The Problem with Electric Cars, How President Eisenhower Can Make You a Better Software Engineer, and Other Must-Reads

Our publishing platform is a place where professionals can ask big questions and share their personal answers. Over the last month, our engineers have been posting about what’s on their mind, like writing code with style, improving accessibility through tech, and learning from mistakes. Read on to see our favorite pieces published on the platform.

Why I'm excited about Glimmer2 and why you already know how it's better
By Joel Kang, Senior UI Engineer

Joel writes about how the new Glimmer2 engine’s optimizations allow users to convert the entire data-down part of “data down, actions up” to use a pull system rather than a push one. He explains how this is an exciting development because it changes the way users think about the way data flows through their templates.

Notes on "Clean Code" – Formatting
By Mohamed El-Geish, Software Engineering Manager
Mohamed shares his thoughts on Chapter 5 of Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. He agrees with the chapter’s emphasis on the importance of maintaining a consistent formatting style throughout and across coding projects. He also notes how following established style principles makes it easier for coders to jump into new projects quickly, and highlights vertical ordering and conceptual affinity as particularly important concepts.

Important and Not Urgent
By Jens Pillgram-Larsen, Director of Engineering, Developer Tools
Jens discusses how emphasizing and rewarding craftsmanship over time-to-market in software engineering helps companies manage their technical debt. He uses the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, popularized in the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, to illustrate the long term benefits of being proactive rather than reactive.

Tesla's Model 3: Solving the Wrong Problem
By Steven Foote, Senior Software Engineer

Steven argues that the underlying principle of designing more affordable environmentally-friendly cars is wrong, because it will just lead to more vehicles on the roads. He points out that bicycles or mass transit systems are much more efficient modes of transportation, and suggests that instead of working to create better cars, we should focus on innovation in those areas instead.

My first conference on tech and people with disabilities - Part 2
By Renato Iwashima, Senior UI Engineer

Renato writes about his experience at the Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference where he learned how speech recognition can improve accessibility to mobile and other devices for people with disabilities. He notes how continuing innovation in this area represents an exciting opportunity for developers and engineers.

How some failures on [In]Day taught me lessons to succeed
By Hitesh Sharma, Senior Software Engineer
Hitesh shares several lessons he recently learned about failure when he took an Arduino Basics class during March’s InDay. Despite struggling several times throughout the class, he found that persevering through the obstacles he was faced with and thinking outside of the box helped him overcome his challenges.