Tech
- Understanding the difference between find_or_create_by and create_or_find_by: For the project at work right now we were debating the best way to approach the “find user unless they already exist” implementation (we are using a Node based framework which we have to customize since our service is checking other services to validate the existence of a user). When in doubt, I try to see how Rails does it and I actually did not know it had two different implementations of the requirement based on whether the accidental creation of duplicates via a race condition was acceptable or not. Interesting read.
- The Untold Story of SQLite (CoRecursive Podcast): Fascinating conversation with Richard Hipp, creator of SQLite.
- The Effective Engineer (YouTube): Originally published 8 years ago, still a great watch. Edmond Lau talks about 5 approaches to work that would make you a more effective engineer: 1. Optimize for learning, 2. Invest in iteration speed, 3. Validate your ideas aggressively, 4. Minimize operational burden and 5. Building a great engineering culture.
Design
- List of UX Research Templates – 12 years ago when I was working in the UX team, I used to be very involved with the UX Research teams, building the prototypes that would be tested with actual users. That said, I wasn’t that involved with the UX Research process. In my current project, we are doing some ad-hoc UX Research. This list of templates could be very useful.
Misc
- Inside The New York Times’ Big Bet on Games (Vanity Fair): I spent a part of last year working on some gaming product concepts and so am very interested in how this space is evolving. This piece was an interesting insight into how the games products (Crossword, Spelling Bee, Wordle, Digit, Connection, etc) are run inside the Times. The Times may not be the first company to come to mind when thinking of gaming but interesting to see how games is becoming a meaningful part of the Times’ offerings
Code Zen 