocating for a “hardcore” style perpetuate this misconception. But this is a fundamental…
228
Salary expectations questions – How should you answer them? (2020)
Don't panic! Here's how to tactfully answer salary expectations questions without costing yourself a ton of money
229
Dean of Engineering at University of Nevada wrote a paper that’s bad
“As we look to sleep and neuroscience for answers we can study flies specifically the Drosophila melanogaster we highlight in our research.”
230
Business advice plagued by survivor bias (2009)
Advice from "successful entrepreneurs" might be unreliable due to Survivor Bias. What's real, and what's random?
231
Tips for Building and Deploying Robots
This post is not about research or developing software for robots. Instead it is some tips on how to go about building robots for mass deployment and how to leverage those deployed robots for improving your product.
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Lumina's legal threats and my about-face
I’m putting the post about Lumina Probiotics back up, now edited to avoid any possible threats of libel.
234
Is it better to fail spectacularly?
Three weeks ago I wrote the following draft of a blog post entitled “Is It Better to Fail Spectacularly?”. I am having a lot of doubts. I’ve been training for the Chicago Marathon in earnest since June, but in reality the preparations began a year ago when I was accepted based on my qualifying time from the 2023…
235
How user groups made software reuse a reality
Before the widespread existence of software repositories like CPAN, NPM, and PyPI, developers seeking to reuse an existing algorithm or library of routines would either check books or journals for code, or, they just might post a classified ad:
236
Things I learned from teaching (2023)
This spring, I taught an undergraduate class on chess engines. I probably learned more than any of my students.
237
Brr Wants a Job
8 months post-ice, it's time for something new!
238
Why Bad CEOs Fear Remote Work (2021)
Remote work expert David Tate wrote that when fearful CEOs talk about workplace culture, they’re really talking about workplace control. Their insecurities demand that the way work is done by emplo…
239
All the remedial classes in one place
A look at the “serious” courses in college today. By Professor Doom I’ve seen plenty of articles bemoaning ridiculous col...
240
“Technical” Skills
If you've ever said "soft skills" and felt weird about it, this essay is for you