Awesome Articles and presentations about Software Developemt stuff

1. (Java) Style Guidelines for how to use var in Java
• http://openjdk.java.net/projects/amber/LVTIstyle.html
2. (Java) The Future of Java / OpenJDK and how it impacts you!
   

   • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=078QIrp0SD8 
   • Java 11 is coming and Java will be still free or ... is Oracle planning to follow evil game practices like EA  and spam Java with loot boxes, DLC and other money-draining activities? As it turns out 6-month release brings lots of goodness with release feature as soon as they ready rather than wait years for the next release and some challenges:
3. (Containers) Build Containers from scratch
• https://ericchiang.github.io/post/containers-from-scratch/
    

Awesome artciles about software developer

List of articles that I found interesting to read as my 

1. https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2003/10/08/the-absolute-minimum-every-software-developer-absolutely-positively-must-know-about-unicode-and-character-sets-no-excuses/
• Good article that explain basics on Unicode and why is important 
2. https://medium.com/@flyk6cr/hipster-it-will-destroy-the-world-229218fd5c15
• Good article that talks about dangers of premature work using "buzzwords" technologies 
3. http://www.helloerik.com/ux-is-not-ui
• Link to 2-column UX/UI comparison from above article UX is not UI. http://www.uxisnotui.com/
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teJWPrrKSZ4
• Interesting  comedy explains Usability in booking ticket to cinema by michael mcintyre
5. https://technicalmumbojumbo.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/xml-comparison-tutorial-using-xmlunit/ 

• Are you about to enjoy XML comparison tests.XmlUnit doest job well for you.\

Coolpointer.019 Unit test naming convensions

What is Coolpointer? Check this: http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

      7 Popular Unit Test Naming Conventions by Ajitesh Kumar shows few naming conversions for unit test. I used different conversion.  I follow Phil Webb's approach which is methodNameShouldExpectedBehavior. I tried few ways that I learnt on web and at work but this method works best for me as it helps me identify precisely what I am testing, where and what result I expect, so when test fails it helps me look to root of problem quicker.


methodName is my "when" which explain me what I am testing
ExpectedBehavior is my "then"
and optionally I added given which is my "Given?"

for example:
methodNameShouldPerformExpectedBehaviourWhenThisConditionOccured

7 Popular Unit Test Naming Conventions by Ajitesh Kumar  

https://dzone.com/articles/7-popular-unit-test-naming

Coolpointer.017 : Equality in JavaScript

What is Coolpointer? Check this:  http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

    If you have a privilege to coding in JavaScript then you may discover in painful way that equality is treat by JavaScript in very spontaneously way. If you need get your head around it, Dorey created a simple page that should help innocent programmer to understand when equal is strictly equal and when is very loosely equal.

Equality in JavaScript by Dorey

https://dorey.github.io/JavaScript-Equality-Table/unified/

FOLLOW AUTHOR:

GITHUB: https://dorey.github.io

Coolpointer.016 : pass by value

What is Coolpointer? Check this:  http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

    Java is Pass-by-Value, Dammit! by Scott Stanchfieldis is an article that busts a myth that"primitives are passed by value, objects are passed by reference".

"Java is strictly pass-by-value, exactly as in C. Read the Java Language Specification (JLS). It's spelled out, and it's correct. In http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/classes.html#8.4.1:

When the method or constructor is invoked (�15.12), the values of the actual argument expressions initialize newly created parameter variables, each of the declared Type, before execution of the body of the method or constructor. The Identifier that appears in the DeclaratorId may be used as a simple name in the body of the method or constructor to refer to the formal parameter."

The truth is that  Primitives and Object references are passed by value. Check  his article to read about why is like that. It is an interesting read. 

On side note. I believe that we as IT professionals we should really define clean glossary and give them a  As it turns out there is a lot of mess due "semantic" around that.

Equality in JavaScript by Scott Stanchfieldis

http://javadude.com/articles/passbyvalue.htm

Coolpointer.015 : An Interesting UI design of volume control

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

The worst volume control UI in the world
https://uxdesign.cc/the-worst-volume-control-ui-in-the-world-60713dc86950

        In this article Fabricio Teixeira shows an 'interesting' approaches to design  volume controls . Some of them indeed makes listening things ... adventurous. 
Worth to see if you have 3 minutes on your lunch break

Coolpointer.014 - Github Audio

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

https://github.audio/

        Very cool tiny project that play music where musical note is a event that happen on Github.
It will never create a song that will win Eurovision, but output can be quite interesting.
It is usually sounds like music for meditation, sleeping or  relaxing. 

developed by Sudhanshu Mishra

https://github.audio/

FOLLOW AUTHOR on:

WWW/GITHUB: https://github.com/debugger22

Coolpointer.013 : What the... JavaScript? talk by Kyle Simpsons

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

" What the... JavaScript? " by Kyle Simpsons is a quite funny talk about " interesting design decisions " made by JavaScript. Kyle explains why some of them are logical even if they are not intuitive. If you are interested in general JavaScript and you want to answer this question:

"what in the hell is that ?"

 when you read Javascript code, then it is worth watch it.

"WTF the ... JavaScript?" by Kyle Simpsons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pL28CcEijU

FOLLOW AUTHOR on:

WWW/GITHUB: https://github.com/getify

Coolpointer.012 : Finding time to become a better developer

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

    "Finding Time to Become a Better Developer" by BILL SOUROUR  is an interesting article about his experience to become a better developer. This is something that I am working hard now to be a better developer with very limited time available.  Bill in his article shares these  advices .. 

1. You don’t need to learn every new thing in order to stay relevant.
• I agree that most important is to learn Fundamentals  and be up to date with latest version of the  framework that  you use the most, so for example as I am Java Developer who works mainly with Spring Framework, so I am working hard to improve my all fundamentals that I need to know about Java (language) and Spring (framework) and trying to attend to meetups to improve this knowledge.
2. Writing good code takes less time than writing bad code, BUT it does not feel that way.
• I am sort of agree with this . However, I think writing some good code everyday is important. I made mistake in the past where I sit comfortable and done task for few months that didn't involve coding and it hurts my skills very badly.
3. Working 24/7 does NOT make you a hero. Managing expectations does.
• One of my golden rules in looking for job is (almost) no overtime, because a lot of overtime means bad management and it drains you as person.
4. Not all time spent “improving” code has the same ROI.
• If I am honest I don't get this point.
5. Scheduled down time makes you more productive.
• Something that  I need work hard as I am crap at the moment.

As you get older and you have more and more responsibilities in your life. It getting harder and harder to finding time to be a better developer and keep good balance at work between being productive and  breaks for down time .I tried few approaches and I discover that most efficient way for me is 

• Try to spend 25 minutes per day on learning new thing. During that time eliminate all distractions like phone, Facebook and so on. Where to find time for this ? In the early morning or what I am trying to do is to  read book on train, and I try to code at some point during day to practice what you learnt and write down what you learnt.
• Write new code every day.
• Read news about what's new in your primary language and framework.
• Make sure you rest well and plan your breaks during day. How ? It is something which I am struggling at the moment and I trying new things. So far I found that doing super quick break every 90 minutes where you need walk to kitchen or anywhere as long as you do around 250 steps is good for me. It is important as well to have in afternoon a quick power nap or  10 minutes walk ( I go for coffee shop) to calm yourself down and regenerate your mental energy.

In shortcut , that's all.Feel free to  read his article and write comment or e-mail with your opinion what you are doing to be a better developer ?

"Finding Time to Become a Better Developer" by Bill Sourour 

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/finding-time-to-become-a-better-developer-eebc154881b2

FOLLOW AUTHOR on:

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BillSourour

Coolpointer.011 : Creativity in 5 simple steps by Joseph Shaffery

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

    

    Joseph Shaffery is a Creative Lead in Orbit team where I work. Few months back he wrote an interesting article about creativity "Creativity in 5 simple steps ". He talks about few steps in creativity ,but my favourite one is  Embrace learning. He ask also question: Do we feel it’s okay to fail sometimes? 
    We always afraid of failing at work. Let's face it everybody sometimes make mistake and important thing is to learn from not only own failures but others failures without blame. Why? It helps whole team to be better bonded and more effective. 

"   Embrace learning and experimentation and encourage lots of  ideas. There is no such thing as failure, only learning."

CREATIVITY IN 5 SIMPLE STEPS by JOSEPH SHAFFERY 
http://blog.invisionapp.com/creativity-in-5-simple-steps/

FOLLOW AUTHOR: http://www.josephshaffery.com

Coolpointer.010: Why chinese website are so busy ?

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

In article WHY DO CHINESE WEBSITES LOOK SO BUSY  by JEFF RAJECK explains why Chinese websites looks so different from western websites. He points out few things :

• Language difference. Jeff said that Asian pages use flash animation a lot to catch attention to user as language itself do not have this ability( This is due monolithic representation of characters)
• Another reason that author suggests is an internet speed. 
• It was truth in the past ,but it is not anymore.  In my opinion main reason is that this "ux pattern" that people learnt as way to find information. They go to this massive welcome page and using search functionality in browser they find information they look for . It was widely used on western website in late 90' like Yahoo ) .

So if you are interested in this subject, link is below :)

WHY DO CHINESE WEBSITES LOOK SO BUSY 
by JEFF RAJECK

https://econsultancy.com/blog/67466-why-do-chinese-websites-look-so-busy

FOLLOW AUTHOR:

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jrajeck

Coolpointer.009 : About Blizzard

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

I recently read and watch few things about Blizzard and their games.  Two of them; talk  "How Blizzard stayed laser-focused on quality games for 25 years" by Dean Takahashi and GDC talk "Diablo: A Classic Game Postmortem" by David Brevik  are worth to read and watch, if you are interesting in history of Blizzard, a company that develop many great games like Diablo and Starcraft (that I played) and many more that I didn't play but I admire their quality. What was outstanding about this company that quality of their game was awesome , their interaction with community is worth copy it  . 
    I am passive fan of Blizzard .I like watch their games like Starcraft and Hearthstone but I am not playing these games because I get too addictive from games.

My favourite part was not strictly Blizzard related, when David Brevik talks about his worst business decision ever. Watch this : Worst business decision by David Brevik .This is most funny part ( you must hear how he told this story)

"He came with idea: "I am going to make e-mail over internet. I offer you 10% of my company for one room that you are not using anyway."
David responded: "Dude, that dumbest idea I ever heard! (...) e-mail on internet? It doesn't have any sense. I already have e-mail on the internet. Yeah. that company was Hotmail. 14 months later was sold for 400 millions dollars that 10% could be mine,""

HOW BLIZZARD STAYED LASER-FOCUSED ON QUALITY GAMES FOR 25 YEARS by DEAN TAKAHASHI

http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/08/how-blizzard-stayed-laser-focused-on-quality-games-for-25-years/

DIABLO: A CLASSIC GAME POSTMORTEM by David Brevik

Diablo: A Classic Game Postmortem

Coolpointer.008 - Classic Games Postmortem - XCOM: UFO Defense by Julian Gollop

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html


UFO: Enemy Unknown knows as XCOM: UFO Defense is my favourite game of all times. It was addictive and spooky game which waste more than 1000 hours in the past. I know for today's kids it is near zero, but back in 90' it was a lot. Anyway , I discovered talk by Julian Gollop one of the creator of XCOM and it was super interesting for me as fan of XCOM.
Funny, enough I always wanted to write game XCOM'like with more RPG elements (more story telling , so people can attach to people who they play. 

Classic Games Postmortem - XCOM: UFO Defense by Julian Gollop 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7VjbuNEzg

Coolpointer.007

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

Retrospective is my favourite part of the Scrum and most important one.
Why ? 
In biggest shortcut, retrospective is a event to do  health check of your team and process. It allows you praise people for hard work and  solve  problems about things  that didn't go perfectly well. Anyway , I am sure you know these things already (if not , check  Scrum Guides ) .

This article helps you investigate reasons why people do not enjoy retrospective anymore and how to make changes to make retrospective valuable and enjoyable again.

Nothing to talk about on Retrospective, huh?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nothing-talk-retrospective-huh-marcin-konkel?trk=hp-feed-article-title-like

Coolpointer.006

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

Interesting article about  naughty tricks that thisv
Newspaper overslept digital age revolution and they kick badly at the moment.

Dark Patterns by the Boston Globe

https://rationalconspiracy.com/2016/04/24/dark-patterns-by-the-boston-globe/

Coolpointer.005

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

Nice list of Front End Frameworks with informations about:

• what browser they support
• are they support sass/less
• are they design for phone/tablet/desktop
• license 

Front End Frameworks List

http://usablica.github.io/front-end-frameworks/compare.html

Coolpointer.004 - colour survey

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

Interesting article/comic strip about colour survey.

Color Survey Results

https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/

Coolpointer.003 .git

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

Understanding git for real by exploring the .git directory

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/understanding-git-for-real-by-exploring-the-git-directory-1e079c15b807#.cu8tyhmui

This article helps me to understood how the core concepts of git works. It worth to read it if you are use git and you are curious about details. 

Coolpointer.002 : Atlassian's pair programming.

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

I am a big fan of pair programming for many reasons, but I must admit I never tried Atlassian's approach to pair programming. See this video, how Atlassian tutorial, how to do their pair programming .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYBjVTMUQY0

Coolpointer.001: What happens when the Board Of Directors begins to panic?

What is Coolpointer ? Check this : http://dominiksymonowicz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/coolpointerintroduction.html

What happens when the Board Of Directors begins to panic?

http://www.smashcompany.com/business/what-happens-when-the-board-of-directors-begins-to-panic

This article is written like a good story .  It is an amazing article about story of technical lead ,who works in startup company that is lead by bad management and board of directors.

1. It was the best story IT related that I ever read.
2. This article is another proof why I couldn't work for startups because as my values  disqualify me for this kind of job.
3. It is amazing that bad management cannot kill developers "believe in success of software that they wrote" and I admire Lawrence for determination
4. I believe, if you have got a chance to work in a startup company after graduate from university, during sandwich/gap year or as long as you are 2x years old. You should always try it. If you are lucky enough ,it your learning curve will be very high but quite likely you will work very hard and possible reward can be shape your carrier in future. However ,it is extremely difficult to find a startup company that has inspiring and cooperative management 

source: https://news.ycombinator.com