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 #33

tl;dr:

The goal of testing code is both

  1. Document what the code should do
  2. Assert that it does it

It’s very common to find test that do (2) but neglect (1).

If tests are hard to read, it has the same effect as code that’s hard to read. The harder something is to understand, the harder it is to trust. The less you trust code, the harder it is to change.”

tl;dr: “Modern front-end frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue rely heavily on the terminal. If you’re not comfortable with command line interfaces, you’ll struggle to run a local development server or build your application!”

tl;dr: “While this targets primarily VPs of Engineering, the principles and practices are entirely applicable at all levels of the org. They will help you develop solid working relationships with any non-technical stakeholders.” Paulo breaks this post into:

1) Importance of starting with the end in mind.

2) Your role as a leader.

3) The mindset of an effective VP of Engineering.

4) Learn, adapt and improve.

tl;dr: Principles include:

1) Managing comes first, “stay out of the critical path of execution, wherever possible.”

2) Facilitate wellbeing so “personal safety, dignity, and wellbeing of everyone is paramount.” Make sure the quiet voices are heard.

3) Practice integrity. “Be transparent with information you can share. Be transparent about when you cannot do something. Keep your commitments. Own up to your mistakes.” And more.

tl;dr: Vadim splits the topics into four categories:

1) Onboarding.

2) Day-to-day business, discussing methods that make life easier when you don’t see your employees every day. “Small things that may seem unimportant but have a huge impact.”

3) Culture, people feel happy and engaged.

4) Results, making sure the team delivers and pushes the company forward.

tl;dr: “If we conservatively estimate that 40,000 searches occur per second, that would be equivalent to 12 kWh of energy, enough to run a ceiling fan continuously for a month. The end result is that a single data center consumes more energy per year than 20,000 homes.”