'Clean code' == UX for developers
Happy Friday! Can I interest you in some excellent software engineering insights, opinions, and news pieces from the week?
//From the Triplebyte Blog
UX Principles Make Better Developers
While software engineers may identify first and foremost as problem-solvers, their ability to allow other developers to use their solutions is just as important. Embracing the mindset of UX design for their code is the answer. read()
6 ‘Strange Things’ in JavaScript, Explained
Even though JavaScript may occasionally throw weird surprises at you, it's a very powerful language that's worthy of some investigation of its mysteries. Get an explanation of some of its "strange" code snippets so that you can add their behaviors to your toolbox. read()
Racist Robots: Auditing Machine Learning Systems for Bias
Biased decision-making certainly isn’t unique to AI systems, but in many ways, it is uniquely discoverable in these systems. The ability to interrogate machine learning systems to uncover bias is incredibly valuable, and we should avail ourselves of the opportunity. read()
//Around the Web
💬 Are you looking for more predictions about how remote work could destroy Silicon Valley? A recent blog at Marker pins the potential on something I hadn’t considered before: the Bay Area tech scene’s abundance of serendipity. If techies disappear to disparate (cheaper-to-live-in) parts of the country, so goes the Valley coffee shop mingling that allowed for the “By the way, I might start a company if you want to join” conversations that birthed many startups. read()
☕️ App devs at Google say they’re seeing fewer crashes after ditching Java. Android has been encouraging all of its developers since 2017 to consider moving from Java to Kotlin, but I guess the Home team at Google is just getting around to it. With now 30% of its smart home hub app converted to the more modern code, users are seeing a 33% reduction in the app’s most common types of crash (NullPointerExceptions). read()
👩💼 Technical interviews are more about testing how candidates deal with anxiety than handle coding tasks. That’s the gist of a new study from North Carolina State University and Microsoft that measured the success of computer science students in traditional whiteboard tests vs a private coding test where candidates weren’t being stared at while solving problems. The results: Whiteboard testers did only half as well by comparison. As one of the researchers put it, “The findings suggest that companies are missing out on really good programmers because those programmers aren't good at writing on a whiteboard and explaining their work out loud while coding.” read()
🐍 Here’s what’s new in Python 3.9. A blog at Better Programming breaks down the big and small changes coming to everyone’s favorite serpent-themed coding language. One that should excite regular users who like to note their collections as they go along: Generic Type Annotations (AKA PEP 585). As explained by the PSF: “This change removes the necessity for a parallel type hierarchy in the typing module, making it easier for users to annotate their programs and easier for teachers to teach Python.” read()
//Jobs
Some companies hiring engineers on Triplebyte right now:
Check out Triplebyte’s Actively Hiring page to find more companies that are looking for software engineering talent right now!
Triplebyte helps engineers assess and showcase their technical skills and connects them with great opportunities. You can get started here.
If you just happened upon this newsletter, subscribe with the button below to get new editions sent right to your inbox.