Issue #283

18 January 2022


Issue #283
Pointer.io


Tuesday 18th January's issue is presented by Stream
#Leadership #Management
 
tl;dr: Engineering managers are "attracted to formulas, algorithms, and structures" and this kind of thinking can create too much structure when applied to team management. Camille gives an example: Engineering managers do not scale well beyond 7–8 direct reports, and teams can also downsize quickly i.e. people quit. Therefore, "the temptation is to create a clean tree structure for your organization" to rebalance numbers, but this can have adverse consequences quickly. Camille advises "to nudge it back into shape over time, or very occasionally, reorganize into something more appropriate." 
Hard Edges, Soft Middle
- Coleman McCormick
#Management #Leadership

tl;dr: Coleman recommends the following management style: having a "hard outer boundary for work with soft requirements on approach." This requires trust in the product and engineering teams to choose approach trade-offs wisely, and allows for some freedom, but the team knows that freedom is not infinite. "The team can explore and experiment to a point, but doesn’t have forever to mess around."
Compose Chat Messaging Tutorial
#Guide 

tl;dr: Try Stream's brand new Chat SDK for Jetpack Compose today! The tutorial shows you how to add an in-app messaging feature with just a few lines of code, as well as the flexibility and customization options available for the components. All open-source, open for feedback and contributions.

Promoted by Stream.

The Stay Interview Is The Key To Retention Right Now
- Michelle Ma
#Leadership #Management
 
tl;dr: "The stay interview is essentially the opposite of an exit interview." Examples of question: What's your favorite and least favorite thing about working here? What might tempt you to leave? If you could change something about your job, what would it be? What talents are not being used in your current role? What would you like to learn in your current role? 

A Note From Stream

Free Activity Feeds & Chat APIs for Qualifying Teams. Stream’s scalable APIs & SDKs come with all the building blocks to ship a custom messaging or activity feed experience that rivals leading social platforms.
 

 
 
 
How To Deal With Tech Debt At The Scale Of Super App
- Maksim Koutun
#Mobile #TechDebt

tl;dr: "We want to share how we decided to work with technical debt and how Evolutionary architecture and SRE help us balance innovation and quality in mobile development." Maksim provides several examples, such as how each team can dedicate up to 20% of their capacity to technical improvements.

Python Bytecode Explained
- Michael Moser
#Python #CPython
 
tl;dr: "When a program is run, the python interpreter is first parsing your code and checking for any syntax errors, then it is translating the source code into a series of bytecode instructions; these bytecode instructions are then run by the python interpreter." Michael looks at the bytecode in loops, classes, function calls and more. 
The State of JavaScript Survey
#Javascript

tl;dr: "By collecting data from thousands of developers, the annual State of JavaScript survey is able to identify current and upcoming trends in the ecosystem."

My 2022 High-end Linux PC
- Michael Stapelberg
#Hardware #Linux
 
tl;dr: "I finally managed to get my hands on some DDR5 RAM to complete my Intel i9-12900 high-end PC build! This article contains the exact component list if you’re interested in doing a similar build."
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