2024.03.18 - 40 years of programming

Title: 2024.03.18 – 40 Years of Programming

Web bloat & 10x engineer & “淡淡综合征” & New‑quality productivity

This Week’s Highlights

40 years of programming https://liw.fi/40/
This essay discusses some of the things I’ve learned about how to successfully build software. These are things I’ve learned from my own experience; I’m not a researcher, and there are few references to sources, and this is largely not supported by evidence. I’m basing this essay on my own experience, and if you disagree, that’s fine. My goal in this essay is to get the reader to think, to research, to learn, to ponder. My goal is not to tell the reader how to think, what to think, how things are, or to give the answer to every question about every aspect of the process of building software.

The “10x engineer”: 50 years ago and now https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-10x-engineer-evolution/
You see where this leads. “10x developer” behavior can actually be undetected toxic behavior under a different label. Meanwhile, others could have the advantage of a specific context that cannot be replicated. It’s certainly a complex topic, and one we haven’t stopped thinking and arguing about for more than 50 years, across the industry.

Measuring Developer Productivity via Humans https://martinfowler.com/articles/measuring-developer-productivity-humans.html
Measuring developer productivity is a difficult challenge. Conventional metrics focused on development cycle time and throughput are limited, and there aren’t obvious answers for where else to turn. Qualitative metrics offer a powerful way to measure and understand developer productivity using data derived from developers themselves. Organizations should prioritize measuring developer productivity using data from humans, rather than data from systems.

How web bloat impacts users with slow devices https://danluu.com/slow-device/
In 2017, we looked at how web bloat affects users with slow connections. Even in the U.S., many users didn’t have broadband speeds, making much of the web difficult to use. It’s still the case that many users don’t have broadband speeds, both inside and outside of the U.S., and that much of the modern web isn’t usable for people with slow internet, but the exponential increase in bandwidth (Nielsen suggests this is 50 % per year for high‑end connections) has outpaced web bloat for typical sites, making this less of a problem than it was in 2017, although it’s still a serious problem for people with poor connections.

A generalist AI agent for 3D virtual environments https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/sima-generalist-ai-agent-for-3d-virtual-environments/
We present new research on a Scalable Instructable Multiworld Agent (SIMA) that can follow natural‑language instructions to carry out tasks in a variety of video‑game settings. Related:

• Building Meta’s GenAI Infrastructure
• How Stack Overflow is partnering with Google to encourage socially responsible AI
• Managing the impact of AI & Machine Learning on the Web

Deep Reads

CHAOS: Yelp’s Unified Framework for Server‑Driven UI https://engineeringblog.yelp.com/2024/03/chaos-yelps-unified-framework-for-server-driven-ui.html
Yelp develops two major applications, Yelp & Yelp for Business, for Web (Desktop & Mobile), iOS, and Android platforms. That’s eight unique clients! Keeping a fresh, consistent UI on all these clients is a major challenge. Server‑driven UI (SDUI) has become a standard industry technique for managing UI on multiple platforms.

I’m So Old: Web Edition https://davidwalsh.name/im-so-old-1
Time can be a funny thing. I still remember discovering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript coding. I still remember my first college programming course. I still remember my first day at my first coding job, then my first day at my second coding job, and then my first day at Mozilla. I still remember my first day coding for MetaMask. This year marks my 20th year as a professional software engineer and it’s happened in the blink of an eye.

The Future of AR and Remote Work https://calebschoepp.com/blog/2024/the-future-of-ar-and-remote-work/
Once again AR might just have the answers to our problems. Once AR is good enough to trick me into thinking that I’m physically with my coworkers, then I may as well not be remote. The camaraderie will naturally follow.

A Modest Model Proposal https://www.simplethread.com/a-modest-model-proposal/
Bringing human‑centered design to power‑grid models.

S3 is files, but not a filesystem https://calpaterson.com/s3.html
I think the idea that S3 is really “Amazon Cloud Filesystem” is a bit of a load‑bearing fiction. It’s sort of true: S3 can store files. It’s also a very useful belief in getting people to adopt S3, a fundamentally good technology, which otherwise they might not. But it’s false: S3 is not a filesystem and can’t stand in for one.

Fresh Finds

• Speedometer 3.0: The Best Way Yet to Measure Browser Performance
• Interaction to Next Paint is officially a Core Web Vital
• WebAssembly JSPI is going to origin trial
• WinterJS 1.0: The leading Wasm Runtime supporting WASIX, WASI and Emscripten
• Shiki: A beautiful yet powerful syntax highlighter
• React Native Skia: High‑Performance 2D Graphics
• Cordova Electron 4.0.0 Released!
• Storybook 8: Next‑level testing, performance, and compatibility
• Skyvern: Automate Browser‑based workflows using LLMs and Computer Vision
• Nix is a better Docker image builder than Docker’s image builder

Products & Others

Are you suffering from “淡淡综合征”? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8h7nLumjDrVvnNYQ9_6ADQ
“淡淡综合征” (literally “light‑touch syndrome”) isn’t a medical term; it describes a state that’s become common among some contemporary young people. On the internet people say the most popular fashion items and social masks online are “淡淡的” (subtly understated), and the personas everyone rushes to claim or strive to become are “淡人” (the “light” type).

Reflections on “Zhong” Medicine https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HFe4XCXHnoanH0p4iLYZdQ https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/O08fcDjtseSZANyyi1hzMA
The “Zhong” in Chinese medicine denotes a constantly improving dynamic balance, a middle‑way way of thinking, and a lifestyle of harmony between heaven and humanity.

What’s often called “depression” is really a lack of overall body energy! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TC1wim93RqlODlGEB5Sk4Q
When a person’s energy is low, their physical state is low, and their inner and conscious states are also low. From a Chinese‑medicine perspective, analyzing how many sub‑types of depression exist or the diagnostic criteria isn’t very meaningful. What matters more is what deeper meaning lies behind the so‑called psychological problem.

Teacher Gai | Let Life Reach Greater Potential https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hR_lFBlkpt0MhNQ1iMb6Jg
I previously had a Western‑medicine background—as a psychiatric nurse. Because of that background, I view Five‑Element acupuncture as a highly systematic treatment method that lets me truly participate in a patient’s healing. In practice, I’m simply helping patients tap into their self‑healing ability to get back on track and realize their fullest potential.

New‑quality productivity should make engineering culture fashionable again [https://mp.weixin.qq.com/

(content truncated)

---

Originally written by Ping Xia (平侠) and published in Chinese on Web技术周刊 (Web Tech Weekly). Translated and adapted for DriftSeas with permission.