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The hottest Substack posts of On Engineering

And their main takeaways

Using types in programming languages can help prevent bugs and potential catastrophic failures.
Loosely typed programming languages can lead to dangerous assumptions by programmers.
Strongly typed systems are tools that help programmers build systems more safely and effectively.

Core-JS is a crucial JavaScript library with significant dependencies in the open-source community and popular software.
The project faced financial difficulties due to the sole maintainer's plea for support and threats to its future.
There are concerns about the security and continuity of Core-JS, emphasizing the need for community involvement, financial support, and alternative solutions.

The security of open source software is under threat due to a lack of reliable maintainers, leading to compromised secure software supply chains.
Supply-chain attacks, like the SolarWinds attack, can have massive impacts on government agencies and organizations by compromising dependencies in software.
Incentivizing open source maintainers with money may not always be the best solution; allocating real engineering time and resources to contribute and support open source projects can help maintain software reliability and security.

The Agile Manifesto introduced new software development principles in response to industry challenges and failures.
Agile prioritizes flexibility, continuous delivery, and collaboration in software development.
Despite widespread adoption of agile methodologies in the tech industry, many organizations struggle to embody the cultural values at the core of agile.

Deprecating and removing open source projects can have major consequences on dependent projects in the software ecosystem.
Maintaining a library may not always be feasible due to various factors like engineering allocations and dependencies.
Forking a project can be a viable option for businesses heavily reliant on a library that is no longer actively maintained.

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The Pareto principle applies to engineering work and problems, with a small group often responsible for a majority of the outcomes.
Innovation and creativity in engineering often stem from incorporating boredom into the workday.
Encouraging free-form boredom time can lead to increased creativity, innovation, and unique solutions in engineering teams.

Using large language models like ChatGPT for writing may produce hollow and unsatisfying content.
Large language models lack inherent creativity and instead regurgitate text from their inputs.
To become a better writer, one must focus on writing and developing their skills, rather than relying on tools like ChatGPT.

On Engineering is a new publication focusing on technology and engineering.
The content includes in-depth long-form posts on specific topics.
The author is excited to start the journey and delve into the process with the readers.

Online influence in tech is not the only path to success in a tech career.
Building prestige involves gaining respect for achievements, character, and quality of work.
Approaches to growing prestige include inventing, newsletters, talks, deep dives, and getting others to talk about your work.