Code for a Living Archives

code-for-a-living July 20, 2020

Linters aren’t in your way. They’re on your side

Traditionally, linters make sure your code is clean and easy for teammates to read. They check for errors, bugs, style, and more. While they are more prevalent in dynamic/interpreted languages, they are not limited to them. Getting code as tidy as possible is the goal, but linters can also take some time getting used to, be a distraction, and might even be impossible to introduce to old, large code bases. We look at why they might still be worth your time.

Medi Madelen Gwosdz Content Strategist - Former

code-for-a-living July 13, 2020

Tales from documentation: Write for your clueless users

When you're documenting anything technical, it's easy to forget what it's like being ignorant of how the software works, especially if you built the thing.

Ryan Donovan

code-for-a-living July 8, 2020

Improving performance with SIMD intrinsics in three use cases

Many developers write software that’s performance sensitive. After all, that’s one of the major reasons why we still pick C or C++ language these days. When done right, supplementing C or C++ code with vector intrinsics is exceptionally good for performance.

Konstantin

code-for-a-living July 3, 2020

How Stack Overflow hires engineers

At Stack Overflow, one of our main missions is to close the gap between companies and developers during the hiring process. Though you may know us primarily as a Q&A site for developers, we are also a talent platform, and are in a unique position to connect developers with companies and jobs that they are…

Jon Chan Engineering Manager, Public Platform

code-for-a-living July 1, 2020

Nobody has to lose in work/life balance

No one in the history of the world has ever done a better job because they were scared, stressed, or worried about their future; especially in jobs centered around creativity and problem solving like development. If I am able to give them a better sense of control in their life, if they will be able to work better and happier.

Ben Matthews Director, Engineering

code-for-a-living June 29, 2020

Does scrum ruin great engineers or are you doing it wrong?

A question on Stack Overflow’s Software Engineering site caught our attention recently. It tries to come to terms with the impact of scrum on developers' ability to do a great job. The claim is a bold one: Scrum is turning good developers into average ones. Could that be true?

Medi Madelen Gwosdz Content Strategist - Former

code-for-a-living June 26, 2020

The Overflow #27: A simulation

June 2020 Welcome to ISSUE #27 of the Overflow! This newsletter is by developers, for developers, written and curated by the Stack Overflow team and Cassidy Williams at Netlify. Hot town, summer in the city. TypeScript past and future, shopping for sweaters for absolute zero, and the security implications of copy and paste. From the…

Ryan Donovan

code-for-a-living June 25, 2020

How does spam protection work on Stack Exchange?

If you put a textbox on the Internet, someone will put spam in it. If you put a textbox on a site that gets millions of hits a day, lots of someones will put lots of spam in it. So Stack Exchange uses multiple layers to block all the spam coming in.

ArtOfCode

code-for-a-living June 23, 2020

Is it time to give Drupal another look?

For many people discussion of content management systems raises unpleasant specters of the early 2000s. But while CMS platforms may not feel like the shiniest new tech on the block, they still have a lot to offer, and they've evolved in ways that might surprise you. Let's talk about Drupal, a 20 year old open source project that still manages to be on the leading edge of the CMS world.

Tim Lehnen

code-for-a-living June 19, 2020

Navigation or forgetfulness? On finding purple links in your search

We found that when you find that the top link is purple—that is, already clicked—52% of you think, “Hello, old friend.” But another 14% see that purple link with irritation and another 16% see it with amusement. There are basically two things going on here: navigational search and memory imperfections. This article will explore some of the research around both of them.

Ryan Donovan

code-for-a-living June 19, 2020

The Overflow #26: The next right thing

June 2020 Welcome to ISSUE #26 of the Overflow! This newsletter is by developers, for developers, written and curated by the Stack Overflow team and Cassidy Williams at Netlify. This week, what we’re doing to fight systemic racism, social distancing’s effect on other diseases, and racial bias in machine learning. From the blog Steps Stack…

Ryan Donovan