Joel Hock

I have a new blog post that discusses our journey in speeding up Docker builds for a large rails monolith - https://lnkd.in/gT9HVnWv

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32-bit floats instead of SemVer! Obviously a horrible idea... or is it? https://lnkd.in/ghybmg4v (My searches turned up nothing like this but if it's already been invented, please let me know and I'll add a "prior art" section.)

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> "Note that different people tend to be drawn to different ends of these trade-offs. For example, TPMs typically are drawn to the “control” side and prototyping engineers are typically drawn to the “autonomy” end. This means that people will have their ego attached to one end of the trade-off, making the debate — especially if it frames the question as a binary and not a trade-off — somewhat emotionally charged." Leading a team can be especially tricky when team members hold strong, opposing viewpoints. The key, at least in my opinion, lies in prioritising a collaborative approach that emphasizes small, iterative steps, regular evaluation, and a shared goal of creating value for users/customers, not winning internal debates.

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We've all been there before... "I took production down!", "I caused an outage!", or "I accidentally deleted data!". For many of us that have been in the industry for enough time, we have a story or three like this. While it is natural and understandable to feel guilt and shame from these types of mistakes, it's important to understand that the failure isn't *you*. We are humans, we make mistakes. The failure is with the system, software, and processes that allowed this to happen. This is a cornerstone of a blameless culture. We're humans doing our best work, but it's only a matter of time until we type the wrong command, or connect to the wrong database. After an incident like this, the team should work to understand how it happened and, more importantly, ensure that it can't happen again. Without the proper system in place, it _will_ happen again. #sre #sitereliabilityengineering

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"Build in primitives" -Andy Jassy, #Amazon CEO https://lnkd.in/gHMYt7NX Happen to take the time to read this year's Annual investor letter from Andy Jassy. Deep in 2nd half, it talks about how Amazon started thinking about "building in primitives" and how it has been game-changing for them and their customers. Probably old news for some, but eye-opening for me. Definitely a good read!

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https://lnkd.in/gfeYzA-H #RustLang Why steady_state? Named for its commitment to maintaining a consistent, optimal operational state, steady_state offers: Fine-Grained Latency Control: Through customizable batch processing and adjustable channel lengths, empowering developers to meet rigorous SLA requirements. Embedded Observability: Built-in telemetry features for real-time performance insights, facilitating targeted optimizations. Erlang-Inspired Fault Tolerance: Leveraging an advanced supervision system to ensure service continuity, even in the face of unexpected failures. Clean Shutdown Logic: Suitable for IoT, Robotics and many other systems which require well-ordered clean shutdown of actors. Core Features steady_state is crafted to ensure safety, reliability, and performance, focusing on: Safety and Concurrency: Harnessing Rust's memory safety features and actor-based supervised threading for secure, durable, manageable concurrency. High Throughput: Engineered for handling high message volumes with consistent processing capacity, crucial for demanding systems. Actors can consume and produce messages in batches for greater efficiency. Visibility: Find and fix performance bottlenecks quickly with built-in telemetry, enabling real-time monitoring and analysis of your service's operational state. Rapid Prototyping: Mock up your ideas in graphiz DOT files, then generate your Rust service project to get started.

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As an engineering leader you may have to step away from code for extended periods of time and it can be *very* hard to get back into it. You lose context, projects change, tech changes and sometimes it’s just anxiety that you’ve lost your touch. I have found that AI tools can really help get through this. Copilot, ChatGPT, etc can help jog your memory and refresh your skills in a short period of time.

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One of the best statements from the book "The Staff Engineer's Path" authored by Tanya Reilly "Maybe you're figuring out what you're doing as you go along, but hey, everyone else is too! Is it just me, or is that really reassuring? No matter who was doing this project, they'd find it difficult too." This is for everyone who is leading big projects and feels imposter syndrome until they realize that "99% of people don't know better than you what to do". Keep learning, keep figuring out... #keeplearning #keepfiguringout #staffengineer #impostersyndrome

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There are a lot of hyped up claims about AI being tossed around lately; especially when it comes to software engineering. After being deeply immersed in this misunderstood industry for over 20 years, I can say whole heartedly, don’t believe the hype. This article does an excellent job at describing what the craft of developing software is really like and why the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. https://lnkd.in/eY-59vxH

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Honored to be the fourth Db2er covered in the "Meet the Db2 for z/OS team" blog that was published today. Read on if interested! Cheers! "https://lnkd.in/dgm_mfTy

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I just blogged about the benefits of contract-first API development. If you and your team aren't following this approach, I encourage you to read on and learn why you may be missing out on a practice that can help your team be more productive.

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Navigating the Pitfalls of Rapid Scaling: A Lesson in Cultural Cohesion Targeting CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and CEOs, this discussion highlights a common challenge during post-Series C expansion: integrating top-tier talent without sacrificing cultural cohesion. In a past experience, our team aggressively hired industry-leading engineers to boost technical prowess and market standing. However, emphasizing technical skills over cultural fit led to a fragmented team dynamic, impacting project timelines, innovation, and morale. Here are actionable insights for leaders navigating similar challenges: Strategic Onboarding: Beyond technical orientation, emphasize immersion into company culture, mission, and values. Cultural Fit Assessments: Include cultural alignment in hiring criteria to ensure new hires complement existing team dynamics. Transparent Communication: Regularly communicate the company’s vision, helping new hires understand their role in broader goals. Leadership Development: Encourage leadership skills that align with your company ethos through mentoring and peer learning. Feedback Mechanisms: Use feedback loops for employees to express concerns and suggestions about integration. Balancing rapid hiring with cultural integration is key. By valuing human elements as much as technical ones, we create a scalable, innovative, and harmonious engineering environment. I invite fellow leaders to share their strategies for maintaining cultural cohesion during rapid growth. What has worked for your organization?

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Today and tomorrow, you can get ScyllaDB in Action for 50% off at Manning! http://mng.bz/46Jw Every chapter is now available (physical copies coming soon!), and you'll get to learn about cool things like: * Tablets: the biggest feature in the brand new Scylla 6.0 * Monitoring and performing operations on ScyllaDB * Resolving the rare production incident * Designing applications for Scylla * How Scylla implements reads and writes * Extracting data into a data warehouse 50% off at Manning! http://mng.bz/46Jw But of course, don't stop there! Check out my friends Piotr Sarna and Cynthia Dunlop's great book on Writing for Developers: Blogs that Get Read https://mng.bz/eoOP. They analyze some super interesting blogs and show what makes them effective, helping you integrate those into your writing. Manning Publications Co. ScyllaDB

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Its about solving the problem, not 'having AI' in the system. This is from last March, but the Wave 1 vs. Wave 2 distinction does seem to be playing out. Less 'generate me content', more 'synthesize vast amounts of relevant data and aid in decisonmaking or signal extraction'. https://lnkd.in/ehFBFC32 They don't talk about multi-agent systems here, but looking forward to more startups with a focus on leveraging agentic design patterns (https://lnkd.in/ed5rMmFe) to streamline real world workflows.

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My thoughts on bypassing dumb biases when trying to get your next tech position... The "overqualified" bias: If you are having trouble finding your next job because folks keep saying that you are overqualified, trim some stuff off of your resume. Seriously, take 5 years or 10 years off. You do not, in fact, have to give your whole work history. If you keep getting the message over and over that you are over-educated, trim back on that. Your next tech position does NOT need to know that you have a doctorate in music or french literature. If it isn't helping - strike it. The "they'll say anything to get a new job because they were laid off and aren't working" bias: I had this happen to me one of the first times I was laid off. I had someone (chiropractor) very interested in hiring me. The interview had gone very well and on the way out the door he asked what my schedule was with my current employer because he wanted to schedule a follow up (I was doing contract massage therapy at the time). So I told him that my current gig had had to cut back on the therapists they had due to less clients scheduling sessions. It had been maybe 3 weeks since I had had a session and I had been cut because I was one of the newer folks. "OH, I see." That was literally the end of that. The interest fizzled up and died, right there. So... do contract work. The first time I was laid off from a tech job I had a friend that needed a web app set up for their business to help advertise a salon but couldn't afford regular rates. So we traded - I gave them a discounted rate and traded for some of the businesses services... yep got my hair done several times. I later found a similar contract with a friend trying to expand their existing website offerings and get better results in google. This was without the trade but it was helping a smaller business at a reduced rate. The point being that as I started getting serious interviews some months later, I had no gaps in my employment. No, I hadn't made good pay at either of those "jobs" but I filled in the resume gaps while my "day job" was mostly trying to get new employment. Not enough Experience bias: A similar thing can be done for folks who don't have enough experience. If you are working in something else but trying to get a job in technology/IT, moonlight or trade with a friend or local business at a reduced rate. You'd be surprised at how much value you can get out of a trade. The only caveat being, make sure you do your best to honor the agreement. Don't treat it as a throw-away contract -which is also why you can/should be picky when offering services at a reduced rate. You will very likely want this person to be a reference for you when you go to get your next job. Make that clear and only trade with someone that you believe will keep up their end of the bargain. If you have family with their own business - seriously... go do website work or IT support for them and list that. Good luck out there.

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