The hottest Best Practices Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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The most neglected words of the Agile Manifesto

Ageling on Agile • 99 implied HN points • 17 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Agile Methodology Project management Innovation Best Practices
  1. The Agile Manifesto emphasizes that we are constantly discovering better ways to develop software, not just using established methods. This means we should keep looking for improvements in our processes.
  2. It's important to focus on finding unique solutions that work for your specific organization. No single method is perfect for everyone.
  3. The Agile principles encourage collaboration and adaptation rather than strictly following a set plan. Being flexible helps teams create more value.

Unexpected python traps for beginners

Bite code! • 1957 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Programming Syntax Best Practices
  1. Python automatically concatenates strings written next to each other, making it easier to break long strings across multiple lines.
  2. In Python, be mindful of the differences between functions like sorted() and list.sort(), as they behave differently in terms of returning values.
  3. Tuples in Python are created using commas, with parentheses being optional for non-empty tuples, but crucial for tuples of one element to avoid confusion.

The Importance of Cybersecurity Training

Rod’s Blog • 535 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Training Best Practices
  1. Employees trained in cybersecurity are more likely to follow best practices like strong passwords and software updates.
  2. Cybersecurity training is crucial for employees to recognize and prevent cyber threats, like phishing emails.
  3. Implementing cybersecurity training involves assessing employee knowledge, defining learning objectives, using appropriate training formats, providing regular training, and evaluating effectiveness.

Cybersecurity for Small Businesses: Tips and Best Practices

Rod’s Blog • 496 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Small businesses Tips Best Practices
  1. Small businesses are prime targets for cyberattacks due to limited resources and expertise, making it crucial for them to follow cybersecurity best practices.
  2. Small business owners should establish a culture of security to involve everyone, implement basic security controls like firewall and antivirus, and develop an incident response plan for cyberattacks.
  3. Seek external help from reputable sources like cybersecurity consultants, organizations, and government agencies to get guidance, expertise, and resources in enhancing cybersecurity measures.

Unicorn Projects

Polymathic Being • 65 implied HN points • 01 Dec 24
💼 Business Innovation Project management Process Optimization Systems Thinking Best Practices
  1. Many teams believe their projects are special or unique, but this mindset can lead to mistakes because they ignore proven methods that could help them succeed.
  2. Looking for what’s common between projects instead of focusing on differences can help teams use best practices more effectively, leading to better outcomes.
  3. True innovation happens when teams recognize common problems and find areas that actually need new solutions, rather than chasing after the idea of uniqueness.
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Level Up Your Transaction Security

DeFi Education • 699 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
🔮 Crypto Security Phishing Best Practices
  1. To keep your crypto safe, create a cold wallet for most of your assets and an 'ape wallet' for riskier activities. This way, you limit exposure to potential threats.
  2. Minimize the transactions you make with your main wallet to reduce risk. Only use it for important tasks to stay secure.
  3. Be aware of phishing scams and how they work. Educate yourself so you can recognize and avoid falling for them.

Lots of Fancy Tools, and No Idea How to Use Them

Joe Reis • 196 implied HN points • 05 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Data Tools Best Practices
  1. There are a lot of advanced data tools available, but many struggle with how to use them effectively.
  2. The main challenge in the data industry today is a lack of understanding of basic data practices and best tool practices.
  3. Data teams need to focus on standardizing their knowledge and competencies to increase the value they provide to the business.

Writing Good Multi-threaded Programs: Ensuring Correctness and Optimality

Arpit’s Newsletter • 157 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Programming Concurrency Optimization Best Practices
  1. Ensuring correctness in multi-threaded programs is crucial; use locking and atomic instructions to prevent race conditions.
  2. For optimality, ensure fairness among threads and efficient logic to avoid bottlenecks.
  3. Divide workload evenly among threads or use a global variable to track progress for efficient results.

Microsoft Sentinel SOC 101: Detecting and Mitigating Spear Phishing with Microsoft Sentinel

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Cloud Computing Data Analysis Automation Best Practices
  1. Spear phishing is a serious cyber-attack that targets specific individuals or organizations. Microsoft Sentinel's tools can help detect and prevent these types of threats.
  2. Microsoft Sentinel allows for the creation of custom analytics rules based on KQL queries to identify potential spear phishing activities. This helps in early detection of threats.
  3. Automation and playbooks in Microsoft Sentinel enable immediate responses like blocking URLs or initiating password resets upon detecting a spear phishing attempt.

Must Learn AI Security Compendium 8: The CISO Guide to Generative AI Security

Rod’s Blog • 59 implied HN points • 10 Oct 23
🕹 Technology AI Security Cybersecurity Generative AI Best Practices
  1. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney have revolutionized content creation but also pose significant security risks. Cybercriminals are increasingly using generative AI for sophisticated attacks, requiring CISOs to understand and address these threats.
  2. Generative AI attacks target email systems, social media, and other platforms to exploit human vulnerabilities. CISOs must prioritize user education, deploy advanced email security solutions, and secure vulnerable platforms to counter these attacks.
  3. To mitigate generative AI risks, CISOs should develop an AI security strategy, implement user awareness programs, enhance email security, leverage advanced threat intelligence, use MFA, update systems regularly, employ AI-powered security solutions, foster a security culture, collaborate with peers, and continuously assess and adapt security measures.

How to find your own best practices

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 19 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Strategy Innovation Best Practices Organizational development
  1. Look for best practices inside your own organization first. You've already tested these ideas, so you know they can work for you.
  2. Using what you already have saves you the trouble of making big changes or learning new systems.
  3. Finding internal best practices helps you build on your own successes instead of starting from scratch with outside ideas.

Sort Product Update – July 2024

Database Engineering by Sort • 7 implied HN points • 01 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Data Management Engineering Product Updates Best Practices
  1. Sort now has a Change Requests feature that lets users propose fixes to their data, similar to GitHub's Pull Requests. It's designed to help teams review and apply changes easily.
  2. Users can safely make changes to their Postgres databases using this new feature, which is great for managers and tech leads.
  3. The Sort platform has also seen improvements, including bug fixes and updated pricing to reflect its features better.

Good Comment, Bad Comment

David Reis on Software • 5 implied HN points • 09 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Code Quality Best Practices Programming Languages Developer Tools Technical Writing
  1. Many new programmers think that not commenting code is a sign of good practice because of the idea that 'clean code has no comments.' This leads to less readable code.
  2. Good code should be easily understood, but comments can help clarify complex parts when necessary. It's okay to use comments to explain why something is done a certain way.
  3. Writers should be careful with popular ideas that seem easy and convenient, as they can sometimes oversimplify important concepts and lead people to misunderstand or misuse them.

The Case for Nitpicking

David Reis on Software • 2 HN points • 18 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Code Quality Engineering Culture Best Practices Team Collaboration
  1. Nitpicking in code reviews can lead to better code quality and a stronger engineering culture. It's important to discuss style and best practices instead of ignoring them.
  2. Good taste in code exists and is based on collective standards among practitioners. Competent programmers can generally agree on what makes code better, like readability and consistency.
  3. Having a style guide helps streamline code reviews and makes discussions less personal. It sets clear expectations and allows for respectful and constructive feedback.

✅ Monday briefing: Sarah Waddington CBE, Socially Mobile, capital PR, engaging with activists, Online Nation Report, behavioural science survey, WaddsCon June lineup, and more....

Wadds Inc. newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 14 Jun 21
💼 Business Media Industry Best Practices Research Events
  1. Sarah Waddington was honored with a CBE for her efforts in public relations, highlighting the importance of professionalism in the industry.
  2. There's a growing trend of PR agencies moving out of London, thanks to the pandemic, which opens up access to talent across the UK.
  3. Many people in the UK are hesitant to pay for news subscriptions, with most preferring free online news sources instead.

From Messy to Marvelous: Mastering the Craft of Clean Code

Weekend Developer • 0 implied HN points • 18 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Coding Software Development Clean Code Refactoring Best Practices
  1. Clean code is essential for software maintainability, collaboration, debugging, scalability, and reducing technical debt.
  2. Principles of clean code include using meaningful names, avoiding code duplication, ensuring single responsibility, keeping functions small, maintaining consistent coding styles, focusing on testability, and continuous refactoring.
  3. Practical tips for writing clean code involve using descriptive names, breaking long functions into smaller ones, avoiding deep nesting, keeping comments updated, and removing dead code.

When not to DRY

Vatsal’s Substack • 0 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Programming Best Practices Project management
  1. In the early stages of a project, it's okay to duplicate code. This can help you experiment and try out different ideas without getting bogged down.
  2. Sometimes, trying to make code too simple can make it confusing. If making code DRY makes it hard to understand, a bit of repetition might be better.
  3. In situations where speed is crucial, duplicating code can actually improve performance. Sometimes, it's more important to focus on speed than to keep everything sleek and minimal.