The hottest Coding Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics
Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc 399 implied HN points 05 Oct 21
  1. The electronic health record system in Vietnam has serious security vulnerabilities, potentially exposing sensitive personal information of millions of individuals, including high-profile government officials.
  2. It is crucial for the government to address these vulnerabilities promptly by working with developers to fix the flaws and involve independent assessment.
  3. The long-term recommendation is to make national technology systems transparent by publicly sharing source code, design documents, and development plans to allow for widespread scrutiny and error detection.
Daily bit(e) of C++ 39 implied HN points 10 Jan 24
  1. std::string is a container for storing null-terminated narrow character strings in C++.
  2. std::string provides functionality similar to std::vector and maintains null-termination invariant.
  3. It also offers convenience methods like find, starts/ends_with, contains, and substr.
Data at Depth 19 implied HN points 06 Apr 24
  1. Understanding Python data visualization libraries like Matplotlib, Seaborn, and Plotly can help you create different types of visualizations.
  2. Learning data cleaning and preprocessing techniques with Pandas is crucial to ensure accurate and meaningful visualizations.
  3. Mastering Modular Prompting with tools like ChatGPT can speed up coding tasks by generating code snippets based on specific instructions.
Technology Made Simple 59 implied HN points 14 Apr 23
  1. To solve complex problems efficiently, focus on variable reduction, ordering, and systematic problem solving.
  2. Practice quick problem-solving to excel in interviews, especially as the trend steers away from traditional Leetcode questions.
  3. Mastering the right methods for solving simpler questions can greatly help in tackling more challenging problems in the future.
Technology Made Simple 59 implied HN points 05 May 23
  1. The post discusses a problem related to counting the number of nodes in a complete binary tree, emphasizing the importance of understanding recursion, trees, and data structures.
  2. It mentions starting with a brute force solution to count nodes but highlights the need for optimization to achieve time complexity better than O(n).
  3. The approach for solving the problem involves using a recursive template to count nodes efficiently by considering the root and the number of nodes in the left and right subtrees.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:
Elvis's Blog 58 implied HN points 19 Feb 23
  1. The post is about a special lecture on prompt engineering techniques for language models.
  2. The lecture is divided into four parts: Introduction to Prompt Engineering, Advanced Techniques, Tools and Applications, and Conclusion with Future Directions.
  3. The post provides links to notebook, slides, and GitHub for further exploration.
Rod’s Blog 39 implied HN points 12 Dec 23
  1. The hacker in the story had a personal connection to one of the characters, making the situation more intense and personal.
  2. Using Kusto Query Language (KQL), the characters tried to analyze the hacker's network traffic and database activity to uncover clues about the hacker's identity and location.
  3. Despite challenges in decoding the hacker's data, the characters discovered a message from the hacker in the database logs, prompting them to solve a mysterious puzzle involving numbers.
Splattern 39 implied HN points 27 Nov 23
  1. ChatGPT can help you build a simple website quickly, even if you have little coding experience. You can get a lot done with just a few prompts.
  2. It's easy to ask ChatGPT to tweak and improve your code, making debugging simpler. You can keep refining your work until it fits your needs.
  3. While ChatGPT is great for generating code, it might struggle with complex math or writing tasks, but you can guide it to get better results.
Rethinking Software 99 implied HN points 02 Sep 24
  1. Literate programming is a fun way to write and document code. It's like mixing storytelling with coding, making the process more enjoyable.
  2. Using tools like Organic Markdown, you can easily manage and run code alongside your documentation in a Markdown editor. It helps keep everything organized and readable.
  3. This programming style allows for creative flexibility, like rearranging sections of code for better clarity and using command outputs as if they were code. It feels almost magical!
BK's Essays 12 HN points 19 Apr 24
  1. Before coding, take time to understand the context and requirements of the task to be accomplished.
  2. Write down your assumptions and evaluate different possible paths or solutions before jumping into implementation.
  3. Implement only after thorough thinking and planning, considering the pros and cons of each potential solution.
MLOps Newsletter 39 implied HN points 21 Oct 23
  1. Flash-Decoding optimizes attention to speed up decoding of Large Language Models (LLMs).
  2. Batch Calibration (BC) is a new zero-shot calibration method for LLMs, improving accuracy without labeled data.
  3. MiniGPT-v2 introduces unique identifiers for tasks, enhancing performance on vision-language tasks.
Weekend Developer 39 implied HN points 21 Oct 23
  1. Writing code in enterprise organizations is different from startups due to legacy code, lack of tests, and constant changes.
  2. To write effective code in enterprise organizations, understand the system, write more tests, and collaborate with testers.
  3. Refactoring code, troubleshooting issues, and getting a birds-eye view are key to improving code quality and system understanding.
Step-by-step Product 39 implied HN points 31 Mar 23
  1. The future of product development may involve AI tools like 'Prompt to Product' for rapid prototyping and testing.
  2. Product people may need coding skills now, but advancements in technology are making product creation more accessible for non-coders.
  3. To stay ahead in the AI wave, product people should refresh coding skills, understand LLMs, and improve prompt design skills.
Step-by-step Product 39 implied HN points 13 May 23
  1. LLMs allow people with little or no coding skills to become developers, expanding possibilities for creating products faster.
  2. Planning and preparation are key before building an app with ChatGPT, considering the tech stack, structure of prompts, and debugging strategies.
  3. Creating an app with ChatGPT can be fast and insightful, but requires caution with APIs, defining the tech stack, and utilizing the tool's assistance for aspects like backend development and SEO.
The Hive 39 implied HN points 24 Jul 23
  1. Sometimes things may seem hard or impossible, but seeing others do it can change your perspective.
  2. Try short spikes of work to test if something is actually as difficult as it seems.
  3. Competition in your space can be beneficial, as you can learn from others' mistakes and plans.
button mash 39 implied HN points 21 Mar 23
  1. Learning to make games involves reimagining the creative process.
  2. Making games is different from writing or knitting but allows room for experimentation.
  3. Coding games is like knitting with data bits, offering a puzzle-like experience.
Rod’s Blog 19 implied HN points 06 Feb 24
  1. A major security breach has occurred with sensitive data stolen, leading to a need for urgent action to track down the threat actor.
  2. Jordan quickly jumps into action, using KQL queries to analyze data and identify patterns associated with the suspected threat actor.
  3. The story leaves readers with a cliffhanger, hinting at upcoming developments and ensuring engagement for the next chapter.
Technology Made Simple 79 implied HN points 29 Sep 22
  1. Problem involves finding the kth largest element in a stream, not the kth distinct element.
  2. The 'KthLargest' class has methods to initialize the object with 'k' and a stream of integers, and to add integers to the stream and return the kth largest element.
  3. Constraints include bounds on 'k', the length of the array, and the values in the array, with at most 10^4 calls to the 'add' method.
Technology Made Simple 39 implied HN points 23 Mar 23
  1. The problem discussed in the post is about finding unique paths in a grid using dynamic programming and recursion.
  2. The example solutions provided in the post illustrate how a robot can navigate from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner in different grid sizes.
  3. The author also shares personal information about being a university student seeking work post-graduation and invites readers to check out their resume and LinkedIn profile.
Technology Made Simple 59 implied HN points 14 Dec 22
  1. You can check if a number is a power of 2 by doing a simple comparison using bitwise operations.
  2. Using logical operations and bit shifting to check powers of 2 is computationally efficient and essential for coding interviews.
  3. Mastering AND, OR, and NOT operations can significantly improve your programming skills and make you a more effective software engineer.
Technology Made Simple 59 implied HN points 08 Dec 22
  1. A valid Sudoku board needs to follow specific rules like no repetition of digits in rows, columns, and 3x3 sub-boxes.
  2. Validation of a Sudoku board only requires checking the filled cells and not necessarily solving the board.
  3. Ensure to keep your skills sharp to navigate through challenging situations like layoffs in the tech industry.
Technology Made Simple 39 implied HN points 08 Mar 23
  1. To find the middle of a singly linked list, use 2 pointers - one fast and one slow. This approach simplifies the process and is efficient.
  2. The reasoning behind finding the middle involves understanding the ordered structure of values in a linked list. It exploits this organized structure to bisect the list and locate the middle.
  3. Learning to think in abstract groups instead of specific data types can enhance problem-solving skills. This technique can be extended to more complex structures beyond linked lists.
Technology Made Simple 39 implied HN points 02 Mar 23
  1. Greedy algorithms are powerful and commonly used, especially in fields like AI.
  2. Understanding and applying greedy algorithms can help solve problems effectively, even in interviews.
  3. The Gas Station problem involves determining the starting index to travel around a circular route based on gas stations and costs.
CodeFaster 144 implied HN points 19 Dec 23
  1. Unix timestamps are not legible to people and can slow down debugging.
  2. Serialize dates as ISO8601 for readability, precision, and faster debugging.
  3. Using ISO8601 format like 2020-12-08T17:59:17Z is immediately readable, precise, and unambiguous.
Technology Made Simple 59 implied HN points 18 Nov 22
  1. A fixed point in a sorted array is an element whose value matches its index. Binary search can be used to efficiently find a fixed point if the array is sorted.
  2. When optimizing algorithms, focus on improving the major components like loop traversal to enhance the overall performance.
  3. In sorted arrays, utilizing comparators and the inherent comparison order can simplify the coding process and boost efficiency.
Technology Made Simple 79 implied HN points 18 Aug 22
  1. Understanding the problem clearly is crucial in finding efficient solutions. This particular problem doesn't require special knowledge, just logic and basic algebra.
  2. Recognizing patterns and properties of the data can significantly enhance the algorithm. In this case, the unique rules about the sorted matrix rows were key to optimizing the search process.
  3. Optimizing code by leveraging insights about the data structures can simplify solutions and reduce unnecessary complexity. It's important to make the most of the given information to write efficient algorithms.
Technology Made Simple 39 implied HN points 23 Feb 23
  1. The problem discussed is about finding unique combinations of integers from a given array that sum up to a target number.
  2. Backtracking and recursion techniques are crucial for solving such problems efficiently.
  3. The newsletter provides weekly coding problems to help readers improve their problem-solving skills.
Technology Made Simple 39 implied HN points 17 Feb 23
  1. The post discusses a solution for rearranging a linked list in a specific pattern, providing examples and constraints.
  2. It encourages problem-solving skills by reinforcing fundamental concepts through problem-solving and preparing for technical interviews.
  3. Consider subscribing to access more articles and support the creator's work, appealing to a broader audience.