system bashing

The 'system bashing' Substack explores a range of topics from the nuances of tech industry practices, software development, and engineering management to criticisms of modern work culture, education systems, and social media dynamics. It offers insights into technical solutions, career advice, societal critiques, and reflections on personal and professional growth.

Tech Industry Trends Software Development Practices Career Development in Tech Criticisms of Work Culture Educational Systems Social Media Strategies Product Management Engineering Efficiency Startup Challenges Public Health Strategies Conference Networking Parental Expectations Existential Reflections Technology Adoption Programming Education

The hottest Substack posts of system bashing

And their main takeaways

Navigating the Software Engineering career ladders

275 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Career development
  1. Software engineering career paths differ based on company size and age, so titles like "Senior Software Engineer" can vary widely.
  2. In early-stage startups, titles like "Senior" may simply imply a higher level of autonomy, not necessarily a specific rank.
  3. As companies grow, the tech team pyramid evolves, introducing new levels and roles like SDE1, SDE2, SDE3, VPs, and EMs.

The Lifecycle of an Edtech Company - Part 1

176 implied HN points • 20 Jul 23
💼 Business EdTech Startup Finance
  1. Starting small and doing what you love can lead to building a strong community and following.
  2. As a business grows, the transition from a passionate creator to a structured company can bring challenges in managing relationships and revenue.
  3. Scaling a startup involves evolving into a company with defined roles, managing financial aspects, and adapting to market demands.

Learnings from yet another 'blitzscaling' stage hiring excercise

176 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Recruitment Leadership Productivity Coding
  1. During a hiring process, it's important to assess candidates based on coachable vs non-coachable gaps to align with the team's needs.
  2. For junior engineers, watch out for extreme design decisions like overly complex or overly simplistic solutions, as they may indicate a lack of awareness.
  3. When interviewing, consider candidates' coding nature, such as the balance between writing clean code and practical functionality testing, as it reflects their approach to software development.

Optimising costs to enhancing UX - it is all engineering

117 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Cost Optimization User Experience Cloud Services Engineering System Design
  1. In a tech company, engineering involves balancing cloud costs and user interface to optimize costs and enhance user experience.
  2. Reducing costs significantly is crucial for a company's profitability regardless of other measures like discounts or marketing strategies.
  3. Engineering decisions impact user experience constraints and cloud costs, requiring a balance between the two for system efficiency.
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Hustle Culture is Killing Us

569 implied HN points • 30 Jan 22
  1. Hustle culture is glamorized, but in reality, it's making survival in the modern world increasingly difficult.
  2. Media and society push the idea that independent work and side hustles are essential, but not everyone can afford to participate due to various life circumstances and privilege.
  3. The pressure to excel in multiple areas like business, content creation, and social media just to survive is creating a society where 'success' is narrowly defined and many feel left behind.

The unhindered growth of bad mobile app product management

137 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
🕹 Technology User Experience Quality Assurance
  1. There is a rise in poorly made mobile apps due to the growth of bad mobile app product management.
  2. Many mobile apps have similar features and design flaws, showcasing repetitive mistakes by product managers.
  3. Consistency in user experience, from technical aspects like rotation to design elements like button styles, is lacking in many apps, pointing to a need for improvement.

A Thread on Frontend Development

275 implied HN points • 04 Mar 22
  1. Frontend development is about breaking down into reusable components, state management, and routing.
  2. Don't get stuck on one framework - if it doesn't work for you, try another one that fits your mindset better.
  3. Embrace URLs for navigation - they are powerful, universal, shareable, and crucial for reproducibility.

All these unicorns, and still India not producing any real tech companies

196 implied HN points • 22 Jun 22
  1. India lacks 'tech-first' companies which contribute to the global tech industry through open source tools and innovations.
  2. To build true tech companies, there needs to be a focus on solving technical challenges with solutions that stand the test of time, not just the bare minimum.
  3. In Indian tech companies, the presence of competent engineering managers and a culture that values thoughtful coding processes is crucial for creating impactful and successful tech products.

Building an org-culture of documentation

117 implied HN points • 04 Aug 22
  1. Documentation is a culture, not just random notes. Learn from large open source projects about the importance of documentation.
  2. Communication should be public by default to benefit the entire team. Emphasize documenting mistakes and past events to prevent future repetition.
  3. Have a vision for the future and document it. A planned future helps align the team and avoid past mistakes. Senior leadership should prioritize creating a knowledge base and vision for the organization.

Polio vaccines, Nash Equilibrium and Game Theory

78 implied HN points • 21 Apr 22
  1. In some regions, cases of Polio caused by the vaccine itself can surpass cases caused by the wild Polio virus.
  2. Polio vaccination strategies involve considerations of game theory, Nash equilibrium, and social behavior.
  3. Understanding the balance between vaccination rates and disease prevalence is crucial in preventing outbreaks and achieving public health goals.

Lessons from running startups and building products

78 implied HN points • 02 Feb 22
  1. Everything in business comes down to people - not the code, market, or money. Fix structural issues, not blame individuals.
  2. Money can solve many short-term problems, but it's just a temporary solution. Address issues properly in the long run.
  3. Communication skills are crucial for career growth. Good communication can make a significant difference, while poor communication can hinder progress.

Man's Search for Meaning...

19 implied HN points • 26 Jun 21
  1. Life can feel monotonous and purposeless, prompting people to seek grand meaning or purpose in existence.
  2. The search for purpose can sometimes lead to escapism and reliance on fictional narratives as answers to life's questions.
  3. Rather than getting lost in abstract existential questions, focus on staying happy and grounded in reality.

Tech Conferences : A fun place to be

58 implied HN points • 29 Jun 17
  1. Tech conferences can be a fun opportunity to meet new people and learn about the latest in technology.
  2. Speakers at tech conferences range from geeks with demos to visionary leaders, each bringing a unique perspective to the event.
  3. Networking at tech conferences involves everything from talent recruitment to lively conversations, but it's important to be mindful and respectful in interactions.

Indian Parents : Before and after graduating

58 implied HN points • 29 Jun 17
  1. Indian parents can be very focused on education and exams
  2. After graduating, parents might struggle to adjust to their child's new lifestyle
  3. Parents might have expectations about career choices and future exams

What programming languages to teach in college ?

0 implied HN points • 21 Jan 22
  1. Industry is shifting towards Kotlin, Swift, TypeScript, and Go for new projects, but colleges still teach Python, JS, C, and Java.
  2. Transitioning from older languages to newer ones might be intuitive for experienced developers, but can be challenging for beginners.
  3. Consider teaching modern languages like TypeScript, Swift, Dart, or Kotlin as the first language in college to avoid confusion with analogies from older languages.

Getting started with Weex

0 implied HN points • 26 Apr 18
  1. To get started with Weex, you can install it with Yarn using "yarn global add --ignore-engines weex-toolkit".
  2. Creating your first Weex app involves running "weex create my-first-app" and selecting options like Babel stage-0, unit tests, and Vue-Router.
  3. Adding platforms like iOS and Android requires having XCode, CocoaPods for iOS, SDK, and Emulator for Android, and using commands like "weex platform add ios".

Arity of a function

0 implied HN points • 03 Apr 18
  1. The arity of a function refers to the number of arguments it takes.
  2. Each function has a specific arity based on the number of parameters it requires.
  3. Understanding arity is crucial for knowing how many arguments a function expects.

Don't jump onto the Firebase bandwagon yet

0 implied HN points • 24 Oct 16
  1. Consider your needs before following trends like Firebase usage.
  2. Evaluate the practical benefits for your personal situation before blindly adopting new technologies.
  3. Make informed decisions by doing some calculations and understanding the potential business impact.

Multibooting Chrome OS on your Laptop

0 implied HN points • 09 Jan 16
  1. Chrome OS is based on Chromium OS, an open-source project, and can be run on laptops by downloading compatible builds from arnoldthebat.
  2. To install Chromium OS on your laptop alongside another operating system, you need to create specific partitions on your hard drive and add a boot entry for Chromium OS in GRUB.
  3. Chromium OS requires the STATE partition to be on /dev/sda1, but you can modify the configuration file to point to a different partition if needed.

Microservices, microfrontends, serverless and other tech hype from 2020

0 implied HN points • 22 Jan 22
  1. Tech trends like microservices and serverless are often more about organizational structure and team communication than pure technology.
  2. Splitting projects into too many small teams can lead to lack of overall understanding, communication breakdowns, and increased costs.
  3. Despite the hype around modular architectures, many successful tech companies still operate on monoliths or monorepos.

Nativescript-Vue: Native Mobile Apps in Javascript without the Hard Parts™

0 implied HN points • 23 Aug 18
  1. Vue is a user-friendly framework for building mobile apps with minimal knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript, offering powerful component building and fast virtual DOM diffing.
  2. Nativescript-Vue provides a promising alternative to React Native, overcoming weaknesses like broken promises and challenges with running code on separate threads for mobile development.
  3. Nativescript simplifies mobile app development by allowing direct access to native iOS and Android components from Javascript, offering in-built layouts and the flexibility to work with or without frameworks.