The hottest Software Development Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Authorization in microservice architecture, P1: The motivation to change

Hung's Notes • 59 implied HN points • 18 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Cloud Computing Microservices Access Control Identity Management
  1. Authorization is a crucial part of managing digital evidence, and it needs to be efficient to handle many users and lots of data. Complex systems can find it hard to keep permissions clear.
  2. Current access control models like Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Discretionary Access Control (DAC) can get too complicated when managing many users and permissions. This can lead to messy code and performance issues.
  3. As organizations grow, they must decide how to structure their authorization logic, whether to centralize it in one team or spread it across many. Both choices have their own challenges in consistency and maintenance.

Recommending Kent Beck: 2011

Software Design: Tidy First? • 1170 implied HN points • 08 Dec 23
💼 Business Recommendation Employment Management Career development Software Development
  1. Kent Beck's role in enhancing engineering teams for growth and prosperity by working on product features and tool building.
  2. Kent Beck's impact through research and publication on software design, attracting new recruits and revolutionizing design ideas.
  3. Kent Beck's personal relationships and pair programming sessions significantly improving engineering skills and career prospects of individuals.

Looking back on AI in 2024

Generating Conversation • 46 implied HN points • 19 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Software Development Data science
  1. AI companies need to show clear value to succeed. This means saving money or making profits, not just improving productivity.
  2. Building customer trust is key for AI products. Letting customers test and experience the product firsthand is often more effective than complicated evaluation tools.
  3. User experience with AI tools is really important. Good AI needs to be easy and enjoyable to use, which is a challenge that still needs solving.

How to build your first LLM evaluation

The AI Frontier • 159 implied HN points • 16 May 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Data Analysis Software Development
  1. AI needs to show real value to its customers, which means proving it can create real profits. Without this, it’s hard to justify the excitement around AI.
  2. To understand how well AI products perform, it’s important to create custom evaluations that target specific goals. Generic measurements like MMLU don't provide useful insights for particular applications.
  3. Improving AI evaluations is a continuous process that requires careful scoring and can benefit from community feedback. It's crucial to identify weaknesses and refine metrics for more accurate assessments.

Career advice: Learn how to debug

Wednesday Wisdom • 85 implied HN points • 13 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Career Advice Problem Solving Technical Skills
  1. Learning to debug helps you solve your own problems, giving you control over your work and allowing you to be more effective.
  2. Debugging teaches you valuable lessons and knowledge that you can apply in future situations, making you more confident as you grow in your career.
  3. When you debug before asking for help, you can ask clearer questions and provide better information, which makes it easier for others to assist you.
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I spent 5 hours understanding more about the Delta Lake table format

VuTrinh. • 179 implied HN points • 04 May 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Database Performance optimization Software Development
  1. Delta Lake is designed to solve problems with traditional cloud object storage. It provides ACID transactions, making data operations like updates and deletions safe and reliable.
  2. Using Delta Lake, data is stored in Apache Parquet format, allowing for efficient reading and writing. The system tracks changes through a transaction log, which keeps everything organized and easy to manage.
  3. Delta Lake supports advanced features like time travel, allowing users to see and revert to past versions of data. This makes it easier to recover from mistakes and manage data over time.

Briefing: Shopify Magic, Vision Pro Zoom, AX vs UX

Department of Product • 393 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Products AI Remote work Software Development Tech Companies
  1. MultiOn and Arc Browser are challenging the assumption that users interacting with products are human by automating browsing tasks
  2. Shopify introduced over 100 new product updates in its Winter Edition, including a media editor for generating product images instantly
  3. Google, PayPal, Zoom, TikTok, and OpenAI all revealed new features and products this week, showcasing advancements in technology

sqlmesh model kinds - 2

davidj.substack • 47 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Data Management Software Development Data Warehousing APIs
  1. There are three types of incremental models in sqlmesh: Incremental by Partition, Unique Key, and Time Range. Each type has its own unique method for handling how data updates are processed.
  2. Incremental models can efficiently replace old data with new data, and sqlmesh offers better state management compared to other tools like dbt. This allows for smoother updates without the need for full-refresh.
  3. Understanding how to set up these models can save time and resources. Properly configuring them allows for collaboration and clarity in data management, which is especially useful in larger teams.

GroupBy #36: Agoda- How We Solve Load Balancing Challenges in Apache Kafka, How to reduce your Snowflake cost

VuTrinh. • 139 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Software Development Cloud Computing Infrastructure Cost Optimization
  1. Working on pet projects is fun, but it's important to have clear learning goals to actually gain knowledge from them.
  2. When using tools like Spark or Airflow, always ask what problem they solve to understand their value better.
  3. To make your projects more effective, think like a user and check if they get what they need from your data systems.

📝 Guest Post: Augmented SBERT: A Data Augmentation Method to Enhance Bi-Encoders for Pairwise Sentence Scoring*

TheSequence • 126 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Natural Language Processing Data science Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Software Development
  1. Augmented SBERT (AugSBERT) improves sentence scoring tasks by using data augmentation to create more sentence pairs. This means it can perform better even when there's not much training data available.
  2. Traditional methods like cross-encoders and bi-encoders have limitations, like being slow or needing a lot of data. AugSBERT addresses these issues, making it more efficient for large-scale tasks.
  3. The approach combines the strengths of different models to enhance performance, especially in specific domains. It shows significant improvements over existing models, making it a useful tool for various natural language processing applications.

Definition of Dumb

Rethinking Software • 249 implied HN points • 30 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Agile Methodology Project management Quality Assurance Team Dynamics
  1. The Definition of Done in Scrum can often mask real problems instead of solving them. It makes it seem like poor quality doesn't exist by placing all responsibility on the developers.
  2. Many companies stick to strict processes without recognizing their flaws. This leads to frustration among developers who are pushed to meet unrealistic expectations.
  3. Empowering developers to create their own processes might lead to better results. By trusting the team, companies can produce high-quality work without getting bogged down by rigid frameworks.

Under the microscope: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PlayStation, Dreamcast)

Rings of Saturn • 58 implied HN points • 01 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Video Games Programming Software Development Cheat Codes Reverse Engineering
  1. There are new cheat codes in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 that have been undiscovered for 24 years. This was found by someone analyzing the game and its cheat code system.
  2. A special Python script was created to discover these cheat codes by attacking the game's hashing system. This method used a combination of known button sequences and permutations.
  3. One of the new cheat codes allows players to turn off shadows in the game. Another doubles the score, which can make gameplay more interesting!

Weak Soft Skills: Why you are stuck at the Senior engineer level

Path to Staff Engineer • 35 HN points • 04 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Communication Skills Career growth Professional development
  1. Soft skills are important for engineers to move from senior to staff levels. They help in communicating and working well with others.
  2. Mastering communication includes writing clearly, speaking confidently, and being aware of body language. This helps ensure your ideas are understood.
  3. Being adaptable and knowing how to handle challenges is key. Flexibility and good problem-solving skills are highly valued in teams.

Managing Developer Feedback Effectively | Atlassian’s Andrew Boyagi

Dev Interrupted • 14 implied HN points • 14 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Software Development DevOps Productivity Feedback Company Culture
  1. Using surveys alone isn't enough for getting developer feedback. It's better to use data and metrics to understand their issues more clearly.
  2. Setting clear goals for improving developer experience can help align teams better and boost productivity. Everyone needs to be on the same page.
  3. Company culture plays a big role in connecting development efforts with business goals. A positive culture makes it easier for teams to work together effectively.

Why Scrum is Stressing You Out

Rethinking Software • 445 HN points • 11 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Agile Methodology Productivity Project management
  1. Sprints make work feel never-ending because they are constant deadlines without breaks. Unlike past methods, there’s no time to rest and recharge, leading to ongoing stress.
  2. Sprints are often imposed on teams without their input, removing their freedom and motivation. Control over how work is done is important for reducing stress and improving satisfaction.
  3. In Scrum, there is little time for preparation before starting tasks. Developers need time to think, plan, and get ready to tackle projects, or they end up feeling overwhelmed and unprepared.

Programmer Collaboration Styles

Rethinking Software • 299 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Collaboration Open Source Remote work
  1. There are two main collaboration styles for programmers: individual stewardship and shared stewardship. Individual stewardship focuses on one person having full control, while shared stewardship means the whole team collaborates closely.
  2. Individual stewardship can lead to high-quality results because it allows for deep focus and mastery, but it might create knowledge silos. Shared stewardship promotes teamwork and knowledge sharing but may lead to average results due to differing skill levels.
  3. The right collaboration style can depend on the work being done. Tasks needing specialized skills might work better with individual stewardship, while general tasks benefit from shared stewardship and constant communication.

Code Reviews, Not Code Approvals

Rethinking Software • 299 implied HN points • 03 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Remote work Project management Code Review Agile Methodology
  1. Asynchronous communication is key for remote work, allowing people to respond when they can without blocking others. This way, everyone can keep working on their own tasks without unnecessary interruptions.
  2. Traditional code reviews often act more like approvals, which can slow down progress and cause delays. It's better to think of them as a way to give feedback after code is deployed, not as a gatekeeping step.
  3. By changing code reviews to be more like reviews after deployment, teams can keep moving forward. This helps avoid bottlenecks and allows for quicker corrections and improvements in code.

Monthly Python Data Engineering, September 2024

Monthly Python Data Engineering • 2 HN points • 26 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Open Source Python Software Development Libraries
  1. A new free book called 'How Data Platforms Work' is being created for Python developers. It will explain the inner workings of data platforms in simple terms, with one chapter released each month.
  2. The Ibis library has removed the Pandas backend and now uses DuckDB, which is faster and has fewer dependencies. This change is expected to improve performance and usability.
  3. Several popular libraries in Python, such as GreatTables and Shiny, have released updates with new features and improvements, focusing on better usability and integration with modern technologies.

The Over-Engineering Trap

Tech Ramblings • 39 implied HN points • 28 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Engineering Practices Cost management Product Design Systems Architecture
  1. Simplicity and maintainability are more important than performance and complexity in software design. Focus on creating code that's easy for others to understand and work with.
  2. Avoid over-complicated platforms like microservices, especially if your application doesn't need them. Start with basic tools and scale only when necessary.
  3. Your goal as a software engineer should be to deliver a product that customers can use easily. Keeping things simple helps with maintenance and helps new team members get up to speed faster.

💥 Tech Talks Weekly #25

Tech Talks Weekly • 59 implied HN points • 01 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Conferences Web Development Programming Languages AI
  1. Tech Talks Weekly shares fresh talks from over 100 conferences every week. It's a great way to stay updated without sifting through a lot of content.
  2. This edition highlights talks from major events like ReactConf and JCON Europe. The featured talks include exciting topics like new features in React and domain-driven design.
  3. Readers are encouraged to fill out a form to help improve content and to spread the word about the newsletter. It's all about building a community around tech discussions!

AI Roundup 097: Model Mayhem

Artificial Ignorance • 46 implied HN points • 13 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Models Machine Learning Software Development Data science Tech Companies
  1. Google has launched new AI models such as Gemini 2.0, which can create text, images, and audio quickly. They also introduced tools to summarize video content and help users with web tasks.
  2. OpenAI released several features, including a text-to-video model named Sora for paying users. They also improved ChatGPT's digital editing tool and added new voice capabilities for video interactions.
  3. Meta and other companies are also advancing in AI with new models for cheaper yet effective performance and tools for watermarking AI-generated videos, showing that competition in AI is heating up.

Simplify your product design — borrow familiar patterns

amivora • 9 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Product Design User Experience Software Development Interface Design Tech Innovation
  1. Making product design simple helps users feel comfortable and familiar, just like using everyday items. This means users can start using your product without needing to learn it first.
  2. Using familiar patterns in your design, like placing buttons where users expect them, makes the product easier to navigate. This creates a predictable experience, so users know what to do without guessing.
  3. Borrowing well-known interfaces can help new technologies become popular quickly. When users see something they already understand, they’re more likely to try it out without feeling overwhelmed.

Tech gamble

Alex Ewerlöf Notes • 353 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Tech Debt Engineers Product Management
  1. Tech gamble is about paying the price of hypothetical future tech debt upfront without proper data or insight, leading to waste and friction for the product.
  2. Symptoms of tech gamble include complex technical solutions for simple problems, big bang improvement projects cancelled mid-execution, and rewriting systems without clear pragmatic checkpoints.
  3. Tech debt is reactive, while tech gamble is proactive, with tech debt giving engineers a bad conscience and tech gamble representing naive ambition or malice.

LLM links, 11/17

In My Tribe • 243 implied HN points • 18 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Software Development Robotics Research
  1. AI agents are most helpful when they can repeat simple tasks many times, rather than doing complex, one-time jobs. It’s better to have them automate quick tasks consistently.
  2. Chatbots face serious challenges, especially when discussing sensitive topics like suicide. They should guide users to seek help but also create a safe conversation environment.
  3. There’s concern that new AI models may not improve in accuracy and could actually make mistakes more often. This suggests that AI will always struggle to tell the truth from lies.

Finding Data Bugs in dbt Pull Requests

clkao@substack • 39 implied HN points • 17 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Data Engineering Software Development Open Source Machine Learning Quality Assurance
  1. Data bugs can be costly for companies, with bad data potentially costing up to 25% of their revenue. These issues often arise from problems in data-centric systems like dbt.
  2. Using dbt allows data engineers to implement software practices like version control and testing, helping to ensure the correctness of their data transformations. However, relying solely on post-processing tests has its limits.
  3. Manual spot checks are still crucial in ensuring data accuracy during code reviews. Tools like Recce aim to streamline this process, making it easier for developers to validate and document their changes.

Claire Vo: The CPO who automates herself with AI

CommandBlogue • 19 implied HN points • 19 Aug 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Product Management Startups Software Development Tech Trends
  1. AI is changing how product managers work. It helps them complete tasks much faster, which could mean fewer PMs are needed in the future.
  2. The role of PMs might shift more towards being makers, meaning they will need to have skills in design and engineering to stay relevant.
  3. To break into product management, it's important to show what you can do by building something real for the companies you're interested in, rather than just sending a resume.

2023, the Year of AI; 2024?

Sector 6 | The Newsletter of AIM • 399 implied HN points • 01 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Software Development Tech Innovation Tech Companies
  1. 2023 saw major advancements in AI technology, leading to exciting stories and developments. The growth of AI in various sectors sparked interest and engagement from the public.
  2. Microsoft announced a significant investment in OpenAI, marking the third phase of their partnership. This collaboration aims to enhance AI supercomputing and make breakthroughs in technology.
  3. As we move into 2024, there is anticipation for more innovative AI content and opportunities. The community looks forward to exploring how AI can further evolve and impact our lives.

The Libertarian Coder

Rethinking Software • 249 implied HN points • 10 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Programming Collaboration Work Culture Autonomy
  1. Working independently can be very rewarding, especially in coding. Some people thrive when they have control over their own projects and can focus deeply.
  2. There are different styles of collaboration in coding. Some prefer to share work with many people, while others like to work alone. Both ways can be valid and effective, depending on the person's preference.
  3. When you feel stuck at work, it's often not just your fault. It shows there might not be enough teamwork or communication. Asking lots of questions can help everyone succeed together.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 526

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 419 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Data science AI Machine Learning Analytics Software Development
  1. Generative AI is changing how we work with tools, improving the Human-Tool Interface. This can help us use technology in ways we never could before.
  2. Support Vector Machines (SVMs) can be very effective for prediction tasks, often outperforming other models in error rates. However, they aren’t as commonly used, possibly due to their complexity.
  3. Deep multimodal fusion is useful in surgical training. It helps classify feedback from experienced surgeons to trainees by combining different types of data like text, audio, and video.

💥 Tech Talks Weekly #24

Tech Talks Weekly • 59 implied HN points • 26 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Conferences Programming Software Development AI Data science
  1. Tech Talks Weekly is a free email newsletter that shares recent talks from dozens of tech conferences. It's a great way to catch up on what you missed!
  2. Readers can participate by filling out a short form to help improve the content. This makes it a community-driven resource.
  3. The newsletter highlights popular talks each week, making it easier for people to discover valuable insights from experts in tech.

Data Science Weekly - Issue 545

Data Science Weekly Newsletter • 139 implied HN points • 03 May 24
🕹 Technology Data science Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Software Development Big Data
  1. Reusing data analysis work can save time and help teams focus on building new capabilities instead of just repeating old ones.
  2. Open-source models can be a better choice than proprietary ones for developing AI applications, making them cheaper and faster.
  3. Causal machine learning helps predict treatment outcomes by personalizing clinical decisions based on individual patient data.

That Time I Tried To Get Johnathan Blow To Publish a Game to Windows 8

Meanwhile, on the other side of my brain... • 99 implied HN points • 29 May 24
🕹 Technology Coding Gaming Software Development Indie games
  1. Setting realistic goals is crucial for success, rather than unachievable targets that can lead to frustration.
  2. Building genuine relationships and solving real problems with developers can lead to lasting goodwill.
  3. Understanding and meeting the needs of developers is key to successful developer relations, instead of focusing solely on unreachable goals.

Reader Mailbag: Architect having a hard time letting go

Tech and Tea • 82 implied HN points • 27 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Team Management Project management Collaboration
  1. Building a good relationship with your architect is important. Showing that you appreciate his work can help create a positive atmosphere.
  2. Understanding why the architect is holding on too tightly to tasks can help you address his concerns. It might be about trust, feeling needed, or being overwhelmed.
  3. Start with small projects to help him delegate tasks. This can build trust and reduce his workload, allowing him to focus on more strategic aspects.

How Agile Are You Really?

Rethinking Software • 299 implied HN points • 11 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Agile Methodology Project management Organizational Behavior
  1. Agile should give more decision-making power to developers instead of keeping it all with managers. When developers can make choices, they can respond better to challenges in their work.
  2. Developers should connect directly with customers instead of relying on a middle person, like a product owner. This helps them understand what users want and build better products.
  3. Releasing work often and early is important for getting feedback. Instead of waiting for fixed time frames, developers should share updates when they're ready to adjust based on customer input.

The State of Data Testing in 2024: Why We Still Have Broken Windows

Inside Data by Mikkel Dengsøe • 49 implied HN points • 18 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Data Quality Analytics Business Intelligence Software Development
  1. Data teams are overwhelmed by too many alerts from test failures. This leads to important issues being overlooked.
  2. It's crucial to focus on the right tests that have significant business impact rather than just mechanical tests. This means deeper insights into the data are needed.
  3. Sharing the responsibility for data quality across teams can improve the situation. When everyone understands their role, issues are resolved faster.

Money Shapes Design: The Economic Drivers of Software Development

Software Design: Tidy First? • 574 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Software Development
  1. Software development can sometimes become disconnected from economic principles due to factors like lack of competition and high demand.
  2. Money plays a significant role in shaping the design and development of software products.
  3. Executives can benefit from understanding the economic drivers behind software development to make informed decisions and drive business success.

📝 Guest Post: Advanced RAG Techniques: Bridging Text and Visuals for More Accurate Responses*

TheSequence • 175 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Data science Machine Learning Software Development Information Retrieval
  1. RAG techniques combine the power of language models with external data to improve accuracy. This means AI can give better answers by using real-world information.
  2. Advanced methods like Small to Slide RAG make it easier for AI to work with visual data, like slides and images. This helps AI understand complex information that is not just text.
  3. ColPali is a new approach that focuses on visuals directly, avoiding mistakes from converting images to text. It's useful for areas like design and technical documents, ensuring important details are not missed.

Catalog of Catalogs

davidj.substack • 59 implied HN points • 14 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Data science Software Development Information Systems Data Engineering Cloud Computing
  1. Data tools create metadata, which is important for understanding what's happening in data management. Every tool involved in data processing generates information about itself, making it a catalog.
  2. Not all catalogs are for people. Some are meant for systems to optimize data processing and querying. These system catalogs help improve efficiency behind the scenes.
  3. To make data more accessible, catalogs should be integrated into the tools users already work with. This way, data engineers and analysts can easily find the information they need without getting overwhelmed by unnecessary data.