August is here and so is another exciting digest of links that made my brain tick. The summer is nearing on it’s second half but I was able to get some time in visiting family near Climax, Saskatchewan. Where the people are few, the skies are grand, and the slogan “Please Come Again” is painting on the sign as you leave town. But enough about that, let’s talk about some links. ...

It’s already July and the summer is flying. Thankfully the weather has been nice and the sunburns minimal. Tonight is cool enough to warrant wearing a flannel. But enough about the weather, let’s talk software. 1. Kind Engineering (14 minutes) This is a website by Evan Smith based on a previous talk. I’ve been lucky enough to have spent time on a team that prioritized these suggestions and it was a game changer. Trust is the foundation of high performing team, and trust grows with kindness. Want people to tell you when things are going wrong? Better work on your Psychological Safety. ...

It’s Juuuuuuune! Another round of hot links fresh of the press. We’ve got complexity, we’ve got focusing on what matters, what more could you ask for? Let’s Go! 1. Carving The Scheduler Out Of Our Orchestrator (26 minutes) This blog post details how fly.io transitioned from using Hashicorp’s Nomad scheduler to their own. I’m a huge fan of Nomad so it’s interesting to read on where it falls short. Nomad’s centralized scheduling approach was not something I would have anticipated creating so many issues. Good engineering practice says it’s good to avoid re-inventing the wheel. But if it’s a problem core to the business, it makes sense to invest your focus there. See link 6 about choosing boring technology. ...

May the fourth be with you. And if you are wondering, yes, I waited until today to make that joke. If you don’t like Star Wars, that’s ok! None of the following links will contain any more references. 1. Done, and Gets Things Smart (20 minutes) This is one of my favorites from Steve. It’s not a quick read, but I think it’s a good one for engineers looking to make an impact. He critiques the hiring mantra “Smart and Gets Things Done” and instead pushes for “Done, and Gets Things Smart”. The idea is that you want engineers who can get things done and then evolve the system. He then talks about how crucial these engineers are to the success of a company. ...

It’s April and the Easter bunny has come early with a basket full of links. The bunny has also brought warm weather which means I can start going for bike rides again. Let’s check out some fun links. 1. The Tyranny of Stuctureless (23 minutes) Have you ever wondered what the downside to having a flat organization is? Well, wonder no more! I’ve read this one a couple of times but it never fails to hold my interest. The article is even cited under “Criticisms” on the Wikipedia page for Flat Organization. I see some overlap with one of last month’s links, Embrace Complexity, talking about nominal vs emergent structures. Some interesting quotes: ...

It is March! That means another exciting roundup of all the things I think are neat. Let’s go. 1. Collection of insane and fun facts about SQLite (5 minutes) Did you know SQLite is the most deployed and most used database? That three people maintain it? Or, that it’s so fast it competes with fopen. This article reshaped my expectations of SQLite and what it’s capable of. It’s also interesting when paired with the work fly.io is doing on LiteFS (a FUSE file system that replicates SQLite transactions over a network). SQLite is not the little toy database engine I mistook it for. ...

Welcome to the inaugural edition of thelinklist.dev’s first email. I’ve rounded up some thought-provoking, inspiring, and entertaining links that I hope you’ll enjoy. Let’s dive in! 1. Lessons Learned From Payments Startups The lessons here aren’t specific to payment startups, they appeal to a much broader audience. He talks about optimizing for change, comprehensive testing and continuous deployment to help maintain simplicity. The section on decision logs is something I’m considering how to better implement in my daily work. ...