Why Now

Why Now explores the intersection of technology and practical application, breaking down complex technologies into simpler terms and examining why they are becoming relevant in current times. It covers a wide range of topics including programming languages, cybersecurity, machine learning, and development frameworks, with an emphasis on innovation, history, and production readiness.

Programming Languages Cybersecurity Machine Learning Development Frameworks Data Management Cloud Computing Game Development History of Technology

The hottest Substack posts of Why Now

And their main takeaways

Restate & Durable Execution

5 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
🕹 Technology
  1. Life could benefit from more async/await for better execution.
  2. Product 'atomicity' leads to company durability, as proven by Dow Chemical Company.
  3. Restate is an event broker that routes messages/invocations, tracks execution, and handles retries, making distributed systems more resilient.

Malloy Data

5 implied HN points • 26 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Programming Database Management Data Analysis Software Development Programming Languages
  1. Malloy is a new query language for describing data relationships and transformations in SQL databases.
  2. Malloy compiles to SQL optimized for your database, has a semantic data model and query language, excels at reading and writing nested data sets, and handles complex queries seamlessly.
  3. Malloy also introduces a semantic layer similar to Looker, allowing for saving calculations like measures and defining dimensions to describe and transform data.

Secure Enclaves

5 implied HN points • 03 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Encryption Cloud Computing Data security Hardware
  1. Security is a key area for innovation with a focus on problem-solving and wedging opportunities against incumbents
  2. Encrypting data in-use is a challenge in cybersecurity, with solutions like homomorphic encryption and secure enclaves emerging
  3. Secure Enclaves are highly-controlled environments that validate code execution cryptographically, offering a way to protect data in-use
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WebGPU

5 implied HN points • 06 Feb 23
  1. WebGPU is a Web API for accelerated graphics and compute, changing the role of GPUs in web browsers.
  2. The history of GPUs, the graphics pipeline, and graphics APIs is essential to understanding WebGPU.
  3. WebGPU unlocks potential for BOTW-like graphics, ML in browsers, 'Serious Software' in-browsers, 'Serious Games' in-browsers, and the evolution of browsers into operating systems.

Deno

5 implied HN points • 22 Sep 22
  1. Deno is a runtime for JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly with V8 and Rust.
  2. Deno is built with simplicity, modern features, and security in mind.
  3. Deno Deploy utilizes V8 Isolates for lightweight, easy cloud deployment.

Zig

1 HN point • 12 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Programming Language Performance
  1. Zig is a programming language efficient and simple like C, but without hidden surprises in its memory management.
  2. Zig offers developers a clear and explicit approach with minimal language-specific keywords for simplicity and readability.
  3. Zig's toolchain provides various build modes catering to different needs such as Debug, ReleaseSafe, ReleaseSmall, and ReleaseFast.

eBPF

0 implied HN points • 16 Jun 22
  1. eBPF is a method of programming the Linux kernel, enabling additional functionality and context, similar to adding JavaScript to a webpage.
  2. eBPF programs go through a series of steps in the eBPF runtime to ensure safety and performance, including program development, verification, and attachment.
  3. eBPF is being used in production for networking, security, and observability by companies like Meta, Isovalent, Sysdig, Cloudflare, and others, showcasing its versatility and potential.

Why Now

0 implied HN points • 19 May 22
  1. The author is a venture capitalist who often questions 'why now' in various situations.
  2. Studying history is key to answering questions about current trends and decisions.
  3. The author believes in the value of writing in public to improve thinking and provoke learning.

Federated Learning

0 implied HN points • 01 Jul 22
  1. Federated learning allows edge devices to collaborate in training machine learning models without sharing raw data.
  2. Privacy-enhancing technologies like secure aggregation and differential privacy enhance data security in federated learning.
  3. Advancements in edge device computational ability and memory storage are key for making federated learning mainstream.