The hottest Developer Experience Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

Productivity in Software Engineering: Beyond lines of code, the importance of experience in the development cycle

VTEX’s Tech Blog • 1 HN point • 18 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Productivity Developer Experience Quality Assurance Performance Metrics
  1. Productivity in software engineering is not just about how much code you write. It's more important to focus on code quality and how well the software works.
  2. At VTEX, they listen to developers to improve their work experience. This helps boost productivity by addressing the challenges developers face.
  3. Combining feedback from developers with quantitative data can help understand the impact of changes in tools and processes on productivity.

Measuring developer productivity: A clear-eyed view

Engineering Enablement • 21 implied HN points • 05 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Software Development Developer Experience Productivity Metrics Engineering Management Data Analysis
  1. Metrics for developers should help improve their work experience, not just measure their output. Goodhart's Law reminds us that once metrics are tied to rewards, they can become misleading.
  2. Developer experience is more about effectiveness than happiness. Measuring how developers feel needs to focus on the frustrations they face, and not just on making them comfortable.
  3. Using benchmarks is important but context is key. Just like medical tests, numbers need interpretation to make sense; comparing different teams requires understanding their unique challenges.

What causes 'bad days' for developers?

Engineering Enablement • 9 implied HN points • 25 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Productivity Engineering Research Developer Experience
  1. Engineers often have bad days due to issues with their tools and systems. Problems like unreliable tools or slow processes can make it tough to work efficiently.
  2. Having a bad day can lower a developer's productivity and increase their stress. Both senior and junior developers feel these effects, but in different ways; seniors may get frustrated, while juniors often doubt their abilities.
  3. Research confirmed that issues causing bad days also slow down work processes. Measuring things like how long it takes to complete tasks showed that these problems really affect productivity.

Memphis: Building Stream Processing that Doesn't Suck (aka a Delightful Dev First Experience)...Welcome to the Boldstart Family!

Software Snack Bites • 50 implied HN points • 28 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Stream Processing Developer Experience Data Engineering Real-Time Data
  1. Memphis provides a better developer experience for stream processing.
  2. Memphis is designed for quick setup, cost efficiency, and user-friendly monitoring.
  3. Memphis is a platform of choice for companies looking to replace or enhance their streaming platforms.

Why Go is currently my main programming language

Polymath Engineer Weekly • 31 implied HN points • 28 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Programming Developer Experience Stability Performance Tooling
  1. Go is a productive language with simple syntax and easy readability, making it accessible for new contributors.
  2. Go has fast build times, statically linked binaries for easy distribution, and a stable language ecosystem.
  3. Go offers good performance, low memory footprint, and useful built-in tooling for an awesome developer experience.
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Five ways to improve developer experience in web3

web3 devx • 2 HN points • 05 May 24
🕹 Technology Developer Experience Web3 Documentation Community Metrics
  1. Developer Experience (DevX) is crucial in web3 as it drives transaction volume, TVL, and revenue.
  2. Great DevX involves creating a North Star Metric, focusing on Developer Moments of Truth (DMOT), and structuring documentation around key use cases.
  3. To improve DevX, companies should over-engineer solutions for the unhappy path, leverage the community through grants, airdrops, and bug bounty programs.

Governing API Consumption

The API Changelog • 6 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Consumer behavior Developer Experience
  1. Breaking changes in APIs can disrupt consumer integrations, leading to failures. Producers need to understand and mitigate breaking changes to maintain API usability.
  2. API governance faces challenges as consumers may not adhere to contracts, causing uncontrolled consumption and dependencies. Aligning API usage closely to expected scenarios helps manage these issues.
  3. Controlling API consumption can be improved by providing SDKs that offer a standardized way to interact with the API, reducing the risk of breaking changes and fostering smoother interactions between producers and consumers.

The S3 Balancing Act: Security vs Simplicity

Bit by Bit • 3 implied HN points • 08 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Cloud Computing Security Infrastructure as Code Developer Experience AWS
  1. AWS made changes to S3 default settings for improved security by blocking public access and custom ACL rules for new buckets.
  2. While enhancing security, the process of creating public buckets has become more complex and requires explicit steps to disable block policies.
  3. The complexities of managing storage like S3 in the cloud call for solutions that balance simplicity, security, and extensibility.

The Impact of a Large Number of API Features

The API Changelog • 1 HN point • 08 Mar 24
🕹 Technology APIs Integration Developer Experience Documentation
  1. API features play a crucial role in how customers interact with a product when building integrations, and having a large number of features can be a significant business decision.
  2. The number of API features impacts the structure of teams within a company, as each feature may require a dedicated team, potentially increasing operational complexity.
  3. A low number of API features can lead to easier support, clearer documentation, and a simpler Developer Experience, ultimately contributing to better business outcomes.