Niko Heikkilä @nikoheikkila@mastodon.technology

This weekend's so-called hobby project was updating my CV.

I know, it sounds dreadful if you think about the old-fashioned way of opening a Microsoft Word and filling tables with summer gigs. I've never been that guy, so I made a web version of my resume as a Gatsby single-page app with continuous serverless deployment (of course). The coolest feature is fetching my open-source repositories from GitHub API.

Maybe save the link for later and get in touch?

https://cv.nikoheikkila.fi/

🔥Some people are often puzzled about my setup – and the font I use – or just want to hear my recommendations for a given task. Check out my personal /uses page for the tools I use.

https://nikoheikkila.fi/uses/

"When developers change jobs, the last thing they care about is your fancy office and table tennis. Developers need autonomy, mastery, and purpose."

https://sizovs.net/2020/03/26/developers-dont-need-ping-pong-tables/

If you like the engineering tips I'm writing about, add my blog to your bookmarks or subscribe to the RSS feed.

https://nikoheikkila.fi/blog/rapid-prototyping-with-table-driven-testing/

I'm using this approach quite a lot in VS Code with Quokka extension. No need to even save a file.

Check it here: https://quokkajs.com/

🔥 If you're experimenting with functions and can't be bothered to install a test framework you can use Golang-style table-driven testing.

Useful and easy to convert to real test code if needed.

Example in TypeScript. 👇

Just a month ago I was playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and dodging police drones in a city under a curfew.

Today I watched news footage from France picturing a similar situation, albeit there was no gunfire.

Futuristic.

For what it's worth, I'm largely self-taught although I took a couple of great university courses related to functional programming, logical thinking, and application security in the university.

The line is blurry, but the takeout is clear: don't be ashamed if you don't have a CS degree. You can be just as good without it.

Do you need a degree in computer science to be a good programmer?

Boost via @coding_unicorn@instagram.com

The #coronavirus is unfortunate, but it allows teams to explore alternative solutions for mundane office tasks. I blogged how we started rocking with asynchronous virtualized standups instead of standing and speaking in circles the old-fashioned way.

https://nikoheikkila.fi/blog/quoth-the-raven-virtualize-your-standups/

One of my favourite quotes especially in these times.

Unpleasant facts: unless we radically stop messing the ecosystem, more and more viruses like #COVID19 will likely emerge in the following years.

“There’s misapprehension among scientists and the public that natural ecosystems are the source of threats to ourselves. It’s a mistake. Nature poses threats, it is true, but it’s human activities that do the real damage. The health risks in a natural environment can be made much worse when we interfere with it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoe

Pre-ordered reMarkable 2 tablet since I've been longing for a good device for drawing diagrams and taking notes by hand. Would come handy in meetings.

No, regular pen and paper won't cut it, unless they magically sync contents across my devices.

An important rule of software design: strings are not your friends.

We are taught to avoid strings when working with databases, but there are even better examples. Concatenating operating system paths is a simple operation where careless string manipulation can lead to security issues and serious bugs.

Use standard libraries for creating paths whenever you can.

https://dev.to/philnash/mistakes-i-ve-made-treating-file-paths-as-strings-jnb

I don't reside in the worst area (yet) but, nevertheless, self-quarantine is what my life has been about for a couple of days now save for regular trips to grocery stores.

It's a good idea to #StayTheFuckHome

https://staythefuckhome.com/

Add to this people being forced to cancel their flights and you have a slightly less worn out environment too.

The question here is: does it stick? I'm not convinced of it unless we cross the barrier where societies start to crumble, and then the harmful impact would strongly overweigh the good.