Polymath Engineer Weekly

Polymath Engineer Weekly is a newsletter addressing a wide range of topics within software engineering, exploring programming languages, technical debt, investing in skills, innovative coding approaches, machine learning, entrepreneurship, and software development tools and practices. It caters to creative individuals seeking diverse and in-depth technical knowledge.

Software Engineering Programming Languages Technical Debt Investing Machine Learning & AI Entrepreneurship Software Development Practices Microservices Database Management Technology and Society

The hottest Substack posts of Polymath Engineer Weekly

And their main takeaways

Startups and Crippling Technical Debt

31 implied HN points • 27 May 23
🕹 Technology Startups Software Development
  1. Startups can face challenges with technical debt as they aim for rapid growth, impacting software delivery and hindering future success.
  2. As startups grow, diverse technology adoption can lead to fragmentation, complicating development and increasing technical debt accumulation.
  3. Investing in healthy codebases, engineering processes, and sustainable foundations early can provide startups with a competitive advantage and avoid costly migrations.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #63

15 implied HN points • 03 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Math Programming Leadership Food Science
  1. The article discusses different types of requests to Slack and their handling by Edge Services.
  2. Experimenting with new coding approaches may initially seem beneficial but can lead to productivity issues in the long run.
  3. The post explores the concept of following predetermined paths in life versus pursuing entrepreneurship.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Polymath Engineer Weekly #36

15 implied HN points • 09 Feb 23
  1. Real-world software engineering involves dealing with large codebases and understanding colleagues' decisions.
  2. Maintaining consistent authorization models in a microservices environment is crucial for agility and security.
  3. Google has used machine learning to enhance search and advertising, with users deciding the relevance through clicks.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #84

0 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Programming Web AI Software Development Data Management
  1. Rust's fast performance in web frameworks may not always reflect typical use cases due to incentives driving optimization.
  2. Understanding the unique aspects of a Lisp REPL versus an interactive language shell can provide valuable insights and opportunities.
  3. Google's dominance in AI technology faces challenges rooted in cultural factors, such as leadership priorities and values.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #85

0 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Coding Automotive
  1. Learn about using LUTs in video games for creating vibrant visuals and effects.
  2. Discover how Porsche achieved a lap record faster than F1 by enhancing their LMP1 car's performance.
  3. Explore the design of a lock-free ring buffer for efficient cross-thread communication in technical systems.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #65

0 implied HN points • 29 Sep 23
💼 Business Index funds
  1. ClickHouse Keeper uses less memory than ZooKeeper while maintaining performance.
  2. Midlife is about tearing down walls and enduring rebirth.
  3. Owning index funds can outperform professional investors due to lower fees.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #82

0 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Coding Monitoring Optimization Health
  1. Feedback surveys can help in improving a site by collecting user opinions
  2. Systems like Ledger at Stripe track money movement effectively using vtables and monitoring
  3. Understanding different knowledge levels in health can categorize people into groups for better health practices

Polymath Engineer Weekly #81

0 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Programming Forecasting Software Automation
  1. Consider the reasons behind choosing programming languages like Go over Rust, and how they impact problem-solving strategies.
  2. Explore innovative approaches like decoder-only foundation models for time-series forecasting to achieve high performance with less complexity.
  3. Reflect on the impact of intentional choices on software development, understanding tools like TLA+ for formal method and the importance of thoughtful deployment automation.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #83

0 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Programming Mathematics Video Language Books
  1. Deliberate practice is crucial for improvement. Practicing mindlessly can hinder progress by reinforcing existing habits instead of enhancing them.
  2. Understanding different programming paradigms like supervision trees in Erlang can be beneficial for managing state and processes effectively.
  3. The Black-Scholes/Merton equation, originating from physics, revolutionized finance with trillions of dollars at stake, showcasing the impact of cross-disciplinary knowledge.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #73

0 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Hiring Browsers C++ Orchestration
  1. Predictions for hiring in 2024 are being made with available data and some boldness.
  2. Discussion on the complexities of adding traits to C++ and the potential impact on developers.
  3. Exploration of tuning strategies for RAG applications and insights into Google's Android strategy as a moonshot.

Polymath Engineer Weekly #86

0 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Database Management Compression Furniture
  1. Databases can scale by implementing horizontal sharding tailored to unique architecture, allowing for smaller feature sets and specific optimizations.
  2. Analyzing Kafka's performance can involve tackling tail latency with eBPF by identifying areas causing queuing and delays, such as synchronized blocks.
  3. In the luxury watch industry, success factors can be revealed through comprehensive reports like the Morgan Stanley analysis, providing insights into market dynamics.