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Understanding versus delivery
In software engineering, we work with code, but understanding is what we use. When mentoring new engineering team members, I have sometimes told them, “Understanding is more important than delivery.” My meaning is, “Take your time. Plan to be here for a while. Ask questions, build mental models, get things right and know why they’re…
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What a single ‘&’ in Rust taught me about HTTP
I’m a web software engineer who wants to learn more about low-level programming. Meanwhile, over the last few years, Rust has become the first language to be really plausible for both domains. So naturally, it has gone to the top of my “to learn” list. I’ve heard that Rust’s ownership model is different enough from…
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Why is this a DM?
For many remote-first engineering organizations, Slack has become our headquarters. It’s not the only place to collaborate, nor the best – but by default, it’s where collaboration starts. Slack-as-headquarters has advantages, and each one has a flip side. Advantage Flip side 1. When I don’t want to be distracted by conversations around me, snoozing notifications…
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Should you ❤️ code?
If you work in software engineering, do you love your job? Do you feel like you’re expected to? If you were independently wealthy, would you still do it? Like many job fields, software development suffers from an ecosystem of stereotypes that exclude people and hold back the industry overall. Specifically I mean the stereotypes about…