This is a follow-up to my "Multisort via Composition" post, and won't make sense if you haven't read that post.

When sorting on a single dimension, changing the sort direction can usually be handled by changing the sorter function directly.

const data = [33, 1, 95, 77, 54, 91, 38, 89, 48, 24]

// ascending
data.sort((a, b) => a - b)

// descending
data.sort((a, b) => b - a)

making this act dynamically based on some external input can be reasonably handled by updating the function as well:

const ascending = getAscending() // true or false
data.sort((a, b) =>
    ascending
        ? a - b
        : b - a
)

This works fine for a single sorter, but quickly becomes untenable once multiple sorting dimensions are used:

Read More ⇨

Sorting a collection of data in a single dimension is pretty straightforward in most programming languages. It's quite common to use some sort of comparison interface that exposes a function with two parameters of the type being sorted, and expected return values of -1, 0, or 1.

For example, JavaScript has Array.prototype.sort, C# has IComparer, and PHP has usort.

This works quite well when you want to sort on a single property:

Read More ⇨

I recently saw Amber Weinberg's tweet after it blew up on twitter:

I refuse to use Sass
I refuse to use React
I refuse to use Redux

I’m still here and still have plenty of clients who appreciate clear, clean code.

— Amber Weinberg (@amberweinberg) December 1, 2017

My gut reaction was that it was a bit harsh to those of us who choose to use Sass, React, or Redux. It implies that anyone who uses those tools isn't writing clear, or clean code, which explains why so many front-end developers collectively flipped thier shit at it.

But seeing as Amber's a WordPress developer, it entirely makes sense to me that she would have no use for React and Redux. I can even see why she'd avoid Sass too*. The types of problems best solved by a WordPress site do not necessitate any use of React or Redux.

Read More ⇨

Joel Spolsky recently tweeted a message about some phrasing in a question that was a strong indicator that the question was inappropriate for Stack Overflow.

buddy if your stackoverflow question includes the words "I want to make some kind of programming" you might be asking on the wrong site

— Joel Spolsky (@spolsky) November 28, 2017

to my surprise, this elicited some strong reactions from other developers chastising him for turning away beginners from the site.

Here's the thing about Stack Overflow:

Read More ⇨

When writing release notes or changelog entries it's important to keep some things in mind. First and foremost it is important to be aware of who the release notes are for.

Release notes are not for you...now.

Release notes are for future you.

Release notes are for a user who wants to know what the latest updates are.

Release notes are for a stressed-out colleague who's trying to narrow down when they think a particular breaking change might have occurred.

Identifying the personas of the people who will be reading release notes is important so as to effectively communicate with them. If you don't understand your audience you may end up losing them.

If you write bad release notes for a product, you may frustrate your users into finding an alternative solution that feels more stable, or is more predictable.

If you write bad release notes for a client, you may end up confusing or angering them.

If you write bad release notes for your team, you may end up alienating your maintainers and slow the pace of progress.

Read More ⇨

I recently watched Iyad Rahwan's TED talk "What moral decisions should driverless cars make?" and I enjoyed his exploration of the moral dilemmas surrounding self driving cars.

I was particularly interested when he brought up the dilemma of purchasing a self-driving car that might choose to kill its own passengers:

Read More ⇨

CSS frameworks are like box mix brownies. They're great if you're not picky and just want something fast. 30 minutes and a scoop of ice cream and everything's great.

As soon as the requirements change, you find yourself needing a new box mix, or a new framework.

Dave has a nut allergy, Sam's gluten free, and the only gluten free box of brownies has walnuts? Now what do you do?

Read More ⇨