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scottc

162 karma · joined November 11, 2012

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scottc··on Grist – Open core alternative to Airtable and Google Sheets
This looks like just what I needed when I built my "admin ui" last year.

Instead of building an admin ui with Django or similar, I encourage you to just stick with a web-based spreadsheet for your internal users (if you have a small team, technical teammates, startup, etc).

scottc··on Facebook staff now to be known as “Metamates”
Lol glad I was not alone.
scottc··on RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex
What's the diff? I love regexr and credit that site to my finally understanding regex.

In fact, I was just on it this morning!

scottc··on Node-Red
Would anyone here want a cloud-hosted hosted version of node-red? Like a PaaS for node-red?
scottc··on VS Code extensions for web development in 2022
In addition to this list, for those doing node monorepos in 2022, the extensions that I think you must use are:

  - Github copilot - like autocomplete on steroids.
  - peacock - change the workspace color - helps reduce mental load when working on different projects.
  - tag autorename - this should be built into vscode, saves a bunch of keystrokes
  - snippets - this is a category of extension. Find whichever snippet lib is out there for your stack.
scottc··on Rails 7 Released
Interesting read. Do you recommend a resource to learn rails for the reactjs developer? Seems like only the opposite exist nowadays.

As someone who created their app in Next.js this year, I can tell you the Node.js ecosystem is in absolute shambles. We are making a WYSIWYG / ecommerce platform for authors, so we need the ability to make and preview live changes.

After finishing our MVP with a no-code solution, we decided to move to a custom Next.js app in as little time as possible. Big mistake. I had the urge to dig into Rails but I was much more comfortable in React. That being said, it's been a nightmare dealing with package upgrades, ESM vs CJS, running tests, adding Typescript, etc.

I believe, for example, creating the preview component would have been significantly faster in Rails than Next.js.

Recently we migrated to Next.js v12 for speed improvements. So many roadblocks. It took forever to debug. Again, mostly due to dependency resolution issues.

Blitz.js is supposedly going to be the Rails of JS but there is no way they'll ever have the support that either Next or Rails will receive.

scottc··on Postgres audit tables saved us from taking down production
Anyone here more experienced than me in CQRS care to weigh the pros and cons betweens these two patterns?
scottc··on Don't build a general-purpose API to power your own front end
I just built my MVP in a Next.js monorepo. We built the mvp in a few weeks and actually landed some real customers with it.

But I knew doing it in Rails or Django would've been faster, but I haven't got enough experience with either.

Let's say I want to create my app in Rails (or django). I don't need it to be pixel perfect, but I do want some flexibility around the UI. ActiveRecod is fine. Can I just plug this into the admin and customize as I see fit? I know Django has a built-in Admin, does Rails?

FWIW, I have used Django (without the admin) and tried learning Rails several years ago but it was too overwhelming for me. Rack middleware, the ruby syntax, the conventions—all of it seemed over my head. But if I can learn redux, react, etc, I feel like I can do Rails too.

Do you have any recommendations on resources? I want to learn how to make something that looks really good, is convention-based, lets me plug in my custom code when needed, and lets me prototype fast as hell.

scottc··on Ask HN: What do I move on to from Django?
If you're just using graphql on the front end, then Gatsby.js is a rapid way to setting up a react app. I highly recommend it.
scottc··on I Spent $6M on Google Ads Last Year
Ok I have another question. On social platforms like facebook, whenever the creatives are refreshed, the ad set is put back into a "learning phase", which we're told to avoid.

So what is the best way to iterate on new creatives without re-entering the learning phase?

scottc··on SQL queries don't start with SELECT
> "Start with FROM."

Interesting because LINQ starts the same way, or at least that's how I remember it.

scottc··on C# 6.0: An Introduction
Dang, c# looks so awesome! Was super interested in using for our most recent project, but alas, we chose python.

Looking forward to using these features someday but I'll pass on Windows and Azure for now.

scottc··on Stack Exchange Raises $40M Led by A16Z to Boost Its Programmer Forums
I had a great experience about 3 years ago. It was amazing.

First, SO Careers 1.0 came to a halt, they made a few changes in 2.0, they changed it to an invite-only system as opposed to a premium subscription service. They best part of all, they reimbursed everyone who had previously paid. Here was the blog post about it: http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/02/careers-2-0-launches/

It was great, I was getting several requests per week for a while, and it even helped me land a job across the country.

All that being said, I haven't kept my SO Careers profile up to date lately, and haven't had many inquiries in a while.

I do highly recommend it.

scottc··on Why I Left the .NET Framework
It needs to be mentioned, if not for comments here then at least the comments on his own blog, that the author was not someone who simply dabbled in .NET and is trying to bash it for the sake of bashing something. The author, Johnathan Oliver (no, not that one), is an absolute authority on distributed architecture and created what became one of the biggest open-source projects in .NET (https://github.com/NEventStore/NEventStore - originally joliver/eventstore).

His work had a significant impact on my adoption of CQRS and Event Sourcing, patterns that are becoming very popular in Java, Scala, .NET, and to my surprise, Node. I've been happily programming in python for the last year and happy to see CQRS is starting to get more recognition in the community. I'm going to do what I can to help build its momentum, but it certainly doesn't have the same adoption compared to the .NET community.

So, when someone who has done so much work in the framework starts to question it, I will certainly give their opinion some thought instead of firing a retort:

> It's OK to rant but at least get your facts straight. The rest of your rant looks quite foolish as well. For example, firing up a Windows VM is rather fast if you try it in Azure.

scottc··on Celery – Best Practices
I'll check this out. I recently started looking around for an alternative to celery. I literally just got over a celery-related bug that took way too long to diagnose and one that took even longer on my previous project.

I'm not very happy with the community either. What with the dispersed, incomplete documentation, multiple discussion forums, and snide responses, I'm really getting ready to wash my hands of it.

scottc··on Angular JS Kinda Sucks
Look, no one disagrees that learning angular and putting together an SPA requires a lot of brain power.

But creating a data-driven, non-trivial web app in pure jQuery is probably going to take much, much more.

scottc··on Show HN: SQL to Mongo Query Translator
Came here to mention the aggregation framework. +1
scottc··on Thinking of creating or joining a startup? Run through this questionnaire first.
This youtube video digs into the questions a bit more. http://youtu.be/AEZejqNNV00.
scottc··on Ask HN: How to find an idea for a product / genuine need?
Hey so I posted a video that talks about validating ideas. There is a link to a big list of questions I've compiled.
scottc··on Ask HN: How to find an idea for a product / genuine need?
I'll be posting a video about this tomorrow/Tuesday so hopefully you can wait till then. Definitely start by googling "lean startup machine validation board". Watch those videos.
scottc··on Looking for a Technical Co-Founder
Hey,

Just curious if this idea has been validated yet. Three months is quite a lot of time to spend on research - I'm curious if you have validated that people would use it.

I'd be interested in hearing about the research. The question I have is, why did you compile so much information? You mentioned 130 pages... that just seems like a lot for someone familiar with "Lean Startup" methodology.

Also, what is the idea? I don't need all the details, but I hope you can disclose the basic premise.

scottc··on Ask HN: How to find an idea for a product / genuine need?
Well, first off, you're already on the right track. So many "entrepreneurs" start off with some idea and try to make problems "fit" this idea. You've started by trying to first identify problems.

Disclaimer: I'm pretty new to this too.

I obtain ideas by talking to friends/family about areas they're expert in. Sometimes I'll bounce ideas off of people in my network. Sometimes I'll check out stuff from http://ideaswatch.com too.

Then I'll try to minimally validate the idea and run through my "filter". It's a list of questions and validation methods I've obtained from the web.

Example: A couple weeks ago I talked to a friend about improving comic book store inventory systems. So I went to the local comic shop, and spent some time talking to the owner about his story - how he opened the store.

I mentioned I am a web developer and like solving problems. I asked if we could meetup the next day and discuss some of his day-to-day problems in the shop.

Well we did meetup and it turns out he doesn't really have problems in regard to inventory management (but does in other areas).

This is just my approach but I'd love to hear what does and doesn't work for you in the future.