DEV Community: Blake Campbell

Tracing vs Transformation for developers

Blake Campbell — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 21:09:51 +0000

With millions of tutorials, Twitter threads, and clones of projects, there's a clear distinction between tracing and transformation.

Tracing

Tracing has its time and place. If you are examining how an application was built, understanding syntax, and so on. Wordle, Flappy Bird, and Todo List clones have value for beginners.

Revenue in this space is sparse and scrappy, but some clones have gotten traction and made tons of money.

Is it right to monetize it? In my opinion: Not really, but I'm not a cop.

Transformation

Transformation is a substantial difference, like AskJeeves vs. Google or Facebook vs. MySpace. Transformation falls into two phases: Minor or Major.

Minor transformation is more than slight tweaks or coloring outside the lines. Adding six letters to the Wordle game instead of 5 is more like tracing. Making it a PWA is more a transformation, in my opinion. Learning is more abundant than purely Tracing. Tutorials should encourage this, expanding the idea past the end. It's small and meaningful changes.

Major Transformation is much more complex—AskJeeves vs. Google or Facebook vs. MySpace. The idea is the same but a constant refinement of critical points. It's easy to see some inspiration, but the list of differences is vast and expanding.

Closing

There will always be those tracing others' projects and making cash or getting clout. It's part of the process now. Tracing isn't going to make a lasting product or great developers. It's mostly laziness or lack of creativity.

Lasting products or ideas either fit into Major Transformation or Creation. Creation is much more challenging.

Suppose you're interested in reading more about Creation. I highly recommend the book Zero to One.

I'll leave you with two questions:

Is this Tracing or a Transformation?
Does it matter if it's Open-Source? Uses Tech the Original vs Tech Blogs, Launched on Product Hunt

Sorry for The Office memes, but it's a really good show.

How to make teams more productive (WDS #3)

Blake Campbell — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 15:35:54 +0000

Disclaimer this is 100% satire. For fun on a Friday (Web Dev Satire #3)

Everyone wants to be more productive

Managers might try to block off time to focus on coding or keep you out of meetings. This is the worst way to have a productive team.

Here's an outline for any manager trying to squeeze some more code out of developers.

Outline

More Meetings

I'm not just talking about more meetings, though that is part of it. We want meetings with no clear goal and scattered no more than two hours apart. This ensures that developers are hyper-focused for that two-hour gap.

The less clear the meeting is, the better. Developers are natural problem solvers. Help them work out those muscles with practice. Title your sessions vaguely "Afternoon Debug" or "Productive Morning meeting."

Code fast

This is what we are after, a short, sweet code. It makes sense that we need short-sweet time to accomplish our goals. Why write tests or dig into details of the code? Developers don't make mistakes.

Switch Systems Slowly and often

Change is good as long as it's drawn out. If you're using Slack, switch to Microsoft Teams. Make sure you don't do this all at once. It should be a month or two processes where developers need to respond to messages in both at any given time.

While doing this, transfer other internal systems. Shock and awe your developers with the amount of unnecessary change.

This is the ideal workday. You make not like it, but this is peak performance.

In case it isn't clear by now, this is satire! Happy Friday, and keep coding! :)

Sublime Text 4 is here, can it convert you? (Snack Pack #6)

Blake Campbell — Fri, 21 May 2021 15:42:21 +0000

It hasn't converted me.

Benefits Large files and memory

VSCode is without a doubt a fantastic experience when you get your workflow set up. VSCode also is a memory hog in comparison to Sublime Text 4.

Not an extensive test.

My VSCode has extensions running vs. a clean install of Sublime Text 4. The same project and tabs are open in each editor.

The difference in memory is vast.

This doesn't bug me. My laptop has plenty of memory to use. If your workstation is limited, it's worth the mention. VSCode also has many more things I use, from the git integration to a snippet library I've written. Again not a fair comparison for memory usage.

My history with Text editors

Sublime Text 2 -> Atom -> VSCode

Starting with Sublime then moving to Atom. Atom was my favorite for years with the extensions. I even bought the coffee mug.

After arriving at VSCode, I don't think I'm changing anytime soon. There are too many tools and plugins that make my job easier. There are a million articles about the extension marketplace and making your own.

When would I switch full-time?

Honestly, if Sublime Text integrated with VSCode's marketplace, that'd be the only thing to get me to switch. I'm not even sure if that's possible, but my entire flow has been built around VSCode.

Even then, I need to buy a license.

What do you think about the new version of Sublime Text? Is it worth the download?

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff and provide actionable items.

The truth about Open Source Developers. (WDS #2)

Blake Campbell — Fri, 14 May 2021 15:49:52 +0000

Disclaimer this is 100% satire. For fun on a Friday (Web Dev Satire #2)

Open Source developers make a lot

As you can see from this chart, I didn't exaggerate that open-source developers make way more than FAANG Developers. This might be the single driving factor in deciding to make a project open-source.

It's the fastest and most secure way to grab the bag and start buying houses like it's Monopoly. Anyone who tells you Open-source developers don't make this much, well, those are paid actors.

OS developers love vague issues

One of the best ways to support OS is making vague issues that don't relate to the project. Got to keep those developers on their toes. Sometimes they get lonely. Remind them that you care, just not enough to duplicate the issue or provide any practical information. If you include a version number, you've gone too far.

Complain and add nothing on an open issue

If you do find a valid issue on Github, complain. Dog-pile on it as much as you can.

Here are some phrases the OS developers love:

"This is stupid, why does it work this way?"
"Same"
"The docs are useless"
"Can you fix this today?"
"Help." (That's the entire comment)

Rant about GitHub activity

Why are you making a billion dollars a year when you only commit a few times? Who cares about raising money so you can keep the project alive, I want my free project now!

Star the project and keep moving, even if you work at a Fortune 500 company

Source: David K Piano go give him a follow on Twitter. This picture is too good not to include.

Bonus points if you can get your company to send a box of chocolates or a few stickers to that project the company depends on. The margins are so razor-thin for F500 companies that a box of chocolates might be a stretch.

In case it isn't clear by now, this is satire! Web Dev has gotten so full of uninformed opinions, I thought I'd poke some fun. To all Open-source developers, you're great. The community wouldn't be the same without you! Happy Friday!

Some of my favorite OS Developers. Thank you!
Henry at BabelJS
Evan You of VueJS
Guillaume Chau of VueJS

Real of open source developers

5 Reasons Tailwind might not be the right choice. (WDS #1)

Blake Campbell — Fri, 07 May 2021 15:47:33 +0000

Disclaimer this is 100% satire. For fun on a Friday (Web Dev Satire #1)

1) The license is too controlling

The fact I have to sign a blood contract to use Tailwind is baffling. I'm hoping this is fixed in a future release. Until then, I'm trying to skate by, but Adam Wathan keeps calling me.

2) Readability

My vision is pretty good with my glasses, but Tailwind's docs' most recent update recommends not looking at your code. Instead, you need to feel your code through your fingertips. I keep trying, but every time I look up, my code is a mess. It's not my fault. It's Tailwinds.

3) Not enough Support

The TailwindUI team is not putting out enough content. Components for React & Vue. What about components for AngularJS 1.X? Not to mention it doesn't support currently support Netscape browser, the largest browser of 1996. There are no plans to support Netscape in the future. It's disappointing.

4) Tailwind is forcing me to use it

Despite how much I hate Tailwind. I have to use it; there are no alternatives out there. If only there was some way I could use some other sort of styling. I'd name it CSS, Cascading Style Sheets; it would be revolutionary. Alas, there is nothing else I can use.

5) There aren't enough articles bashing Tailwind.

Every article I see about Tailwind is by people who completely understand it and love it. Where are all the naysayers? Its clear Tailwind is brainwashing developers. They won't get me and my tinfoil hat anytime soon.

In case it isn't clear by now, this is satire! Web Dev has gotten so full of uninformed opinions, I thought I'd poke some fun. To the Tailwind team, you're great. To the people who hate Tailwind, cool. Happy Friday!

Clean up my git (Snack Pack #5)

Blake Campbell — Tue, 04 May 2021 14:43:54 +0000

Git Repo maintenance

If you've been working on any repo for an extended amount of time, you may have saved a million branches that have already been merged. It is time to clean all those old ones out.

The commands we'll be using.

# Removes references from branches that are no longer on the origin
git remote prune origin

Note this next part will depend on your main branch's name. If you haven't yet, then you should rename master to main. See below for how to.

# Lists all the branches that have been merged into main and remove them
git branch --merged main | grep -v '^[ *]*main$' | xargs git branch -d

Wrap it all up.

The last step is relatively easy. Combine it into your .zshrc or .bashrc. I'm sure there's a Windows and Linux equivalent, but I'm using macOS.

alias cleanUpMyGit="git remote prune origin ; git branch --merged master | grep -v '^[ *]*master$' | xargs git branch -d"

Go ahead and restart your terminal, then try it out in a repo directory.

$ cleanUpMyGit

Afterward, you should see a list of the branches removed by the command. Happy Coding!

References:

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff and provide actionable items.

Are Default Params in JavaScript bad? (Snack pack #4)

Blake Campbell — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 01:52:58 +0000

Not if it's still passed

Take this example:

I wrote this function well over two years ago. It just pops up a notification if the user makes a CRUD call. (Create, Read, Update Delete). The function only takes two defined parameters a message and a notification.

The notification parameter is a boolean.

notification = true // notify user by a pop-up
notification = false // inline-notification by form button, or in a defined space

Looking back at this function, it could be much better.

Instead of a notification boolean, it can be notification style as a string.
Call with the second parameter everywhere

Back to the question: Default Params in JS bad?

I think so if I'm not explicitly calling with all the params of a function. It's okay to have a fallback, but don't depend on it!

Why?

It's leaves technical debt.
How is another developer supposed to know what parameters are passed if they only see a partial picture?
My boolean parameter is bad in this case.

How I refactored this function:

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff or BS.

Feedback is always welcome.

Overlooked design, blank states. (Snack Pack #3)

Blake Campbell — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 02:20:36 +0000

State not found

Often as developers, we know how our application functions and moves. My grandmother won't know why "her phone is broken" without some help. Design it for her.

Most users aren't as technical as you.

Design shouldn't need an explanation, it should be simple. If the app doesn't give users feedback, it isn't working.

What's the difference between a search with no results and an error? How will your user know the difference?

A "perceived bug" is a bug, it's just a design bug.

Examples of blank states

User searches for something that doesn't exist.
User has an empty table without content.
Placeholders or labels aren't clear or they are hidden while input is focused.

These are all frustrating points for a user.

Visual blank state example

Spotify:
Imagine searching for a song and Spotify gives you a blank screen with no feedback on what happened.

Always give users feedback

Additional Resources

I highly recommend Refactoring UI. I'm not the best designer, but this book has helped me a lot in how I think about UI/UX.

Refactoring UI: https://refactoringui.com/
Here's an article describing more about blank states: https://www.innertrends.com/blog/blank-state-examples

Closing

Go and make better blank states!

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff, BS, or needless clickbait.

What is your favorite blank state?

Facebook's animated cards while loading
Twitter's "What's happening?" text area for blank tweets
Is there a really good one I'm missing?

Questions make you a better developer (Snack Pack #2)

Blake Campbell — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 23:29:51 +0000

Photo is of Phipps in Pittsburgh, PA

Ask better questions

What makes a good question?

Questions are complex and strange. A bad question won't get you much, a short incomplete answer maybe. A great question can get you a lot further.

Great questions will have at least one of three things.

Specificity, but not too much.
Phrasing, go in with a better mentality.
Curiosity, ask questions that can be hard.

Specificity

It's easy to see how vague questions have issues. Breaking down larger questions is part of being a developer.

EX: Googling something

How do I code a giant project? // It's too vague, break it down
How do I add to an array in JavaScript? // Much better, actionable

Phrasing

The phrasing might be the most important of this list, you should always look to communicate clearly.

EX: When looking at a project's old code

Why would you code it like this? // Negative phrasing 
How can this code be improved? // Better phrasing

Curiosity

Finally, curiosity will bring it all together. These will be questions mostly for yourself. It's hard to have bad questions here, you will still learn.

EX: When asking questions to yourself

How do I become a developer? // Good
How do I become a better developer? // Good
How do I make an existing project a PWA? // Also good

Good luck with whatever you're working on and ask better questions!

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff or BS.

Feedback is always welcome.

Better readme in 5 minutes. (Snack Pack #1)

Blake Campbell — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 23:51:26 +0000

Documentation is an easy win

Readmes are often overlooked, abandoned, or forgotten entirely. Don't let a pour readme sour a good project.

A good readme is easy. First off this is just a starting point, there's always room to improve a readme. Here's how I start all my projects.

- Project Details 
  - Who is the project for? 
  - What does it do?
- Set up
  - How can I get someone up and running on this project? 
- Tech behind the project.
  - What frameworks/technologies are we using?
- Architecture 
  - How is the folder structure laid out? Just big picture stuff
- Testing / Formatting
  - Do you have formatting or testing and how is it enforced?
- FAQs
  - What's confusing about this project and why?

My template for new Readmes:

https://gist.github.com/BlakeCampbells/58b72751eae87f6891d0fc357298e299

Additional Resources

https://gist.github.com/PurpleBooth/109311bb0361f32d87a2
https://github.com/RichardLitt/standard-readme

My snack pack reads are intended for a quick read without any fluff or BS.

Feedback is always welcome.

Readme for a Productive 2021

Blake Campbell — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 01:09:56 +0000

I recently wrote in a #devdiscuss about motivation

Take days off, don't burn out
Have a project you enjoy
Learn on your own
Ask for help if you need it

I should expand on it quite a bit. For reference, I've been a Remote Developer since 2014. It's lonely and frustrating, staying productive can be tough. These are just my general observations to try to help.

Prep Work, pick a theme (optional)

Start by picking a yearly theme instead of a goal.

For References: Yearly Themes explained by CGP Grey

Example: I want to save $X amount this year, changes to the year of Finance. It's less a pass or fails like specific goals and more of a did you improve.

My theme for 2021 is The Year of Refinement, some things that apply to my theme are less time on social media, more time writing posts, becoming more active. All those things become encapsulated in my theme.

Having a theme to focus on makes it easier to review the progress over the year.

Into the mandatory

Organize

If you have a home office, clean it. Those old downloads that have been on your computer for 2 years, remove them. I'm no Marie Kondo, but a neat workspace is a big relief. Begin 2021 on a "clean" slate, you never know what's going to happen.

Does this bring me joy?

Schedule off time

Don't fall into the trap of always busy is always good. Take time off for yourself when you need to. Reduce eye strain and get a hobby away from the computer if you want.

Taking breaks increases productivity: Source

Your Project and learning

Having a project that is uniquely yours is healthy. You get to decide what it is, what you want it to do. Design, code, build. As a developer, not much of a designer it's nice to have tools out there like Tailwind. Learning will always be part of the web, embrace it.

A few years ago I needed to learn AngularJS 1.X, I joke about it now, but it made learning VueJS a few months later easy for a side project. If you have good fundamentals you'll adapt better in the future.

Asking for Help and Feedback

Spinning your wheels and getting frustrated is a spot every developer has been in. Don't be ashamed of it. I've been lucky enough to work with amazing people who will take time and talk through a problem. There are discords/slack channels/StackOverflow and of course DevTo.

You can get feedback, but don't ask without trying first.

Please leave me feedback on how I can improve these posts moving forward.

Up next: Tools and resources for 2021