CodeFaster

CodeFaster is a Substack focused on improving coding efficiency and problem-solving skills. It covers a range of topics from coding practices, debugging tips, command-line utilities, and working with different programming tools. The newsletter aims to help developers code faster, debug efficiently, and master the use of various developer tools.

Coding Practices Debugging Techniques Command-Line Utilities Programming Tools Software Development Unix/Linux Commands API Usage Data Serialization Version Control Network Diagnostics

The hottest Substack posts of CodeFaster

And their main takeaways

Don't abuse 0

144 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Programming API Software Development
  1. Setting a spend limit of 0 in an API does not mean restricting spending to zero; it actually means allowing infinite spending.
  2. Consider using the string 'infinity' instead of '0' to denote unlimited spending.
  3. If needing to use an integer value for spend limits, consider using -1 to represent infinity, as it is not a common value and prompts further investigation.

Don't serialize unix timestamps

144 implied HN points • 19 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Coding Debugging API
  1. Unix timestamps are not legible to people and can slow down debugging.
  2. Serialize dates as ISO8601 for readability, precision, and faster debugging.
  3. Using ISO8601 format like 2020-12-08T17:59:17Z is immediately readable, precise, and unambiguous.

Read code when you're somber

72 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Programming Music
  1. Reading code while feeling somber can match personal experience and enhance focus.
  2. Having a specific playlist of somber, melodic music for coding tasks can be effective.
  3. Consider supporting reader-supported publications by becoming a subscriber.

Don't serialize money as a float

108 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Coding Finance Math
  1. Avoid serializing money as a float due to precision issues
  2. Use integers and the smallest denomination for accurate calculations
  3. Leading financial institutions prefer integer math over floating point for money handling
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Use React, not Svelte

144 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Programming Web Development JavaScript
  1. Consider using React over Svelte for faster coding due to more available libraries and packages
  2. React is more popular than Svelte, making it easier to find maintained and ready-to-use packages
  3. React provides a more concise and declarative coding experience compared to Svelte

Checklist before asking questions

144 implied HN points • 02 Aug 23
🚌 Education
  1. Check if you spent at least 5 minutes trying to figure it out before asking questions.
  2. Remember to google for answers before seeking help.
  3. Consider asking chat GPT for assistance if needed.

Working with your git diffs

108 implied HN points • 05 Sep 23
🕹 Technology CLI JSON Python
  1. Ignore whitespace in git diffs using -w flag to reduce size and focus on content
  2. Filter diffs using filterdiff CLI tool to include or ignore specific files in your git diffs
  3. Convert git diff output to JSON for easier parsing using tools like diff-to-json or unidiff in Python

bash color sampling 1-liner

108 implied HN points • 20 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Coding
  1. Bash color sampling can be done with a 1-liner script
  2. Special escape sequences can change terminal text color
  3. Using xargs without a command puts all arguments on a single line

unix 1 liner to get total minutes of audio

108 implied HN points • 25 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Programming Unix
  1. The Unix one-liner uses commands like find, grep, xargs, and math-sum to get total minutes of audio files.
  2. The find command lists all files and directories in the current location.
  3. The xargs -L 1 mp3-minutes command calculates the duration in minutes for each mp3 file and then sums up the total duration using math-sum.

Unix 1-liner using jq

108 implied HN points • 20 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Programming Unix JSON Data processing
  1. The Unix 1-liner using jq efficiently filters and extracts specific data from a JSON response.
  2. Creating a small script like get-all-accounts to gather data beforehand is crucial for this command to work effectively.
  3. The jq command simplifies data processing by breaking down the process into four transformations.

How to design a CLI

108 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Design
  1. Write CLI output to stdout for easy filtering
  2. Include only necessary information in CLI headers
  3. Use precise timestamps in easily parsable formats for data analysis

unix 1 liner to inspect a CSV

72 implied HN points • 23 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Coding Data Analysis Unix
  1. The Unix one-liner uses commands like cat, tac, cut, and less to process a CSV file.
  2. Using 'cat' reads the file, 'tac' prints it in reverse, 'cut' selects specific columns, and 'less' displays data page by page.
  3. This one-liner is handy for quickly examining and navigating through large CSV files in the terminal.

json-toolkit now in aptitude

72 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Tools Data processing Utility JSON
  1. JSON Toolkit offers a variety of tools for working with JSON and other data formats.
  2. You can use JSON Toolkit to convert data, manipulate it, and extract information efficiently.
  3. By using JSON Toolkit, you'll save time and effort on data processing tasks.