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Shopify CEO says no new hires without proof AI can’t do the job

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/ruby

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke emphasized in a recent memo that teams must prove they cannot accomplish their goals using AI before requesting additional headcount or resources. He encouraged discussions on how their areas could benefit from autonomous AI integration, highlighting that effective AI usage is now a fundamental expectation at Shopify. Lütke described AI as a significant shift in the workplace and mentioned that questions regarding AI application will be included in performance reviews. Ultimately, he stressed the importance of collectively enhancing skills through AI to support merchants

Apache ECharts

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

Apache ECharts is an open-source data visualization library that offers over 20 chart types and numerous components that can be combined for customized use. It features both Canvas and SVG rendering options, allowing for real-time rendering of large datasets, up to 10 million data points. Users can manage data through datasets that support various transformations, enabling multi-dimensional analysis. The library adheres to visualization principles and offers responsive design, while flexible configurations enhance customization. It boasts a strong open-source community contributing to its development and

Researchers discover why plastic sheds dangerous fragments

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

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Mercedes Bernard: Friendly Code Welcomes Everyone In

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

In this episode of Maintainable, host Robby talks with Mercedes Bernard, a Staff Software Engineer at Kit, about the importance of writing maintainable code, particularly in legacy codebases. Mercedes emphasizes that well-maintained software should be "friendly" and accessible, especially for early-career developers. They discuss strategies for stabilizing older systems, avoiding rewrites, and fostering a team culture that values maintainability. Mercedes shares insights from her experience in consulting, including how to navigate incomplete documentation and various patterns

AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

A recent survey reveals a significant divide between C-suite executives and employees regarding AI adoption in the workplace. While 75% of leaders believe their AI implementations have been successful over the past year, only 45% of employees share this sentiment, leading to frustration among the workforce. Software developers express concerns that AI coding tools are introducing errors and worsening technical debt, while feeling hindered by poor mandates from leadership. Business leaders find the automation of repetitive tasks in coding appealing as it can enhance efficiency and increase revenue

A 32-bit processor made with an atomically thin semiconductor

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

Researchers from China have developed a 32-bit RISC-V processor called RV32-WUJI using molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as the semiconductor instead of traditional silicon. MoS2 is a one-molecule-thick material similar to graphene but functions as a semiconductor rather than a conductor. The processor, while slow and limited to kilohertz clock speeds and single-bit operations, can execute the full RISC-V instruction set utilizing nearly 6,000 transistors.

Bridging Worlds: How we Unified gRPC and REST APIs in Rust

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

In the current microservices environment, teams often face the challenge of choosing between gRPC for fast internal communication and REST for compatibility with clients. This usually forces them to maintain both, leading to duplicate bugs and increased complexity. To address this issue, a team led by Nishant Joshi has developed a solution using Rust that automatically translates between gRPC and REST, taking advantage of Rust's type system and code generation. The solution involves integrating into Rust's build process to generate corresponding HTTP routes for each

Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

The content discusses various features of a digital news service offering global news, long reads, podcasts, and events. It highlights the success of Brazil's Pix digital payment system, launched in November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pix allows users to make transactions quickly and easily using national ID numbers, phone numbers, or QR codes, becoming an essential payment method in Brazil by 2024 with a dramatic increase in transactions. The article also touches on broader social issues, such as political corruption,

Go Zero Values

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

The author shares their experience with Go programming and expresses the belief that Go may not be a pragmatic language by modern standards. Despite their criticisms, they aim to explore the reasoning behind Go's zero values. In Go, when a variable is defined but not initialized, it receives a "zero value," which applies to structs, interfaces, and reflection, and poses challenges during deserialization as well. The author contrasts Go's approach with that of other languages. In C/C++, uninitialized variables can hold arbitrary

Tailscale has raised $160M

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

Tailscale has secured $160 million USD in a Series C funding round, led by Accel, with participation from various investors including CRV, Insight Partners, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital. Notable angel investors include George Kurtz of CrowdStrike and Anthony Casalena of Squarespace. Founded in 2019, Tailscale aims to simplify networking by minimizing the complexities of NAT traversal and VPN configurations. Over the past six years, its services have gained widespread use, enabling

Why I Value Firebreak Sprints for Managing Technical Debt

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

Trevor I. Lasn, a Staff Software Engineer and Engineering Manager, advocates for the implementation of "firebreak sprints" as a solution for the common issue of neglected maintenance work in engineering teams. Firebreak sprints are one-week periods interspersed between regular development cycles during which engineers have the freedom to address issues that they believe will add the most value, without needing product manager approval or stakeholder involvement. Lasn has successfully introduced these sprints at multiple companies, scheduling them three to

Remembering John Conway's FRACTRAN, a ridiculous, yet surprisingly deep language

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

John Horton Conway, a renowned mathematician, developed symptoms of COVID-19 on April 8, 2020, and passed away on April 11, 2020. His death is mourned, yet his life and accomplishments are celebrated, particularly his ability to make complex mathematical concepts engaging. Conway is well-known for inventing the programming language FRACTRAN and for his creation of the Game of Life, which has significantly impacted the author’s understanding of mathematics. The author reflects on their personal

Intentionally Making Close Friends (2021)

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

The author expresses deep appreciation for their close friends, emphasizing the joy and growth they bring through shared experiences, support, and emotional connections. Reflecting on their past, the author notes that until about four years ago, they struggled to form meaningful friendships and did not realize it was something they could intentionally pursue. They discuss the importance of being proactive in building relationships, arguing against the passive mindset that friendships should happen naturally. The author plans to share their journey of intentionally forming close friendships and the lessons learned,

Sam Altman says AI will make coders 10x more productive, not replace them — Even Bill Gates claims the field is too complex

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has stated that his aim is to enhance the productivity of software engineers using artificial intelligence, rather than replacing them entirely. As generative AI advances, job security concerns have risen, with some reports indicating that many jobs, including half of banking roles, could be fully automated. There are speculations that coding may be among the first professions affected, as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang suggested. However, Altman emphasizes a focus on making coders significantly more efficient—up to ten times

The Modern Struggle Is Fighting Weaponized Addiction (2020)

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

On February 24, 2020, Naval Ravikant discussed the relationship between pleasure and pain, suggesting that in today's age of abundance, pursuing pleasure for its own sake can lead to addiction. He referenced the historical perspective of Miyamoto Musashi, a Japanese swordsman, highlighting that the nature of pleasure during his time was vastly different from the easily accessible pleasures of modern life, such as processed food, pornography, and drugs. Ravikant argues that these modern addictions, which include alcohol,

Listening habits&subjective effects of background music in young adults ± ADHD

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

The study published in Frontiers in Psychology investigated music listening habits among 434 young adults aged 17 to 30, focusing on differences between neurotypical individuals and those screened for ADHD. The research found that adults listen to an average of 20.7 hours of music weekly and that music can enhance cognitive performance and emotional well-being. The results indicate that individuals with ADHD tend to listen to more background music during less cognitive activities (e.g., cleaning, sports) and while studying compared to their

Any program can be a GitHub Actions shell

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: Hacker News

In GitHub Actions, the `shell` keyword allows you to specify the shell for executing a `run:` block. While it is optional for workflows, it is required for action definitions. The default shell is typically appropriate for the runner's operating system (e.g., bash for Linux/macOS and pwsh for Windows). Although one might assume that valid shell values are limited and predefined by GitHub, you can actually use any executable found in the `$PATH`. In this case, a special argument

20 years of Git

Published: 2025-04-08 | Origin: /r/programming

Twenty years ago, Linus Torvalds made the first commit to Git, which has since evolved from a personal project to the world's most dominant version control system. The author, who began using Git shortly after its inception and later co-founded GitHub, reflects on Git's significant impact on software development and their personal journey with it. The project emerged from frustrations within the Linux kernel development community regarding existing version control and collaboration methods, which relied heavily on mailing lists. Git was designed to address these challenges

What Was Quartz?

Published: 2025-04-07 | Origin: Hacker News

The narrative reflects on the rise and fall of the digital media organization Quartz, emphasizing the challenges faced under the ownership of Jim Spanfeller and G/O Media. Spanfeller, who claimed that "it's impossible to kill a media brand," oversaw the decline of various media properties, leading to the eventual dismantling of Quartz. Originally launched in 2012 with a focus on quality journalism and a fresh approach to media, Quartz thrived with a strong editorial vision and innovative practices. However, by

Employees Leading Themselves: The Power Of Self-Managed Teams At Work

Published: 2025-04-07 | Origin: /r/programming

Dr. Diane Hamilton discusses the concept and benefits of self-managed teams in the workplace, emphasizing their growing relevance in the post-pandemic environment. These teams operate without traditional managers, relying on collective accountability for decision-making and goal-setting. The success stories of companies like Gore-Tex and the Dutch healthcare provider Buurtzorg illustrate the effectiveness of this model, where empowered employees achieve better outcomes, increased innovation, and higher satisfaction. Buurtzorg's approach, which allows nurses to autonomously manage their workflows and