tl;dr in tech - Issue #93
From Assumption To Next Step
By: John Cutler
tl;dr: John shares the struggle of dealing with the assumptions and uncertainties in a team setting. He talks about the theory and practice of addressing risky assumptions and planning to reduce uncertainty. This one's a must-read for anyone trying to navigate the murky waters of project assumptions and uncertainties.
Real Time Presence Platform System Design
By: No Author
tl;dr: Ever wondered how LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slack manage to tell you if your buddy is online or not? This post does a deep dive into real-time presence platforms and their system design. Get ready to uncover the secrets behind the "online" and "offline" statuses.
Understanding Database Types
By: Alex Xu
tl;dr: "Choosing databases for various components of our application" is a sentence that gives even seasoned engineers chills. Fear not, because Alex is here to arm us with knowledge about different database types, performance factors, and cost considerations. Keep this one bookmarked for your next DB-selection showdown.
Is Critical Thinking The Most Important Skill For Software Engineers?
By: Gergely Orosz
tl;dr: “If someone cannot explain a concept without jargon, I now doubt they truly understand what they are talking about." Preach, Gergely! This piece provides four tips on how to improve our critical thinking skills. Remember, the true test of understanding a topic is if you can explain it to someone else (without all the fancy tech lingo).
Spinning Diagrams With CSS
By: Harold Cooper
tl;dr: "Several people expressed surprise that the spinning diagrams don’t use any JavaScript or animated image formats, just HTML and CSS." Harold explains the secret sauce behind his spinning diagrams using only HTML and CSS. It's like magic, but with code!
Prompt Engineering Vs Blind Prompting
By: Mitchell Hashimoto
tl;dr: Mitchell is here to make the case that prompt engineering is a real skill that can be honed based on experimental methodologies. This one's a bit of a deep dive but well worth the effort, especially for anyone trying to add another string to their software engineering bow.
Rescuing A Project In Progress
By: Jason Fried
tl;dr: "This isn't about calling in reinforcements or adding more resources." Jason discusses the importance of establishing "completion discipline" in projects. It's about slowing down, focusing, and driving the project to completion. Like Jason, we've all been there, desperately trying to rescue a project in progress. And like Jason, we all know it's more about precision than firepower.