DEV Community: Nandini S Hinduja

Websites for project based learning in software development

Nandini S Hinduja — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Freecodecamp
Codecademy
Datacamp
Udacity
Coursera

tips to solve errors/bugs

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 10:03:02 +0000

take a walk
take a break
take a shower
have a snack
take a nap
chatgpt/claude/deepseek/gemini
ask another developer
youtube/github/stackoverflow

tips to not break production

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 10:02:15 +0000

test thoroughly
have others test the app before releasing
check if new features haven't broken existing ones
make smaller deployments
get the code reviewed before deploying

how to manage personal tasks if you have long working hours

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 10:00:54 +0000

utilize travelling time.
utilize break time at work.
take enough rest at night so that you're more energetic during the day even after you reach home from work.
increase iron intake, this will ensure that you're not tired after you reach home and so you can do personal tasks once you reach home.

What is spaced repetition?

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:59:55 +0000

Spaced repetition is a study technique where instead of studying or revising the same material every day, we leave a gap of few days before revisiting the same material

This strengthens neural pathways associated with that material in the brain.

Spaced repetition leverages the neuroplasticity of the brain.

This technique works best if we try to actively recall the information instead of simply reading it.

AI in Coding

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:55:36 +0000

With the rise of AI, coding is one of the fields that is affected - both positively and negatively.

Now more than ever, it has become much easier to code and launch software products within days instead of weeks or months.

But since AI can generate code, the need for entry level developers has vanished.

To stay relevant in this market, here are some things you can do:

Be versatile. Try to learn and execute in different technologies and programming languages/frameworks.
Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty with new things.
Be dynamic. Do frontend, backend, mobile, cloud - all types of coding.
Dive into AI development, AR/VR and other emerging technologies.
Explore new concepts, keep learning and executing.
Use AI as a tool to generate code but think of the logic and design the system on your own.
Use AI for generating code initially, but take more control once the application becomes mature.

Do you agree? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

AI Workshop

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:46:49 +0000

I recently attended an AI workshop conducted by The Economic Times and GrowthSchool and here are some of the things I learnt in the two day online live masterclass:

How to automate social media content creation using AI?
How to make video advertisements using AI?
How to build AI Voice Agents?
How to build custom GPTs?
What are the different types of prompting techniques?
How to build web apps using AI?
How to do cold outreach by using AI?
Different AI tools which can be used for writing, research, excel, product management, summarization of pdfs/docs, music generation, image generation, data analytics, YouTube video summarization, etc.
The process behind how LLMs actually work.
Applications of ML and DL.
Evolution of AI.
How to become an AI generalist?

How I go about system design while building software systems

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:42:58 +0000

Gather requirements
Draw frontend screens
Write down all the APIs I'll need
Write down collections of the database and what fields each collection will have
Write down the names of screens I'll develop

What's your system design process?

Let us know in the comments!

How I use AI to build frontend systems

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:41:27 +0000

In the prompt, I describe the screen, send the APIs to which calls have to be made in the screen, send the relevant structs and API routes.

How I use AI for building backend software:

Writing prompts for APIs I want. I describe each API, what it will take, what it will give, how it will work, etc. I also send the struct details in the prompt.

How do you use AI to build software products?

How to become a top 1% software developer?

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:37:12 +0000

Build whole systems from scratch.
Take ownership of the products you work in.
Do frontend, backend, deployment, testing, maintenance - everything.
Coordinate with stakeholders to understand their requirements.
Take on responsibilities to manage/lead/guide other developers.
Contribute to open source.
Do LeetCode.
Learn a variety of programming languages and frameworks.
Do online tech courses.
Publish tech research papers, articles, blog posts.
Post tech content on social media.
Learn different software development domains like web, mobile, AR, VR, AI, etc.
Participate in hackathons, coding competitions, etc.
Teach coding via workshops, courses, webinars, tutoring, etc.
Do freelance software development gigs.
Get a tech degree.

What is API Versioning?

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:31:30 +0000

API Versioning is when instead of editing an existing API, you create a new version of it so that existing users don't get affected as well as you can still inculcate the new functionalities so that the users having the new version of the app will be able to use it.

This is done when you are changing a data type or adding a new variable or deleting existing variables, etc.

It's an important practice to keep in mind to not break production.

Workplace Ethics

Nandini S Hinduja — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:00:49 +0000

Someone I know forged attendance records for weeks, possibly months. Their log in time in the WhatsApp attendance group was 9:30 am but in the actual biometric device, their log in time was 9:50 am.

They also left early on several days after taking permission from the manager but never documented it in the attendance group (only 2 hours of permission is allowed per month).

And they took second half leaves and did not document it in the WhatsApp attendance group and did not log out in the biometric device on those specific days.

Do you think what they did was unethical? Do you think what they did was fraud?

And the company did not take any action on them.

Do you think that is morally responsible?

This leaves me with these questions for the person involved:

Is your character's worth equivalent to half a day's salary?
Can you sleep at night knowing that you cheated the very people you spent the whole day with?
Do you think it is fair that you get away with such things whereas other people honestly track their time, hours and leaves?

This leaves me with these thoughts regarding the person involved:

Did they grow up thinking that unethical things are okay as long as you don't get caught?
Are their actions a direct reflection of their upbringing?
In their mind, do they think they did not do anything wrong? Maybe because they have done it so many times and haven't gotten caught.

And these are my thoughts about the way the management handled the situation:

Is inaction in such a situation a result of a lack of moral courage?
Is it fair to other employees who are honest?
Inaction in such a situation creates resentment among honest people.
Inaction in such a situation is a way to reward dishonesty and punish honesty.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Martin Luther King Jr