2024.07.22 - We need visual programming. No, not like that.

Title: 2024.07.22 – We Need Visual Programming. No, Not Like That.

35 years of making software & 雷军 & 走自己的路 & 文字般若 & 生机盎然

This Week’s Hot Topics

We need visual programming. No, not like that. https://blog.sbensu.com/posts/demand-for-visual-programming/
Most visual programming environments fail to get any usage. Why? They try to replace code syntax and business logic, but developers never try to visualize that. Instead, developers visualize state transitions, memory layouts, or network requests. In my opinion, those working on visual programming would be more likely to succeed if they started with aspects of software that developers already visualize.

Lessons learned in 35 years of making software https://dev.jimgrey.net/2024/07/03/lessons-learned-in-35-years-of-making-software/
It’s more about soft skills than technical skills.

The software engineering industry in 2024: what changed, why, and what’s next https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-software-engineering-industry-in-2024/
The past 18 months have seen major change reshape the tech industry. What does it all mean for businesses and dev teams – and what will pragmatic software engineering approaches look like in the future? I tackled these burning questions in my conference talk, “What’s Old is New Again,” which was the keynote of the Craft Conference in May 2024.

Deep Reads

From Web to Native with React https://expo.dev/blog/from-web-to-native-with-react
Everything web developers need to know about building their first React Native application. Related: Migrating Coinbase's 56 Million Users to React Native: Key Lessons and Takeaways

Supply‑chain security in NPM – we can be optimistic about the future https://blog.scottlogic.com/2024/07/09/supply-chain-security-in-npm-we-can-be-optimistic-about-the-future.html
I’ll begin with package creation, then wander through the supply chain to the ultimate developer consumer who builds and runs applications using dependency packages. Many of the topics apply to other package registries, but I’ll take an NPM perspective.

A guide to reading and writing Node.js streams https://blog.platformatic.dev/a-guide-to-reading-and-writing-nodejs-streams
In this article we explore the core concepts of Node.js streams. You’ll gain a thorough understanding of how to leverage streams for real‑time data processing, memory management, and building scalable applications.

How to Know When It’s Time to Go https://thecodist.com/how-to-know-when-its-time-to-go/
Everyone eventually reaches a point where they can no longer do what they’ve spent their lives doing—but it’s not just about retirement; it can happen much earlier. I’ve known people much younger than me become obsolete because their chosen technology vanished, or simply grew tired of writing code—or, more commonly, of doing it as a job.

Meet Caddy – Meta’s next‑gen mixed‑reality CAD software https://engineering.fb.com/2024/07/18/virtual-reality/caddy-cad-mixed-reality-mr-meta/
What happens when a team of mechanical engineers gets tired of looking at flat images of 3D models over Zoom? Meet the team behind Caddy, a new CAD app for mixed reality. They join Pascal Hartig (@passy) on the Meta Tech Podcast to talk about teaching themselves to code, disrupting the CAD space, integrating Caddy with Llama 3, and much more!

Fresh Stuff

Automerge: a library of data structures for building collaborative applications The Future of Material Support in Angular Deno: Announcing Supabase on JSR

10 fun facts about emoji for World Emoji Day Garage: An open‑source distributed object storage service tailored for self‑hosting The Engineer’s Guide to Deep Learning gpu.cpp: portable GPU compute for C++ with WebGPU

Products & Others

雷军万字回忆录：为了造车，我学会了「漂移」 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qhzRv6Qm_raE3yKKFRPwOA
The past three years have been a metamorphosis for me and for Xiaomi. Behind the success of the Xiaomi SU7 lies enormous courage—not the courage of a single person, but the collective courage of more than 40,000 Xiaomi employees. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is steadfastness in the face of fear. It comes from firm belief, relentless passion, and steady, grounded effort. Courage is humanity’s greatest battle hymn. Friends, may you always have the determination to forge ahead and the bravery to cut through thorns.

我们走自己的路 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vrd8DjLhjLUlSoE2OE0ygg https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/oC_xWaw8WgJwyYUc6oSeUA
Through more than 40 years of reform and opening‑up—especially the comprehensive deepening of reforms in the new era—we have endured hardships and overcome setbacks, ultimately charting an unprecedented Chinese‑style path to modernization. Simply lifting over 1.4 billion people out of absolute poverty and achieving a moderately prosperous society is a world‑class miracle that few nations can claim. We firmly believe that on the new journey of Chinese‑style modernization, regardless of external doubts or interference, as long as we steadfastly follow our own reform path—confident, self‑reliant, and ever‑moving—we will build a strong nation and revive the nation. Culture is a vital force for a nation’s survival and development; a country’s strength always rests on cultural flourishing. Firm cultural confidence means staying true to our own way.

大画 | 文字.般若 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vsX4M38DeufGVvnSkqCNaQ https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zRh3_8p7N-4OL6yBpHU1oQ
Through words we can introspect, illuminate the innate light of the heart and wisdom, pursue spiritual awakening, and forge a complete life. One character, one world; one character, one wisdom. By understanding the origins of characters and feeling the original intention of their creation, we link our ordinary hearts with the lofty realms of sages, gradually shaping our own character and virtue. The “雨花五了精神” (the “Five‑Done” spirit of the Yuhua elder‑care charity) offers a nice interpretation of Chinese characters: “五了” – eat when done, act when done, let go when done, have enough when done, and be content when done. These five sayings reveal life’s truth and correspond to the five blessings of health, virtue, wealth, longevity, and a good end, together forming a harmonious life picture. See: 人生五福之路—雨花五了之总感悟.

冯学成先生：六尘很可爱 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XmrYHua4NS-SDJ811zQ3yg
All sentient beings are sentient because they consider the six senses (六尘) as hateful, the world as hateful, and afflictions as hateful. After truly seeing the Way, the six senses become lovely, and sentient beings become lovely too. The Buddha, delighted by sentient beings, would never slap them into oblivion, because sentient beings are his “clothing and food” and the parents of his Dharma body. Without sentient beings there is no Buddha; without them there is no Dharma. Hence “the six senses are not hateful”—they are lovely. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue are lovely; form, body, scent are lovely. If one wishes to attain true awakening, these are all medicinal Dharma.

活得生机盎然 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/361Qp8FjF9udENDE4Zxf2Q
Everything in the world has two sides. When we focus on the good side, it resonates with us and influences us positively; when we focus on the bad side, it resonates negatively. Therefore I rarely look at dark or negative things—once you pay attention to something, you’ll see it every day. Since we have the power of choice, why not look at sunshine and positive energy? A person’s good or bad life is the result of their own choices.

刘力红 | 三伏灸的作用原理 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0Mhl_3XcJm6PqmK-evR_8w
“伏” refers to the oppressive heat of midsummer. We talk about the “three‑dog days” because that’s when the weather is hottest. But “伏” also has another meaning: the heat itself. We know heat and fire most readily affect metal (金), since fire overcomes metal. Moxibustion (艾灸) is based on this fire‑over‑metal interaction. Especially the “three‑dog‑day moxibustion,” which also embodies the principle of treating winter illnesses in summer. The scorching summer heat is fire; moxibustion is fire, so they share the same essence.

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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.