How full-stack are you? Here's how to chart it out
Happy Saturday and welcome back to the newsletter! As always, read on for some of the best software engineering insights, opinions, and news pieces from the week.
//From Triplebyte
Everyone Is Technically Full-Stack, but Where on the Spectrum Are You?
Whether it's tinkering with interfaces, interacting with APIs, writing our own rules and logic, and even a bit of booting things up into the cloud — if you've been around long enough, there's a high chance that you've traversed through the different layers of “the stack.” Here's a way to chart out how your experiences and competencies tell exactly how full-stack you really are. read()
Why You Should Learn Big-O and Stop Hacking Your Way Through Algorithms
Big-O is one of the single most important topics in algorithms — and perhaps the most contentious. Learning about algorithms and how to best use them in your work is hard enough, and then comes along this whole other layer of...complexity. But what if I told you that “getting” Big-O will actually help you make sense of (and better appreciate why it’s important to make sense of) algorithms in general? I really think this concept, as intimidating as it seems, can be a key. Here’s why. read()
How Much Is Your Startup Equity Really Worth?
One of the biggest selling points about working at a startup is the potential to cash in on company equity. Of course, startup outcomes are highly variable, which means equity value is highly speculative. With Triplebyte’s new startup equity valuation tool, you can estimate the value of your current equity options or compare multiple job offers. Even if you’re a whiz with this stuff, we’ve made it easy to quickly model how much your equity would be worth in exit scenarios of various successes and, for the sharp realists among us, non successes. read()
//Around the Web
👨🎓 From bootcamp to job offer in 1,280 hours. If you like reading success stories, check out former digital marketer and new software developer Jeff Chan’s blog about enrolling in General Assembly’s coding program and graduating into a job as a Production Engineer at Facebook. And the read is actually super informative for current engineer jobseekers thanks to Chan’s break-down of all the time he spent on what it took to get him into his new career (for example, 210 hours on coding challenges). read()
💻 Slow site == bad SEO. That’s a calculation developers might have to start taking more seriously now that Google’s Chrome will begin adding “fast page” labels to mobile websites, something that could eventually wind up factoring into search rankings. Luckily, Google has released an update to its developer tools that includes recommendations on how to bring your site up to its new standards. read()
💬 More perspective on the “coding outside of your coding job” debate. In a new blog, developer John Mosesman explains how extracurricular programming can be a good ways to get where you want to go in your career. It was his tinkering with a new language at the time, Ruby on Rails, that got him out of the .NET programming job he “hated,” he writes. Mosesman does go on to explain the trade-offs he experienced from coding all the time, like burnout, less family time, and some declining health. If you’re on the fence about the pros and cons of coding outside of work, check out the details of Mosesman’s story. read()
⌨ Are you an engineer who hires engineers? I wanted to make sure to give a shout-out here for the launch of Triplebyte Screen, our new FREE service that lets recruiters and hiring teams use Triplebyte’s proven coding assessment for all their inbound candidate screening. How it works: Let’s say you get 20 great resumes for an engineering job you posted. Instead of scheduling calls to discuss specific skills with each candidate, you can send them all a role-relevant Screen assessment and get a report on their performance in order to quickly separate the best of the bunch. Learn more about getting started with Screen here.
//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.