The hottest Engineering Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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RDEL #34: How do developers adopt new tools? (with Monica Bajaj, VP Developer Experience at Okta)

Research-Driven Engineering Leadership • 19 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Development Tools Engineering Software Innovation
  1. Engineers build trust in tools through factors like usability, testing, documentation, support, flexibility, security, maintainability, and extensibility.
  2. Biggest challenges in tool adoption include lack of usability, cost, integrations, and organizational support.
  3. Managers can evaluate tool effectiveness by considering the effort (onboarding, adoption, integration, customization) and impact (productivity, quality, cost).

The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast Interview + other updates

The Caring Techie Newsletter • 6 implied HN points • 07 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Career Podcasts Education
  1. The host shared insights from a podcast interview about how Google operates and tips for getting promoted in big tech. It's a great resource if you're trying to grow your career in tech.
  2. They recently gave a keynote speech at a conference in Germany, discussing how to lead teams effectively even when resources are limited. Public speaking can be a powerful way to share knowledge.
  3. A yearly survey is open for subscribers to provide feedback and potentially win cash prizes. It's a fun way to help shape the content and direction of the newsletter.

The right amount of bullshit

Sunday Letters • 139 implied HN points • 12 Dec 22
🕹 Technology AI Engineering Innovation Entrepreneurship Imagination
  1. Finding a balance between creativity and practicality is important. You need to let your imagination run wild while also being careful with details.
  2. Too much confidence without evidence can lead to failures, like in the case of Theranos. But sometimes a little bold thinking can lead to great innovations, like SpaceX.
  3. It's crucial to be in the gray area between being overly cautious and overly confident. This is where the most exciting and new ideas often come from.

The Greenfield Project Trap

Alex Ghiculescu's Newsletter • 169 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🕹 Technology Development Software Projects Challenges Engineering
  1. Working on greenfield projects may not be as great as perceived because they lack real challenges.
  2. Legacy code and requirements are what make software development interesting and ignoring them can lead to project failure.
  3. Seek out technical challenges that come with real constraints, as they create value for customers and are opportunities for growth.

Applying Socratic Wisdom to Engineering Management

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 39 implied HN points • 08 Nov 23
💼 Business Management Leadership Learning Philosophy Engineering
  1. Humility is important in engineering. Recognizing that you don’t know everything helps create a culture where everyone feels valued and can share ideas.
  2. Being a leader means being a lifelong learner. It’s vital to keep learning about your team and technology to support them effectively.
  3. Taking time to reflect on actions and decisions can lead to better results. Regular team retrospectives can help improve processes and boost team morale.
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🗞 Stream Recap: Product Planning

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams • 39 implied HN points • 03 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Product Planning
  1. The next book club cohort is starting with the book 'Accelerate' next week, focusing on speed reading and mutual accountability
  2. Crafting Tech Teams is a reader-supported publication that offers the option to become a free or paid subscriber to receive new posts and support the work
  3. To keep reading and access the full post archives, there's a 7-day free trial available on 🔮 Crafting Tech Teams

How things fail

Only Wonder Knows • 39 implied HN points • 03 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Testing Reliability Engineering
  1. Testing things to failure can reveal weaknesses and help improve reliability.
  2. The HALT test is an effective method to stress test products and discover design flaws.
  3. Each weakness identified in the HALT test presents an opportunity to enhance product reliability.

At First You Don't Succeed

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 119 implied HN points • 17 Nov 22
💾 History Urban Development Architecture Engineering Photography Local history
  1. Building projects can face lots of unexpected problems, like the Montlake Cut in Seattle, which had issues with the ground underneath.
  2. Sometimes things just don't work out on the first try, as seen when workers had to build new cofferdams multiple times before finally succeeding.
  3. Patience and safety are important, especially in big projects, as rushing can lead to dangerous situations for workers.

Tech Talks Weekly #6

Tech Talks Weekly • 19 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Software Conferences Data science Engineering Development
  1. Tech Talks Weekly shares recent tech talks from major conferences like Devoxx and NDC. It's a great way to keep updated on the latest in tech.
  2. There's a special edition featuring over 550 talks from Kubernetes conferences. This provides a huge resource for anyone interested in cloud technology.
  3. The newsletter encourages sharing with friends and colleagues to build a community. Spreading the word helps more people connect with the tech talk content.

Ep#4 : Soft Skills

The ZenMode • 42 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Soft skills Programming Engineering Communication Collaboration
  1. Soft skills are equally important to technical skills in software engineering. They are often the secret weapon that distinguishes those who struggle from those who thrive.
  2. The path to coding proficiency requires a growth mindset, independence, logical thinking, and patience. Embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and persevere for long-term success.
  3. Essential soft skills for programmers include communication, collaboration, adaptability, and empathy. These skills are crucial for success in a dynamic field where teamwork, continuous learning, and user-centered solutions are key.

Transmission line explorations - deeper investigations

Only Wonder Knows • 39 implied HN points • 20 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Electronics Manufacturing Materials Simulation Engineering
  1. Establish a close relationship with the PCB manufacturer to discuss concerns and ask for expected ranges.
  2. Consider ordering a PCB carefully as design complexity increases, requiring more aspects to be taken into account.
  3. Copper roughness, dielectric materials, and DK uniformity are crucial factors to consider in PCB design for high-speed signals.

RDEL #29: Besides coding, how do software engineers contribute to the agile development process?

Research-Driven Engineering Leadership • 19 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Agile development Software Leadership Research
  1. Software engineers in Agile development contribute beyond just coding.
  2. Non-technical tasks such as process improvement, goal setting, and meeting attendance are crucial for software engineers in Agile development.
  3. Engineers play a vital role in correctly scoping, communicating, and completing projects in Agile development processes.

Building Applications with LLMs

Sunday Letters • 79 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Software Development Engineering Open Source
  1. GPT-4 can do amazing things, but it has limitations because it mainly rearranges data. That makes it hard to create complex programs with just one function.
  2. The Semantic Kernel was developed to add more features like memory and procedural control, allowing for better application building with LLMs.
  3. There's a focus on creating a library of common skills and connectors for tools, which can help developers build richer experiences using familiar services.

Calibrating circuits

Only Wonder Knows • 19 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🔬 Science Physics Chemistry Engineering Technology Research
  1. Calibration of circuits can be a useful solution but it's important to know when it is necessary and when it's not.
  2. Understanding how components like sensors and resistors behave in different conditions is crucial before considering calibration.
  3. Before deciding to calibrate electronic components, a detailed technical and economic analysis should be conducted to ensure it is a suitable solution.

The Engineering Leader's Process for Continuous Improvement

Developing Leadership • 39 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
💼 Business Leadership Engineering Metrics Organization Decision-making
  1. Engineering leaders have two main responsibilities: improving developer experience and delivering impact to end-users.
  2. The Engineering Leader's Process for Continuous Improvement involves identifying, discussing, deciding, aligning, acting, and measuring.
  3. It is important for engineering leaders to continuously loop through the improvement process, not just during times of issue.

AI and the end of integration testing

Sunday Letters • 39 implied HN points • 17 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Software AI Development Testing Engineering
  1. AI will change how we build software, making traditional integration testing much harder or even impossible. This is because the possibilities for what software can do will become nearly infinite.
  2. Without effective integration testing, we will rely more on monitoring and telemetry to ensure software is working well in real time. Companies will need to focus on creating systems that check themselves while they run.
  3. New challenges will arise, like how to assess things like 'helpfulness' or 'safety' in software. We may need to create new measures and standards to evaluate these more complex qualities.

RDEL #1: What’s the best way for eng teams to communicate via Slack?

Research-Driven Engineering Leadership • 39 implied HN points • 17 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Communication Remote work Research Collaboration
  1. Effective communication in engineering teams via Slack involves 'burstiness', quick and synchronous messaging followed by periods of silence.
  2. Research shows that 'bursty' communication styles correlate with higher team performance in distributed software engineering teams.
  3. To improve team 'burstiness', managers can observe current communication styles, consider time zone overlaps, and foster a culture of synchronous collaboration.

Release Cadence is a Stronger Predictor than Estimates

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams • 39 implied HN points • 19 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Productivity
  1. Release cadence is a stronger predictor than estimates when it comes to team performance.
  2. Engineers estimate their 'buying power' of time, leading to overconfidence rather than accurate forecasts.
  3. It's important to prioritize release cadence over estimates to ensure realistic planning and avoid the angst of constantly re-planning when estimates don't align with reality.

The Startup CTO's Handbook | Zach Goldberg

Dev Interrupted • 37 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Leadership AI Metrics Development
  1. The core sections of The Startup CTO's Handbook include Management Fundamentals, Technical Leadership Concepts, and Hard Technology Decisions.
  2. Conducting career history interviews when hiring can reveal a candidate's mindset and how they handle challenges.
  3. Engineering leaders can stay technically relevant by reviewing pull requests and taking courses, even when not coding regularly.

Self vs Self

davidj.substack • 95 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Engineering Team Management AI
  1. Individual Contributor roles in technology allow technically skilled individuals to advance without moving into management.
  2. Specialized IC roles, like Staff or Principal, are crucial for making better technical decisions and preventing engineering issues.
  3. Having fewer hard-to-hire line managers and more experienced ICs can lead to better support and scaling in technical teams.

RDEL #26: What are the top challenges with meetings for globally distributed teams?

Research-Driven Engineering Leadership • 19 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Meetings Engineering Research Software Communication
  1. Distributed teams spend somewhat more time in meetings per day than co-located teams, even though they attend the same number of scheduled meetings on average.
  2. The number of participants in a meeting can affect its perceived value, with distributed teams typically having larger meetings than co-located teams.
  3. In globally distributed teams, top challenges with meetings include low availability of key people in far-shore projects, missing meeting facilitation in virtual meetings, and lack of organizational support for unscheduled meetings.

📩 Your invite to the live streams—Wed: Tailwind Thu: Bryan Finster

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams • 19 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Design Software
  1. The live streams feature discussions on architecture, design techniques, and XP disciplines in Modern Frontend Engineering Culture and Software Engineering Fundamentals Series.
  2. Bryan Finster will talk about how ownership and maturity can aid in personal development in the Thursday fundamental series.
  3. Readers can access a 7-day free trial of Crafting Tech Teams for full post archives.

Fit then optimize

Sunday Letters • 159 implied HN points • 10 Apr 22
🕹 Technology Software Optimization Project management Engineering Product Development
  1. Always focus on finding the right fit for your project before trying to optimize it. It’s easier to make improvements once you know what works.
  2. Watch out for a messy situation where too many things need fixing. Start cleaning up gradually once you see your project gaining traction.
  3. Avoid creating overly complex systems before you understand the problem you're solving. Keep things simple and relevant to ensure usefulness.

The importance of mentoring in engineering leadership — part 1

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 19 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Leadership Mentorship Professional Growth Employee Development Engineering
  1. Mentorship comes in many forms, both structured and informal, and is valuable for growth in your career.
  2. Trust is key in a mentoring relationship; the more trust there is, the more you can benefit from the mentor's advice.
  3. Sometimes, the lessons from a mentor may not be clear right away, but you often realize their value later as you gain more experience.

Blast from the Past: The Supersonic Comeback Tour

Startupology • 19 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Aerospace Innovation Engineering Environment Regulation
  1. Supersonic flight is making a comeback after facing challenges like high operation costs and noise complaints.
  2. Exciting projects by NASA and private companies aim to bring back supersonic flight with advancements like 'sonic thumps' and sustainable fuels.
  3. The future of supersonic flight faces challenges like technical limitations, environmental concerns, safety precautions, and regulatory hurdles.

Frontend as part of the engineering culture

Sergiy’s Substack • 4 HN points • 07 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Interviewing Leadership Culture Development
  1. Frontend engineering should be treated as a first-class citizen within organizations, with equal importance and attention given to both design and performance.
  2. Interview processes for frontend roles should focus on problem-solving skills relevant to the job, rather than algorithm memorization.
  3. Maintain a balanced leadership focus on both frontend and backend, communicate the importance of frontend work, and provide resources for learning and appreciation of frontend development.

Chopper amplifiers: history and present

Only Wonder Knows • 19 implied HN points • 15 Dec 23
🔬 Science Electronics Engineering Physics Circuits Amplifiers
  1. Chopper amplifiers are a technique to reduce DC offset and low frequency noise in amplifiers.
  2. Historically, chopper amplifiers have been implemented using innovative methods like optical chopping with cadmium sulfide light-dependent resistors.
  3. Contemporary engineers can refer to Jim Williams' design for an ultrahigh performance instrumentation amplifier that resembles the old chopper amplifier concept.

What Distinguishes Great Software Engineers?[StoryTime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 59 implied HN points • 11 Sep 22
🕹 Technology Software Development Research Career development Tech industry Engineering
  1. Mastery in software development can lead to significant career growth. Understand concepts deeply to excel in tech.
  2. Great software engineers possess specific traits that can be cultivated effectively. Avoid cardinal sins that bad engineers make.
  3. Research by Microsoft delves into what distinguishes great software engineers, providing valuable insights for students, mid-level developers, and seniors in the field.

Truth in Inconvenience

Breaking Smart • 90 implied HN points • 25 Feb 23
🕹 Technology AI Data Engineering Knowledge Reality
  1. Real-world friction connects big zeitgeist things and teaches about truth in inconvenience.
  2. Meccano vs Lego: Meccano models offer higher realism, messiness and inconveniences, while Legos offer convenience and smoothness.
  3. AI entering the world may encounter a real, high-interest world like a Meccano world, where knowledge shock requires adjusting ambitions to balance design knowledge and friction knowledge.

SpaceX's 5-Step Design Process

SatPost by Trung Phan • 79 implied HN points • 22 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Space Exploration Innovation Engineering Memes AI
  1. SpaceX is working on a 5-step design process for their Starship rocket, focusing on rapid failure and iteration.
  2. SpaceX has achieved significant cost reductions in space travel through reusable rockets and plans to further reduce launch costs with their new Starship rocket.
  3. SpaceX's approach to rapid iteration and innovation differs from NASA's more conservative approach, allowing for quicker progress in space exploration.

Appendixxel

Tigerfeathers! • 3 implied HN points • 15 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Space Tech Engineering Imaging Innovation
  1. Satellites are like little robots that orbit Earth, collecting data and images from space. They are placed in different orbits depending on their purpose, such as communications or imaging.
  2. Building satellites involves carefully balancing many factors like weight, power, and resolution. Companies like Pixxel make their own satellites around specialized cameras to maximize their capabilities.
  3. Getting a satellite into space requires rockets and a lot of planning to ensure they reach the right orbit safely. After launch, the satellite needs to stabilize and start working correctly to send valuable data back to Earth.