How laypeople try (and fail) to design LLM prompts
Coming up with good prompts for LLMs like ChatGPT can be quite a challenge. This study sheds some light on what makes it so hard.
The Toilet Paper
Can a good philosophical contribution be made just by asking a question?
How long does it take for a child to pass a LEGO figurine head?
This is a summary of a paper that poses a simple question and uses a simple method to find a simple answer.
There is a time and place for log statements, but when and where?
Logging statements can be very valuable for various reasons, but aren’t entirely free of cost. What’s the best way to use them?
What makes developers tick (like a time bomb)
Happy workers are productive workers. Limiting unhappiness can be a good way to increase the happiness of your workers.
Defining the public value of public service media
Public service media exist because they provide value to the general public (who also happen to pay for them).
Best practices for infrastructure-as-code (IaC) scripts
This week’s paper presents a catalogue of best practices for infrastructure as code programs.
“How is your thesis going?”
Many PhD students suffer from mental health issues. This study investigates the underlying reasons and explores potential interventions.
Enhancing the pull request experience with meta-bots
Pull request bots can provide both maintainers and contributors with a lot of useful information, but sometimes less is more.
Portrayal of Tetrarchic rule in the Roman Empire
For a long time, the Roman Empire was ruled by just one man. This all changed when emperor Diocletian ascended to the throne.
Effectively onboarding newcomers into agile project teams
A qualitative case study shows how we can design a smooth onboarding experience for agile software development teams.
Proactively detect and fix flaky tests in your test suite
Proactive detection of NIO tests makes it possible to fix flaky tests before they ever cause any problems.
Make your hiring process a positive experience for everyone
Leaky hiring pipelines are expensive. This paper presents guidelines that can make them more transparent, fair, and inclusive.
What makes a team good at Scrum?
Apparently a team is good at applying Scrum when it does what the Scrum guide says it should do.
Why is everyone on TikTok?
TikTok has become incredibly popular in a short time. What sets it apart from other platforms, other than its Chinese ownership?
Migrating pods between Kubernetes nodes (without killing them)
When you move a pod to another node, Kubernetes creates a new pod and kills the original. Is there a more humane way?
How to stimulate creativity and innovation in distributed journalistic teams
Psychological safety and good use of technology can make journalists more creative and innovative.
How to write good commit messages
In today’s “Things That People Don’t Want To Bother With” blog we’re having a look at commit messages and how to write them.
Calculating the bus factor
The bus factor is a measure of how screwed a software project is when a member suddenly leaves. How should it be calculated?
What does toxicity look like in open-source projects?
Toxicity in open source differs from toxicity on other platforms like Reddit or Wikipedia in unexpected ways.
Bad practices in continuous integration pipelines and processes
This catalogue of 79 bad smells can help you make your continuous integration processes less shitty.
The product backlog
This paper shows that not every paper needs a long, overly descriptive title. It’s about product backlogs.
Cargo-cult containerisation
Containers are often used for development and deployment of server-side software. For good reason or are we all just cargo culting?
Cargo cults in software engineering
Imitating others who are successful looks good on paper, but in reality only works when one understands the “why” behind those actions.