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Issue #53 - March 8, 2020
If you are looking for work, check out this month's Who is hiring? and Who wants to be hired? threads.
Here are the top threads of the week, happy reading!
1. Ask HN: Good ways to capture institutional knowledge?
Top comment by mattlondon
Store readme markdown files in the sourcerepo along with the code itself. Make sure during review that changes to code are reflected in the markdown.
Doesn't need to be exhaustive docs - usually just a high- to medium-level explanation of what why and how goes a long way.
Controversial/surprising/confusing choices should be documented in several places - e.g. in the readme, in a bug/ticket, in the check-in comments and also a comment in the code referencing the readme/bug/ticket for more info.
Over-communicating the confusing/surprising stuff helps a lot and helps to prevent the "what the hell is this crap? Let's rewrite it" issues since there is a long paper-trail explaining why things were done that way. Putting code comments referencing bugs/tickets etc (ideally with clickable links direct to Jira or whatever - e.g. "// This does
2. Ask HN: How to Take Good Notes?
Top comment by bluGill
80% of the value of notes is the act of writing them down by hand. (I don't have a citation for it, but I tend to believe it). That is notes are primarily a tool to help you not fall asleep, start daydreaming, or whatever distraction keeps you from listening.
The fact that you cannot write everything down forces you to think about what you are hearing and find the important part to write down. Now that you have found the important part the writing helps you remember it.
When you are done with the above throw your notes in the recycling... Note that the above system works for me because I can't read my own writing anyway. (Probably a case of dysgraphia but I've never been formally diagnosed)
Top comment by reaperducer
I think a lot of people think RSS is dead because they never see it promoted anywhere. Pretty much every web site has a row of social media icons, but hardly ever is there an RSS icon in the row, even if the web site supports it.
Frankly, I don't think most people who run web sites even know that the framework/CMS/rolfburger they're using automatically publishes RSS feeds for them.
Yesterday I stumbled across an app called Fraidy Cat, which is supposed to be a privacy-focused news ingester. I haven't done much with it yet, but I was surprised when I pasted in the URLs of several newspapers that I read, the program showed RSS feeds for all of them. None of the paper web sites have any mention of RSS at all.
Edit: Even the New York Times has RSS:
Latest: https://rss.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/HomePage.xml
New York: https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion
Technology: https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology
Science: https://www.nytimes.com/svc/collections/v1/publish/https://w...
4. Ask HN: What industries are underserved by software?
Top comment by gumby
Agriculture.
There are plenty of companies trying to serve ag with what they think ag needs. Most of them fail.
Modern farmers are spreadsheet jockeys with Ag Economics degrees. They are NOT dumb hayseeds like they are often portrayed! But they typically don’t have a lot of domain knowledge around software. Smaller farmers are used to making and fixing their own tools (all know how to weld); bigger farmers run corporations with a lot of employees.
They are unlikely to be interested in a SSAS. Why? The tax law for farmers in the USA and Europe revolves around tax treatment which favors cap ex (which makes sense — they need to buy big equipment which is used only briefly each year. It’s hard to share since all the other farmers in your area need that equipment at the same time). So understand your market and figure out what their specific need is, then meet it.
5. Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (March 2020)
Top comment by blcksmth
SEEKING WORK | Los Angeles, US (previously Paris, France) | Remote
-------------------------------------
I'm a full stack software engineer with ~4 years experience developing full stack applications. If you need React work done, chances are I can help!
My experience includes building responsive and performant user interfaces using React/Redux from designs or from scratch as well as creating robust APIs using TypeScript/Node.
Some other things I enjoy: modernizing codebases using tools like ESLint and Prettier, autogenerating documentation, optimizing build times in CIs, refactoring code, adding tests.
Fluent in English/French/Polish.
-------------------------------------
Technologies:
* Proficient: React, JavaScript, TypeScript, Node, Redux, HTML, CSS, SASS, Express, Webpack, Babel, AWS, Docker, Git, create-react-app, styled-components, GitHub, Jest
* Developing proficiency: WebGL, Three.js, Next.js, Bulma
* Previously used/Misc worth mentioning: Ruby, SQL, Ruby on Rails, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Relay, GraphQL, JIRA, Lerna, CircleCI, npm/yarn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrkowalczyk/
GitHub: https://github.com/frodosamoa
6. Ask HN: STEM toy for a 3 years old?
Top comment by Symbiote
Everyone else is suggesting things to purchase, so I'll suggest things you can find or do outside. The last few are from [1], which I came across a while ago.
- Play "identify the waterfowl in the park" followed by "chase!" and (for larger geese and swans) "run away!". [This should satisfy the other comment "play sports instead".]
- Then, collect sticks in the woods and build a shelter. Extra points for using different types of structure, or working out which tree the different sticks come from.
- Collect different leaves and paint them. Or paint rocks.
- (In a year or two, you can get a plant press / heavy books and dry flowers and leaves between old newspaper.)
- Grow seedlings. Grow cress and eat it, or tomatoes, or just flowers.
- Search for fossils, bones, seeds (acorns, conkers, pine cones etc)
- Make a paper or balsawood boat, and float it on a pond
- Look for sea creatures in a rock pool
- Make an insect haven, then look at / identify the insects
When I was 3-4, I had a table placemat called something like "At The Seaside"[2], with typical creatures found on the British coast. My sister had "In the Garden". You might find something like that at a local museum, or some other child-appropriate guide to local flora and fauna. The museum probably has plenty of other STEM toys.
[1] https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/50-things-to-do-be...
7. Ask HN: Has anyone ever got contacted from the “Who Wants to be Hired?” posts?
Top comment by austincheney
I posted in the December thread and was contacted several times over the next 6 weeks. Here is my learning from this:
* Be unique. As a JavaScript developer I mentioned that I will not work on Angular, React, or other big frameworks. This immediately tells 90% of hiring companies to not waste their time with me and I am also not competing with many other people.
* Be patient. I grew impatient and jumped on an opportunity outside of software.
* Be careful what you wish for. The same failings and faults that apply everywhere else in software hiring will happen here too. Always be skeptical of the process, and ask good questions.
* Keep your experience in mind. Mostly what software companies are looking for is experience. Education is a nice to have, but it isn't required to be a developer. Education is never a certification no matter how much you wish it were or how expensive it was. If you have no experience you should expect to start as a junior developer.
* You don't need to be hired to obtain experience. Nothing is preventing you from writing open source software personal project and making mistakes that you are learning from. As somebody with a masters degree you are in a stronger position for advancing quickly compared to most other developers. After 20 years of writing software I am convinced that there are only 2 difference between a novice developer and an expert: writing skills and an advanced appreciation for data structures. Those are both skills that take practice to develop and the results a self-evident when reviewing code.
8. Ask HN: How do you search for $string if a webpage “supports” infinite scroll?
Top comment by cronin101
I see lots of replies suggesting scrolling for a long time and then using CTRL+F.
However, this won't work if the page is using virtualised scrolling (common with React et al. SPA for performance reasons, to avoid huge DOM trees as the page expands). The majority of content that is outside of the visible window will simply be unmounted from the DOM.
I'm not sure what the best-practice for a webapp designer is here? Perhaps intercepting Ctrl+F and displaying a custom search that will do the correct filtering on the back-end and update/retarget the view? Azure DevOps does this but it's still frustrating if your focused element is not within the capture point for the event.
9. Tell HN: How USA school closure seems to be working out
Top comment by matheweis
It’s been interesting to watch the varied responses. In Seattle (Seattle Public SD) the school districts have adamantly refused to close.
For better or worse this will end up being a wild A/B test (between Northshore and Seattle) with extremely long term implications.
So far the explanations have mostly centered around these three points:
* Many students’ parents are health care providers or work in the health care industry on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. If schools close, fewer people will be able to provide front-line support.
* Many families rely on the schools and staff for basic needs, including regular meals, health care, and child care.
* Seattle can’t provide online learning because Seattle serves a diverse community with varied access to technology ... including those who do not have access to technology or internet at home.
See: https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_...
10. Ask HN: First hire offered to work part-time – what should I do?
Top comment by superzadeh
Controversial opinion but learned through experience the hard way here, repeatedly proven, anyone that you feel "like lack of commitment from him could possibly influence our culture in a negative way", just pass (at least until you have product market fit or a repeatable business running). As soon as shit hits the fan, they will either leave or drop performance, and you will have to let them go.
In your case, I think the issue is not about part time, but the commitment itself. If it's your first hire, you need them to be on-board, and contrary to what most people say, have more expectations than people would for a "normal" employee. The truth is, that person is not a normal employee, it's the first hire in a very early stage business. If you treat that hire as a regular employee, you will build expectations and won't be able to live up to it, and it will backfire for both of you 6-8 months down the road. That will hurt your ability to build a core team, and you will have to start from scratch.
Do not give up on that, no matter what the popular opinion tells you. Most people are not founders, and you should trust the guts that you have about building your core team.