Insights in Software Engineering Practices

10 Truths They Won’t Tell You About a Software Job Article

This opinion piece from Mensur addresses the wide gulf between what is learned in school and what is encountered in real world software development. He mentions topics ranging from the frequency of dealing with legacy code, to the reality of meetings and estimates. Associated HN discussion.

https://www.mensurdurakovic.com/hard-to-swallow-truths-they-wont-tell-you-about-software-engineer-job/

What Every Developer Should Know About GPU Computing Article

Understanding GPUs: From their architecture to execution models and partitioning resources and what that means for coding with them.

https://codeconfessions.substack.com/p/gpu-computing

20 Things I’ve Learned in My 20 Years as a Software Engineer Article

Justin writes a list of things he has learned over his past 20 years in development. He starts by stating how context is important and that his lessons are from small teams with an emphasis on productivity and being tool agnostic.

https://www.simplethread.com/20-things-ive-learned-in-my-20-years-as-a-software-engineer/

Safer, Not Later Article

This opinion piece by Glyph talks about the “move fast and break things” mentality expounded by Silicon Valley. He discusses the history, why we got there, and how “safer, not later” might be better.

https://blog.glyph.im/2023/12/safer-not-later.html

You Are Never Taught How to Build Quality Software Article

Learning how to build quality software is not part of computer science education. How do we learn it? See also the associated HN discussion.

https://www.florianbellmann.com/blog/never-taught-qa

What Stage Startup Offers the Best Risk-Reward Tradeoff? Article

A deep dive on the success rate statistics of startups in the US with analysis on what joining at different stages means to a stock package payout.

https://www.joinprospect.com/blog/which-stage-startup

Random Thoughts 15 Years Into Software Engineering Article

Ryan shares his thoughts, in no particular order, on the big picture of writing software at a variety of companies over his 15 year career. They range from “Try not to think in absolutes” to “Aggressively manage scope”. Read on for his insights.

https://roughlywritten.substack.com/p/random-thoughts-15-years-into-software

After-Hours Work and Decreased Productivity Article

Slack has done studies on its employee’s productivity and found that those who log off at the end of the workday have 20% higher productivity scores than those who don’t. This article details the findings. Associated HN discussion.

https://slack.com/blog/news/the-surprising-connection-between-after-hours-work-and-decreased-productivity

Habits of Great Software Engineers Article

This opinion piece by Vadim highlights some of the key habits of great software builders. Some items are separate from coding, like doing a tech detox and focusing beyond the code, while others are deep in the tech, like the love for tinkering. Associated HN discussion.

https://vadimkravcenko.com/shorts/habits-of-great-software-engineers/

The Radiating Programmer Article

Love them or hate them, the daily stand-up is out there. It may have problems, but at its core, the three mains questions (what did you do? what are you planning? what is blocking you?) provide a tool for radiating information, and at core that’s a good idea.

https://dev.37signals.com/the-radiating-programmer/

Are People in Tech Inside an AI Echo Chamber? Article

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36567918

What You Give Up When Moving Into Management Article

“Moving into a management role may be a rewarding step in your career, but you should know about the things you’re leaving behind.”

https://stackoverflow.blog/2022/02/23/what-you-give-up-when-moving-into-engineering-management/

Nearly 40% of Software Engineers Will Only Work Remotely Article

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35090739

How-to Evaluate a Product Roadmap, for Engineers Article

As a software developer you’re often at the whim of what features your product managers decide are next. This article gives pointers on how to evaluate whether the roadmap is on track.

https://stephen.fm/how-to-evaluate-a-product-roadmap/

Why Engineers Need to Be Bored Article

An analysis on boredom in engineering productivity and how it can lead to deeper innovation.

https://onengineering.substack.com/p/why-engineers-need-to-be-bored

Who Runs Engineering Processes? Article

Who should be in charge of engineering in your organization? The short answer: it depends. The long answer: it really depends. Read on for an even longer answer.

https://lethain.com/who-runs-eng-process/