Bas' Take on Tech: Tech Industry Economics, Cloud, Buzz, Roberto's Thoughts
Hi there,
thanks for reading my tech newsletter about the recent buzz, Python, and DevOps.
In this issue, Roberto Ierusalimschy gives an insight into the story of Lua and his lessons from the project.
Have a great week ahead!
đ˘ Tech Industry Economics
Economic indicators are again sending mixed signals. In the US, jobless claims are down again by 2,000, to 190k. At the same time, 10yr yield hits 4%.
The tech industry, however, is still struggling. As I pointed out in a recent issue of this newsletter, it might not be a real struggle but the aftermath of overhiring during the pandemic. Anyway, the current situation makes it hard for job seekers in this industry. Also startup founders are also in a bad position. CBInsights reported a pullback of funding by 35% in 2022.
Apart from the layoffs, there are reports of other cost-cutting initiatives. Amazon, for example, pauses the construction of their second headquarters in Virginia. Interestingly, Amazon/AWS are among the tech companies that actually increased the number of SWE jobs between Oct â22 and Jan â23. So, mixed signals everywhere.
If youâre looking for a new job in tech, I have good news and bad news for you: The bad news is the job as Twitterâs new CEO is already taken. Good news: The New York Times has a discussion with experts about where the jobs are. Also, Marc Andreessen doesnât expect AI to cause unemployment. â Of course, it wonât. In our society, we will always find ways to keep ourselves busy, right?
âď¸ Cloud / Systems
This week, I stumbled upon a lot of interesting stuff in the cloud/devops sphere.
First of all, letâs start with an article about the difference between SRE, Platform Engineering, and DevOps.
Another good resource for job hunters in that space is an in-depth article about the System Design Interview, and a beginnerâs guide to DevOps tools.
Google is betting on a multi-cloud infrastructure.
Also, I found an article about a Intel vs. ARM benchmark on AWS. Also, on AWS, developers are using more and more custom runtimes.
And, an interesting take about Developer Experience in larger scale projects: You donât need a Build Step.
đď¸ Buzz
M3 iMacs may launch this year, and Apple is reportedly on track to deliver 15â MacBook Airs this spring.
Match (parent company of dating apps like Hinge and Tinder) is testing a $500 monthly plan. Ouch!
Remember that Twitter prank where someone impersonated Eli Lilly with a Twitter Blue checkmark and sent their stock price south because of a fake announcement of reducing costs for insulin? Well, now it seems they are reducing the price, for real.
đ Interesting Reads
Youâre old. But are you this old? â âThe SCO lawsuit, 20 years laterâ.
An interesting take on how smartphones impact mental health, I stumbled upon Noahâs musings, âHonestly, it's probably the phonesâ, which also have been picked up by Paul Graham.
As if the impact of the web wasnât already âimmersiveâ enough, I came across this article: âCould we make the web more immersive using a simple optical illusion?â
đ Robertoâs Perspective
Roberto Ierusalimschy is a Professor of Computer Science and is best known for Lua, an embedded programming language he created 30 years ago. I asked him about the backstory of Lua and what he had learned from the project. Here is his answer:
I did a consulting job in collaboration with the University and the Brazilian Oil Company 30 years ago. We needed a solution for data entry and validation. At first, it wasn't intended to become a programming language. Extending requirements, like adding basic arithmetic expressions, made it so. However, I always emphasized simplicity.
Lua is now the main project I work on. As a Professor for CS, I have seen a lot of languages.
I do not believe there is that one silver bullet. So, maybe what I learned is that: Know your tools and pick the right one. For any use case, there is a language that does the job best. Use this and get into the details. There is no point in using just a subset of your chosen tools â it will become a problem when collaborating with others or using 3rd party libraries.
đ What else?
I have changed this newsletter from âoccasionalâ to at least once every two weeks. The new format not only contains curated news and insights from the tech world but also sets the stage for fellow developers.Â
I will ask people about their journeys in the tech world and also in life. Iâm pretty sure there is much to learn from listening to other peopleâs experiences, and I am excited to share that with you!Â
Of course, I need your help with this.Â
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Best,