Andrew's Substack

Andrew's Substack focuses on web technology and frontend software engineering, addressing both technical and professional development themes. It discusses evolving AI impacts on programming, interview techniques, dealing with uncertainty, software development practices, improving code quality, management guidance, and optimizing work-life through productivity hacks and evaluating technology use.

Artificial Intelligence in Programming Professional Development Software Engineering Practices Coding and Technology Tutorials Management and Leadership Productivity and Work-Life Balance Personal Development

The hottest Substack posts of Andrew's Substack

And their main takeaways

Code coverage doesn't matter much

83 implied HN points • 29 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Testing Development Engineering Programming
  1. Code coverage alone doesn't indicate whether tests are good or useful. It's more about the quality of the tests than the quantity.
  2. Not all tests are valuable; some can be complex and fail for reasons that don't matter, which can lead to false confidence in the code.
  3. The aim of testing should be to assure that your code works and to catch errors, instead of just trying to raise a coverage percentage.

Retrofitting is part of accessibility

2 HN points • 18 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Accessibility App Development Bug Fixing
  1. It's best to build products with accessibility from the beginning to save costs and get better results.
  2. Making an app accessible later can be challenging and lead to a backlog of accessibility bugs.
  3. In the real world, retrofitting for accessibility may be necessary, and it's valuable to focus on educating teams, ensuring new developments are accessible, and tackling a subset of accessibility issues at a time.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

TypeScript 5.5 release candidate

2 HN points • 09 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Programming Typescript Performance optimization
  1. TypeScript 5.5 introduces inferred type predicates, improving variable type tracking through code, even when dealing with undefined values.
  2. Control flow narrowing for constant indexed access in TypeScript 5.5 allows for safer type handling when accessing object properties.
  3. TypeScript 5.5 now supports type imports in JSDoc, making it easier to import types for type-checking in JavaScript files.

What's interesting about the Zed editor

1 HN point • 02 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Collaboration Open Source Innovation
  1. Zed is an open-source code editor and stands out because it's built in Rust, not Electron. This makes it a faster and smoother option for coding.
  2. One unique feature of Zed is 'channels,' which allow teams to collaborate on coding projects in a way that feels more like a dedicated group chat for a project.
  3. These channels are long-lived, meaning anyone can join in and help out whenever they want, making remote collaboration easier and more interactive.

React 19 beta thoughts

1 HN point • 27 Apr 24
🕹 Technology React
  1. React 19 introduces actions, making it easier to handle data mutations and state updates in response to async requests, with features like useActionState to simplify state management.
  2. Server components in React 19 allow rendering components ahead of time, separate from the client app, which can be beneficial for static site generation or running server components on CI servers.
  3. Server actions in React 19 are a magical feature that combines server-side actions not included in client bundles but accessible to client components, enhancing network request capabilities.

Uncertainty is unavoidable

2 HN points • 11 Feb 23
  1. Uncertainty is unavoidable. It's scary not knowing how things will turn out.
  2. In your journey, there's no one with all the right answers. You're the authority now.
  3. Keep moving forward despite uncertainty. Focus on improving decision making and don't be afraid to change course.

Why progressive enhancement

0 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Web Development Accessibility Performance Software Design User Experience
  1. Progressive enhancement means creating websites that work well without JavaScript first, and then adding more features for those who do have it. This approach helps make sites more accessible for everyone.
  2. Using native HTML elements in progressive enhancement leads to simpler code, which means less client-side state management and easier overall development.
  3. It often results in better performance since the browser handles more tasks. Less JavaScript code can lead to faster and more focused functionality in applications.

Monday Memo #2

0 implied HN points • 26 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Software companies System Design
  1. Understand the core insight in questions from executives to address feedback effectively.
  2. When users consistently do something 'wrong,' it might be the system that needs adjustment, not the users.
  3. Quality of screen time matters more than quantity - evaluate how apps respect your time and attention.

useEffectEvent

0 implied HN points • 15 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Programming Web Frameworks
  1. The 'useEffectEvent' hook lets you use values in an effect without causing the effect to rerun when those values change. This helps keep your code clean.
  2. You can currently manage values with refs or by excluding them from the dependency array, but both ways can be clunky or raise warnings.
  3. Using 'useEffectEvent' simplifies handling non-reactive values, making your code easier to read and maintain.

Pro Git course

0 implied HN points • 19 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Content creation Procrastination Skill Building
  1. The creator experimented with creating a new video course called Pro Git to enhance Git skills at work, a helpful tool for professional development.
  2. The creator faced challenges like intimidation and procrastination but overcame them by focusing on making a little progress each day, highlighting the importance of consistency.
  3. Despite initial obstacles, the creator found joy in the process of creating content, and expressed eagerness to continue building this skill based on feedback.

3 styling systems in 1 React app

0 implied HN points • 14 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Web Development Software Engineering UI Design
  1. Use Tailwind for most styles in your React app since it helps maintain consistency and keeps stylesheets small.
  2. CSS modules are helpful for specific cases like custom animations or grid areas when Tailwind isn't enough.
  3. For very dynamic styles that depend on JavaScript, using inline styles in React is the way to go, but these situations should be rare.

Why use React for _____ ?

0 implied HN points • 10 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Frameworks JavaScript Programming Software
  1. React may not be the best choice for everything, but it has its strengths and can be a reasonable choice for many projects.
  2. Using a consistent framework across an organization can be beneficial in certain cases.
  3. React's server components can reduce the need to ship a lot of JavaScript to clients, making it a server-only templating language for parts of a webpage.

Node's getting TypeScript support

0 implied HN points • 30 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Programming Software Development Web Tools Open Source
  1. Node.js is getting support to run TypeScript files directly, making it easier for developers to work with TypeScript without the need for extra setups or tools.
  2. Currently, this TypeScript support will only allow basic features, meaning some advanced features like enums aren't included yet; however, most features will still be usable.
  3. Even though you can run TypeScript files, published packages on npm won't support TypeScript for now to avoid complicating things further.

Share code in Remix with functions, not API endpoints

0 implied HN points • 07 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Programming Software Web Development APIs
  1. In Remix, it's better to share code using functions instead of creating reusable API endpoints. This helps keep your code cleaner and easier to manage.
  2. When sharing functionality across different routes, let each loader return only the data needed for that specific route. This simplifies your code and reduces complexity.
  3. If you have common code between loaders, extract it into a separate function. This keeps your routes straightforward and maintains readability.

Monday Memo #3

0 implied HN points • 03 Jul 23
💼 Business Productivity Career development Music history
  1. Asking for help can be a competitive advantage and enlists people in your journey.
  2. Focus on doubling down on strengths rather than neutralizing non-fatal weaknesses.
  3. Find a balance in your skills - not too specific to limit opportunities, but not too general to be undervalued.