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mgertner

mgertner on Hacker News

Re:Ask HN: Does it make sense anymore to teach kids HTML/CSS/JavaScript? on Sunday July 30, 2023 @06:40AM (#36929795)
Actually she has a decent idea for a web business so the plan is to get cracking on that. Seems she inherited her dad’s entrepreneurial spirit!

Ask HN: Does it make sense anymore to teach kids HTML/CSS/JavaScript?

Posted by mgertner on Sunday July 30, 2023 @06:25AM
from the ask-hn dept.

My 11yo daughter has started to express interest in web app development. I run a web agency and my natural inclination would be to teach her a bit of HTML, CSS and JavaScript and then help her to “learn by doing”.Part of me, however, feels like these technologies risk becoming increasingly irrelevant. Between improvements in low-code/no-code platforms and LLMs that write code for you, I’m not...

( Read More... | 6 comments | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: If your job was remote, which city would you choose to live... on Sunday August 04, 2019 @03:13PM (#20608627)
If you're working remotely, the pound tanking is a good thing, isn't it?

Ask HN: Dream setup for a “smart” home?

Posted by mgertner on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @03:01AM
from the ask-hn dept.

We have just closed on a new house which is a fixer upper that we plan to renovate from top to bottom. Since I am a programmer and technologist, my wife asked me to make suggestions for creating a "connected home" with modern security, climate control, etc.I've spent some time looking at various home-related "smart" products. There's a lot out there and it's hard to know what to chose. Do we...

( Read More... | 6 comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:What I Wish I Knew When Starting Out as a Software Developer: Slow ... on Monday January 26, 2015 @02:44PM (#8949097)
Author here. I linked to your post and there are comments on the blog (which you took advantage of). No need to be pissed off. I still disagree with this particular point (and I'm not sure why you say I took that quote out of context), despite your clarification. But overall I think you provide a lot of good and valuable advice that might be counterintuitive to younger devs entering the corporate world.
Re:Ask HN: How much time do you spend on code reviews? on Friday January 23, 2015 @09:23AM (#8934931)
Thanks for the detailed feedback. I agree with a lot of your points, but I don't think adding QA people addresses the same need as peer code review. QA can find bugs in the current code whereas code review is more about finding issues that may lead to bugs further down the road. Even when there are defects in the current code, they may be edge cases that QA is unlikely to unearth but that will come out in a thorough code review.

Ask HN: How much time do you spend on code reviews?

Posted by mgertner on Thursday January 22, 2015 @09:50AM
from the ask-hn dept.

I recently published some advice about doing peer code reviews based on my experience managing a development team for the past few years. One of my recommendations is to spend roughly 25% as much time reviewing a given patch as it took to write it.The most highly rated comment on Reddit, by far, is this one:...

( Read More... | 9 comments | 3 points | on HN )
Re:Carriers Must End Absurd Intl Data Roaming Fees, Before Apple Does ... on Wednesday January 14, 2015 @06:38PM (#8889942)
Fair point about setup costs, but the marginal cost (which is what really counts over the long term) is negligeable in both cases.

Things are improving as I say in the piece, but it's worth noting that here in the Czech Republic I still have to pay nearly $200 for a month of data roaming in the US with a 200Mb cap. And that's if I go to the trouble of signing up for a special roaming plan, otherwise I could easily spent 10x that.

Re:Remote Developers Are the Real Solution to America's Tech Skill Sho... on Sunday December 28, 2014 @08:49AM (#8806250)
You're right, I should have made it more explicit that I run a software contracting company (though it's not exactly hidden either). In my defense I did mention the timezone difference, and I agree that it is perhaps the biggest issue. But I stand by my thesis: it's far better to work with great remote developers, despite the drawbacks, than mediocre local developers.

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