Logs
Logs are short, quick 5-min blog posts. The main idea behind a Log is to get my ideas out there at a higher frequency so that it has a chance of helping others.
What do I learn today to get a dev job?May 21, 2020What do I learn today to get a dev job? Believe it or not, JavaScript and React are still the first things I would learn if I was starting from scratch. One could say - “JS and React have had a BOOM period for some time. They will come back to the…
You should google moreMay 20, 2020You should google more. I see this common in software development where when people are looking for a simple thing, they google often. “promise in javascript”
“HTML video tag” But when they are having trouble with some advanced topic, they don’t…
Taxes as a freelancer in IndiaMay 16, 2020Someone asked me about finance as a freelancer in India. I am not an accountant so take this with a grain of salt but here’s what I have learned in my time freelancing(contracting). India is one of the best countries for a freelancer because of the…
How to start open-source for experienced devsMay 13, 2020I got this question in my DM yesterday so here’s how I do it. (1) Contribute to something you use. If you have been a dev for some time, chances are you are using many things open source. Eg - youtube-dl, NextJS, ReactJS, Prettier. Even things that…
Use podcasts to stay updated as a software developerMay 12, 2020Use podcasts to stay updated as a software developer. Podcasts are the ONLY WAY to learn new things while doing passive activities like walking, driving, exercising, kitchen, and household work. They are now my preferred way to learn new things in…
How Pomodoro worksMay 11, 2020I have been recently exploring the Pomodoro Technique for working. Pomodoro is a scheduling technique where you Decide a task Work on it for 25 mins Take a break for 5 mins Again, work for 25 mins Then take a break for 5 mins And so on.. My issue…
The case for not learning VimMay 10, 2020The case for not learning vim Some people believe learning vim/emacs is the hallmark of being a good developer. And I would agree that they do help in better traversal and editing of code. But studies have revealed says that an average professional…
How to get an internship?May 09, 2020How to get an internship? Many college students are looking for an internship since their college is either paused or not much to do. The obvious way is to apply using sites like Internshala but I don’t know how good it is these days. However, you…
Tough loveMay 06, 2020When I first started with coding, I used to post my codes on a programming phpBB forum (yes those were quite popular back then). Every time I posted my code, there was this guy called “guest3456” who would find faults in my code and reply to my post…
How to make your job secureMay 02, 2020To have job security, let go of job security. Believe that you can be fired tomorrow, no matter how long you have been in this job. This forces you to not take your job for granted and perform better. The end result of this is that your job ends up…
Use same profile picture in all your profilesMay 01, 2020Personal Branding Tip Always use the same profile picture in all your Internet accounts that are part of your “brand". What do I mean by “brand” here? A brand is the face of a business. The job of a business is to provide services and products and…
How to get structured learning for freeApril 30, 2020I see students and professionals worrying about the money that they will have to spend on courses to learn a topic. No, you absolutely don’t need to do that. There are 2 great resources if you want structured learning of a topic. The first is…
5 major ideas behind writing clean codeApril 29, 2020Here are some KEY ideas behind writing clean code. I have kept the list small so that it's actionable. (1) Reduce comments to a minimum. Add comments only when needed as they take time to read. They can confuse the reader if they are not written…
Vetting a software developer fastApril 28, 2020Alternative ways to vet a software developer The most common ways to vet a software developer are algorithm tests, interviews, and resumes. But what about asking these questions. (1) Ask them to describe one tech/language/framework/library they…
Using IST as advantage to get US-based jobsApril 25, 2020When looking for a full-time role with a US client/company, usually IST (Indian Standard Timezone) is a disadvantage. Why? Because the timezones are opposite. When they wake, you sleep and vice versa. So you can’t work with their onsite team unless…
Most online certficates are worthlessApril 23, 2020(Most) online learning certificates have no value. In case this isn’t clear by now, let me repeat. Certificates have no value including the ones you get from expensive websites like Udacity. The employer hires you on the projects that you did to get…
How to get un-stuck while codingApril 22, 2020When working on a project where many details are unknown, we get stuck. We don’t know what to do next. This can be especially painful in async remote settings when your peers are not online to help you. Here are some strategies I use to get out of…
Thinking testing as insuranceApril 21, 2020Software Testing is a must but it’s surprising why so few developers do it. Why is software testing a must? Because it helps you ensure your code against certain bugs. Think of testing as insurance. Suppose you have insured your health, your life…
Making 2x-5x more money as a software developerApril 20, 2020I am not a fan of government jobs, especially in India. Almost 100% of the government employees I know cheat on their jobs. They do ‘meh’ to no work and still get the pay and then some. Government infrastructure is not efficient. It’s held together…
Government jobs are not a safe bet anymoreApril 18, 2020I am not a fan of government jobs, especially in India. Almost 100% of the government employees I know cheat on their jobs. They do ‘meh’ to no work and still get the pay and then some. Government infrastructure is not efficient. It’s held together…
Use videos when working remotelyApril 16, 2020Videos are an underused tool in remote work. With videos, you can do async demos. This is important for remote work where people are at different, sometimes opposite timezones. Videos can also work as a substitute for sitting down with someone in the…
Hiring relatively cheap and good programmersApril 14, 2020Hiring cheap and good programmers as a startup If you are on a budget but still need to hire a good programmer, you can try this. Go to Google Summer of Code website and look for recent programs (2019, 2018). Then go to the organization list of that…
Wealth and Health is freeApril 13, 2020Learning is free. You can learn 90% on most topics using free courses on edX, Coursera, Youtube. Creating is free. You can practice most of what you learn online. For free. Eg - If you are learning marketing, practice by writing a knowledge article…
Add value at all costsApril 11, 2020Worked with my US-based company's leadership team yesterday to deploy a critical COVID fix to their website. They were kind enough to ask if I would have problems working with them since it was night time for me. (11 pm in IST) But I told them it’s…
Don't throw data awayApril 10, 2020Don’t throw data away. This is a software engineering principle that doesn’t help often, but when it does, it saves you big. What do I mean? Eg - You are building a social network. A user is creating a post. For that action, many types of data are…
Not writing documentation is wasting moneyApril 08, 2020Write project documentation. It’s surprising but I still see projects, usually done by people who don’t have GitHub/open-source experience, that have no documentation at all. They do the project with their team passing knowledge IRL or in chat and…
Investing in self is better than stock marketApril 07, 2020This recession and stock market crash has taught me about not relying on the stock market. No, I am not fired but it can be painful to see your investments reduce by 20%. The stock market depends on others, not you. You can’t control the government…
Learning Vim should be worth itApril 03, 2020I have noticed that no one who manages to learn vim or emacs goes back. They never say, I have used vim but I like VSCode or Sublime Text more. No exceptions. Which means that there must be extreme value in vim. And also learning vim may look hard at…
Should you be a generalist or specialist in 2020?April 01, 2020I have been thinking about generalist v/s specialists. What should you be going into the 2020s? I think a specialist works great if you are working in a big company or you are an independent consultant. Eg - ReactJS Performance Consultant Social…
Take hard (impossible) tasks to growMarch 31, 2020Been working on a C++ service as part of my JavaScript developer job. Yes, this was not a part of my job description but I took it anyway and even promised to deliver it on time. Opportunities like this are interesting. On the one hand, it puts a…
Why you should do ethical hacking anyway?March 30, 2020I was looking into ethical hacking as I was interested in CyberSec and was looking for a practical way to get in. After some reading and playing around, I see its potential. It’s a great field to apply concepts from various domains of software…
How to get work from home jobsMarch 29, 2020I see some messages asking about how to get work from home (remote) jobs. Here is an exhaustive list. If you can code or design and are looking for a full-time or part-time job, try GoRemote, RemoteOK, AngelList and apply to remote jobs there. If you…
Staying updated as a developerMarch 27, 2020As a software developer, you need to stay updated. You need to know what’s new in tech. Thankfully, it’s not so difficult to do so. Follow technology accounts on Twitter Just search "JavaScript", "Python", "React" on Twitter and you will get…
Rate of LearningMarch 26, 2020Rate of learning: Twitter > Books > Schools & Colleges As a platform for education, Twitter is vastly underrated. If you are not on Twitter, you are missing out. Create an account and follow knowledgable people. Don't follow brands, celebs, news…
Be a specialist, strive to be a generalistMarch 24, 2020As a software engineer, you should be a specialist who strives to be a generalist. Why? Because being a specialist will only get you so far. If you are just the best React engineer there is, sure you can make big bucks coding React apps but you can’t…
If you are a remote worker, walkMarch 21, 2020Walk. Walking is the best way to feel better when working from home. Work-from-home can make you feel sad and depressed for no reason. You need to get out and get some fresh air to make you feel better. In fact, walking is better than a gym for…
How to survive COVID-19 recessionMarch 20, 2020Coronavirus couldn’t have picked a bad time to come. Markets were over-bought and the bull cycle was about to end. A recession is very much on the cards. Given that, I have already started taking precautions. Here is some advice on the same. Minimize…
Remote work is about async collaborationMarch 19, 2020Remote work is less about async communication and more about async collaboration. What is the difference? Let me explain. Even office workers can do async communication. They can message their boss they will be late. They can message their co…
Grow by picking projects you are not qualified to doMarch 18, 2020Picking projects you are not qualified to do is the easiest way to make your work life more stressful. But it also the fastest way to grow. I recently took a backend mini-project at work not knowing what was needed to be done. I assumed it would be a…
Entrepreneurship is a process of self-discoveryMarch 17, 2020Entrepreneurship is a process of self-discovery. With every side-project I launch hoping it will grow into something big, this becomes more evident. Yes, it can be mentally frustrating and you may miss out on key moments in your life. But the…
Cons of FreelancingMarch 16, 2020I got some DMs asking about the cons of freelancing. Freelancing is good if you are good at selling and like the opportunity of working with many clients. However, it has some issues which are quite common in the industry. Lack of regular work and…
I don't believe in years of experienceMarch 15, 2020I don’t believe in years of experience as a measure of someone’s professional abilities. Yes, it helps but it can’t be taken linearly as - 10 years of experience > 5 years of experience I see people having more than a decade of experience who are not…
Remote Work Communication TipsMarch 14, 2020Remote Work Communication Tips These are some of my best practices for communicating with a remote team. Use images where possible. A picture is worth 1000 words. Over-communicate and communicate often. Keep your grammar and spelling on point. You…
If you work from home, go outMarch 13, 2020If you work from home, make sure you go out once every few days. It's very easy to feel sick if you don't get the sun. And when you are sick, it's even more tempting to not go out. So go out to break this cycle. You will be glad you did it. I have…
Learning software development is cheapMarch 10, 2020You don’t need to get into a Coding Bootcamp to learn software development. Nor do you need a big investment. Check out these alternatives. Coursera - Coursera allows watching courses for free using the Audit option. You won’t get certificates but…
Pros and Cons of Working RemotelyMarch 09, 2020Want to know if remote work is for you? Here are the benefits of working remotely. Time Flexibility - Work when you want Location Flexibility - Work where you want Work Autonomy - Work how you want Work Choice - Work for whomever you want No…
Software stack to run a startup for freeMarch 06, 2020How to run a startup for free ($6/yr)? Use this stack. DynamoDB for database AWS Lambda for backend Netlify / Now / Surge for frontend S3 for file/image hosting Cloudinary for image hosting IFTTT to webhook for cron RedisLabs for queues, cache Figma…