From the TL;DR in Tech archive, originally sent on Substack. Some links may have died since.

tl;dr in tech by Joe Karlsson - Issue #23

tl;dr: Here are the steps I take when I’m stumped. No huge revelations here, just hard-earned advice. First 3 steps:

1) Think hard about the problem for a few weeks before typing any code.

2) Type in a function or write a class that has the inputs and outputs you need.

3) Break the function down into multiple steps with clear objectives. You may not know how to achieve those objectives, but that’s a problem for your future self. Right now, you’re just trying to write out the high-level algorithm.

Frank guides us through another 6 steps in this post.

tl;dr: Sally provides examples of both general and code specific questions: Are building features a painless process? What’s your level of confidence merging PRs into main? How do you feel about code readability and consistency? What initiatives should we be prioritizing? Are there any technologies we should consider using? What topics would you like to learn more about in our regular engineering talks?

tl;dr: “This is the story of a bug we recently put to rest; a bug which, from our very first inklings of its existence, I repeatedly described as “cursed.” Now that we understand it, I want to share just how delightfully cursed it was.”

tl;dr:

1) SSL certificates, with Let’s Encrypt

2) Concurrency, with async/await (in several languages)

3) Centering in CSS, with flexbox / grid.

4) Building fast programs with Go, and many more.

tl;dr: Early on in your company’s lifetime, you’ll form your infrastructure organization: a small team of 4-8 engineers. Later on, you’ll have 70 engineers across 8-10 teams. Those are both stable organizational configurations. The transition between the small to the large team can be difficult and unstable, and Will provides us with a playbook on how to execute it.

tl;dr: Lara provides a “delegation template” that prompts the manager to describe, in one sentence, the outcome they want to see, as well as 3 phrases to complete when delegating:

1) “I will support you by…” - aim for 2-5 actions on how to provide support.

2) “You should reach out to me when…” - how and when the report should connect with you.

3) “This will be a success when…” - make this measurable and time-boxed.

tl;dr: “DX is about developer feelings - it is a sociotechnical system which should consider every touchpoint a developer interacts with to plan and produce software, from learning a platform to the very first line of code all the way through its promotion into production.”

tl;dr: “Cypto-mania is not really about technology. If you want to understand what is going on, you need to understand it at the level of economics, culture and human nature.” Luke asks the following 3 questions to evaluate cryptocurrencies: what problem does this try to solve? Does it actually solve it? What costs does it bring with it?