Wangsly

Using X to journal whats on my mind as a self-taught software dev in finance.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

The #1 Most Underrated Skill as a Software Dev is translating and communicating what you've built from the technical-speak to the business-speak.

Tech Speak - "I created a new caching strategy which stores the data in memory."

Business Speak - "I've sped up the response times, which will means the UI will become more responsive."

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@AlloyLauncher In 99% of cases, the difference is negligible and not that big a deal because it only happens on the first time when it’s called.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Java 21 - Finalized Switch for Pattern Matching

- No longer need to use instanceof
- Expressions instead of statements
- null case handling

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

I interviewed a graduate earlier in the week, and I suspected they were using an LLM to listen to me and they were reading the answers word for word.

Instead of rejecting them immediately, I wanted confirmation so invited them to do an in-person interview.

They outright refused despite and made excuses which didn’t line up with the other info she had said.

Why bother interviewing with an LLM if you can’t actually do the job?

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Yesterday I had a colleague ask me to do something in a very rude way over chat. I didn’t react or anything, but internally I was about to crash out.

Had to remind myself that I can’t control what other people say or do. I can only control how I respond to it.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@nnennahacks Tell me about it! I’m noticing it right now. My manager likes the work I do and how I do it and now he’s giving me more management responsibility 😅

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

The Peter Principle:

The idea that we’re promoted for success in our role, and not for our ability to excel in the new role.

Therefore, as you continue to get promoted, you’re getting more and more into your own incompetance.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@embersunn 😢

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Literally interviewed a candidate who was using an LLM listening by voice in the interview word for word.

Genuine question, why are you doing this?

It doesn’t do you any favours on the day job.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

The better you get at development, the further away you will go from day-to-day development.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Sometimes I like my job so much that I struggle to get out of bed at the weekends.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@SumitM_X Out of curiosity, under what scenario would you want this?

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Today I learned ChatGPT actually adds Zero-Width Space characters in its responses.

Best place to see these are enhanced text editors like Notepad++.

Can see this being used to identify cheating in assignments in future.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

Yeah, I’ve had instances like this. I think I find it difficult to not complain about these colleagues because it really bothers me when they treat me and others poorly. 😅

I try to remind myself that they probably have some mental health or personal issues they need to deal with.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

When it comes to managing devs, I’ve found having a good attitude is far better than being super competent.

If you have a good attitude and you’re competent, I think you’re in a good spot.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

This is what I’ve found as well. You spend so much time writing what you think is good content, and then it literally gets no views.

Relatability is king for engagement if you want to increase your following etc.

If you’re interested in more specific things, you’ll just have to find more channels of making your content known to the people interested.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

One thing I’ve found that helps your content get more views is if you make it more relatable to the average person.

If it’s basic and engaging, it’ll probably hit.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@0xCaponte I really think being a nice person to work with is a huge factor.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@bravomage Sounds about right,

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

If you’re working in a team that’s separated by location, better to over-communicate and give too much information over email/chat.

Means you/others can refer back to it at a later date and it is still useful.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

@4thWaveStevie Ah yes, that’s a great shout! I don’t actually do this, that would be pretty useful when posting in wider channels.

[Wangsly @aWangsly]

A colleague came up with a awk command to filter a log file using ChatGPT while we were troubleshooting a prod issue and when I asked him to tweak it to look for something slightly different, he couldn’t do it.

Outsourcing the thinking to AI will not help you long term.