Review: OpenJS Foundation officially formed

Finally, the unity is back within the JS communities.
https://sdtimes.com/webdev/the-openjs-foundation-officially-formed-for-the-javascript-community/

Why is the OpenJS Foundation needed?

Directly restated from OpenJS:

"The JS Foundation and Node.js Foundation have coexisted independently for a number of years. Thanks to the interconnected nature of the JavaScript ecosystem, we’ve grown continuously closer in technical collaboration. This merger provides an opportunity to share our learnings around technical governance, combining our project hosting and collective experience running diverse and welcoming communities over a broader section of the ecosystem. In addition, it eliminates operational redundancies between the organizations, streamlines the experience for organizations who provide essential financial support through membership, and coordinates efforts within the JavaScript ecosystem and with affiliated standards bodies."

IMO

There was definitely a need for unified, formal community over the development of JS. When looking for a JS community to join, it can be a little confusing. See this:
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-popular-JavaScript-development-community-sites

Perhaps another reason to unify is preventing another uproar like the one that happened back in 2017 on NodeJS's diversity/inclusion.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/08/24/nodejs_forks_ayo_code_of_conduct/

Concern

My one concern is that I don't see Amazon or especially Facebook participating in this foundation. Considering the influence they both have in the JS ecosystem, I would hope that they will participate soon.

Other Links of Interests?

1. https://www.javascript.com/
2. https://www.w3schools.com/js/
3. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript
5. https://jquery.com/

Also in case of interest, here's a brief history of NodeJS nicely organized by this author.
https://blog.risingstack.com/history-of-node-js/

Happy Coding!

Review: Microsoft's AI Class for B-Schools

If you're in supply chain management , business operations, or logistics, then this is a must-read.

Here is another amazing milestone by Microsoft especially with publishing this article as a marketing strategy to shape all kinds of industries that need to start looking into AI implementation now. Just like the Web was coming in the 90's to businesses whether they liked it or not, businesses will need to be ready for the coming AI culture shift. Those not ready - well - will go out of business.

Microsoft launches business school focused on AI strategy, culture and responsibility

Review: Putting Comments into Code

Good reminder on coding documentation. Many thanks to the author.

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/code-comments-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-be9cc65fbf83

Review: Future of Quality Assurance

I agree with this author.
https://thenewstack.io/quality-engineering-the-future-of-qa/

Quality Engineering within each Development Life Cycle phase

Since 2005, I could see "software tester" being eliminated from teams. It's the reason why I shifted from "tester" to "developer" back in 2008. I didn't expect the need for a test automation team to emerge. However, I still think that even such teams will no longer be necessary as development teams grow with understanding on how every part of the development process impacts a product's quality.

In addition, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will create a new path for developing automated "testers" who can simulate the behavior of product users and provide instant feedback to developers. In manufacturing or other assembling facilities, robots will become more like droids.

Regarding quality engineering, the biggest challenge I see today is with the technical leadership having a slow adoption of implementing this "quality" mindset into development teams. This leadership issue is one of the reasons why excellent developers (who already have this mindset) tend to leave and start their own companies. "Quality" developers see an opportunity to create a product (or service) that is better than an existing one. So why wait for technical leadership to see these opportunities?

Test Teams to Test Companies

Some development teams are already leading the charge with implementing the quality engineering principles and leveraging test companies instead of employing testers (or creating their own test teams). An example of an organization to leverage is TestProject.

Here's an example of how they help developers get up to speed with testing their applications (particularly web applications).
https://blog.testproject.io/2018/12/18/net-core-test-automation-selenium-page-object-page-factory/

Here's another company to leverage: TestIM

Going with this development strategy (of leveraging test companies instead of creating own test teams) will save time and money, but with savvy technical leadership.

Expert Users - the new Quality Experts

In the near future, the "User" will be the Tester, Quality Assurance Engineer, or whatever title you want to give to a person who makes sures that a product is working as expected (or beyond expectations). Rightfully so, a product is only as valuable according to the measure given by its user. It's just logical to move towards lean-agile development methodology where it's basically the developer (innovator) and user (expert) creating and maturing the product.

Closing Thoughts on Our Future

Our world will shift from a "buy-sell" model to a "use-improve" model. Therefore, relationships will no longer have a clear line between "business" and "personal" types, but all relationships will carry both types. Every relationship will be "personal" and "business". All experts will need to specialize in developing something and all innovators will need to be experts in using something.

Review: UI - 7 Tips for Cheating at Design

These are actually great tips on making better UI Design (element styles).

https://medium.com/refactoring-ui/7-practical-tips-for-cheating-at-design-40c736799886

Review: Write Simple Code - Fast

I like how this author points out the difference between a senior developer and junior developer.

"But code is human language. It has to communicate the who, what, when, where, how, and why of a task, as well as instruct the computer. It has to make sense five years from now after the company has been acquired and a new team who has never seen this code before has to crack it open and make an enhancement or fix a bug.

Yes, writing dumb code is hard. ...I know that the best thing I can do for my team, and the future maintainers of the code, is to write dumb code."

https://hackernoon.com/why-senior-devs-write-dumb-code-and-how-to-spot-a-junior-from-a-mile-away-27fa263b101a

KISS

Basically, a senior developer writes the most simplest code - think KISS. Even better, s/he creates the simplest designs and then directs her/his team to code simply according to the simple design.

But, we do live in a real world and almost every developer is trying to gain points over another.

Good luck.

Review: Tech moving faster than skill development

IBM highlights Skills Gap (World Economic Forum 2019)

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty makes a splendid point here in this article.

For most, "technologies are moving faster in time than their skills" and I agree. This adds to my belief that we must upgrade our public schooling system. Waiting until our kids become young adults and relying on companies to train up our kids for the workforce will hurt us all in the near future.

I like this highlight by the article:
IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said at the World Economic Forum's 2019 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that the most pressing issue of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" is the "skills crisis" that would leave workers behind.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty-talks-new-collar-jobs-at-davos-2019-1

Microsoft agrees (to a degree)

In addition, here's an article by Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott with a quote that supports the outlook by IBM CEO. Scott goes further than employment into gently suggesting our duty as citizens.

“It’s challenging, because even if you’re a person with significant technical training, even if you’re an AI practitioner, it’s sort of challenging to keep up with everything that’s going on. The landscape is evolving really rapidly,” he said.

https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/20/microsoft-cto-understanding-ai-is-part-of-being-an-informed-citizen-in-the-21st-century/

And, just in case that's not enough to convince you of the dire state edging our economy, here's another article showing just a snapshot on the timeline of the increasing skills gap.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/two-in-five-technology-job-applicants-dont-have-the-right-technical-chops-survey-finds/

Public Thoughts

Here's what the public thinks, before I conclude my point. And, I wish the public survey by Udemy Research had smaller categories especially for those Over 40 to give insight what the older generations think. Because, I believe those who witnessed more technology impact over more years should have more insight and well thought out solutions.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-do-attitudes-toward-the-skills-gap-tell-us-about_us_5a31af5be4b04bd8793e9714

And here's a quick look at Udemy's 2018 Report.

My Conclusion

Companies must become responsible owners of reducing the skills gap. Our government and public institutions have a greater responsibility in driving the skills gap reduction and even eliminate it.

Cheers,

Review: Open Dialogue about Open Source Software

I really like this author and article. I'll be keeping an eye on the roadmap laid out. If you like Open Source Software, then I strongly suggest that you fill out the form as well.

https://github.blog/2019-01-17-lets-talk-about-open-source-sustainability/

Review: Easier developing isn't actually easier

Here's an article I agree with. The speed and ease of application development doesn't make development actually any easier. The biggest concern from my perspective is developers coding while being mindful application security.

https://www.itprotoday.com/devops-and-software-development/why-easy-software-development-making-things-hard-development-careers

Review: Is C++ faster today?

This was an interesting article. If I ever get back to coding in C/C++, then I'll need to revisit such blogs and catch back up.

I appreciate this author's breakdown and insight.

https://zeuxcg.org/2019/01/17/is-c-fast/

Review: Microsoft Open Source Stories - Starting the .NET Open Source Revolution

I really appreciate the author (and his reference to the other authors) on telling this story (and continuing to tell the story of open source revolution).

Quite interesting to see how legal teams slow down tech teams. Even more interesting that legal teams seem to work more independent unlike many tech teams that work more interdependent (because no one likes to re-invent the wheel). Someone's going to need to change the legal system. Well, at least for the tech industry.

https://medium.com/microsoft-open-source-stories/starting-the-net-open-source-revolution-e0268b02ac8a

Review: Microsoft changed the way they Interview

This is great to finally hear! Not because I can't pass such technical difficult interviews, but because such in-depth technical interviews do not reflect how people actually work in tech environments. There's a lot more to developing a key product pushing the industry's tech edge than a random research conclusion or unrealistic (useless) technical solution.

The "Alternative Interview Framework"
https://blog.usejournal.com/rethinking-how-we-interview-in-microsofts-developer-division-8f404cfd075a

P.S. French is a very useful language in the tech world, as I'm starting to see.

References

• https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/microsoft-new-developer-interview-process-2018-12
• https://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-hires-2013-6