Tag: pocket

A Recap Of My Top 4 Tech Article Reads From Pocket

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the number of articles that are in my pocket. I’ve got articles on livability, transit, cycling, auto issues, node.js, java, javascript, coding practices, software craftsmanship, feminism, heavy metal, death metal, black metal, jazz, progressive jazz, fusion jazz, NASA news, space discoveries, space research, Star Trek news, Star Wars news, information on sci-fi books and a slight spattering of politics and some other just interesting nonsensical stuff.

Here's a shot of Pocket on OS-X with an article about Seattle's Tech Advantage over many American cities being rooted in urban density. Which, I'd also argue, gives Seattle a unique advantage (And is a serious pain point for Microsoft's misstep into the suburbs decades ago)
Here’s a shot of Pocket on OS-X with an article about Seattle’s Tech Advantage over many American cities being rooted in urban density. Which, I’d also argue, gives Seattle a unique advantage (And is a serious pain point for Microsoft’s misstep into the suburbs decades ago)

I’ve taken the time to sort through this list of articles, pick out the top technical articles and get this down to a manageable level again. In the process I’ve created this list of solid articles that I’ve now officially read or found useful in some way and present it here for you dear reader. Enjoy, I hope they’re useful to you too.

Article Recon, The Top

  1. Zef Hemel wrote up a piece titled “Docker: Using Linux Containers to Support Portable Application Deployment“. In the article Zef delves into a number of things that are key to understanding Docker and the notion of portland application deployment. Other topics covered include isolation, security, reproducing deployments and resource constraints. The article closes with an example of  application containers and their respective deployment.
  2. 7 Javascript Basics Many Developers Aren’t Using (Properly) albeit slightly useful, I found this one more entertaining. It does give some small insight to the scope of oddities that JavaScript has and how one can easily miss the basics in JavaScript.
  3. Even though the article is from late last year, “The Premature Return to SQL” is a good read. As Alex Popescu   states it, “This pisses me off. A lot.” I too find myself pissed off a lot at the naive understanding and decisions making around SQL or alternate options. It’s almost as if some people decide to just flip a coin to make these determinations with zero insight into what they’re actually attempting to do.
  4. The article “No Deadlines for You! Software Dev Without Estimates, Specs or Other Lies” is spectacular in laying out how bullshit specs and estimates are. They’re almost entirely wasted effort on the developers part. In my own opinion it is often a failure (and yeah, I’ve been in management and leadership too, and removed these issues) of management to understand in the slightest what is actually being built or how it is being built. A lack of vision on behalf of the project is a sure fire sign that the original estimates are already completely off, the design and build out of whatever it is will likely be wrong and a host of other issues. Building software isn’t a bridge, it’s more like a painting, you decide as you go. There is no paint by numbers in software development.

Anyway, that’s my list from the 50+ tech articles that were in my Pocket app. Maybe on day I can get disciplined enough to keep the list limited to really good reads and I’ll start putting together a “My Top Pocket Reads this Month” blog entries? That sounds like it could be useful. Until then, happy coding.