December 18, 2023

Professional Development – 2023 – Week 50

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54585499@N04/

.NET

NativeAOT in .NET Has One Big Problem (via Nick Chapsas)

Nick set up a GET API scenario where the code base is the same, and the only difference is whether ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation was used. The AOT application started up faster than the one using the .NET Runtime; performance tests using K6 also showed a slight increase in requests per second for AOT. However, these applications typically deploy in a container. The AOT is slightly slower for requests per seconds within a container, which matches Microsoft’s own benchmarks. In the grand scheme of things, you could just bring up another container; however, AOT does not automatically mean faster.

The 2 New Web Application Types Added in .NET 8 (via Nick Chapsas)

  • WebApplication.CreateSlimBuilder() is new; the regular .CreateBuilder() method has more things like services, middleware, logging, etc. that you might not need in most case. This also helps with AOT compilation; you get a smaller executable because there’s less stuff to include.
  • You still get user credential context, appSettings context, console logging, and traditional logging. There’s no support for startup assemblies, fewer logging providers, no Windows event logger, debug provider, event source, static web assets, IIS support, HTTPS or HTTP 3 support, no regex-based routing. Note: You can add these things explicitly.
  • There’s also a .CreateEmptyBuilder() that has even less. There’s not even a server (e.g., Kestrel) so when you run the app without configuring it, it will crash.

Employee Development

How GenAI Could Accelerate Employee Learning and Development (via HBR)

  • Instead of static materials, GenAI can personalize learning pathways, continuously evolve the content, provide immersive simulations, address skill gaps, and provide mentorship and feedback.
  • Some challenges include providing privacy, preventing inaccurate output, and overcoming in the training data bias.

Leadership

8 Essential Qualities of Successful Leaders (via HBR)

  1. Authenticity
  2. Curiosity
  3. Analytical prowess
  4. Adaptability
  5. Creativity
  6. Comfort with ambiguity
  7. Resilience
  8. Empathy

Technology

To Work Well with GenAI, You Need to Learn How to Talk to It (via HBR)

  • Provide more context than you do with a person
  • Ask for multiple versions of things (wisdom of the crowd)
  • Rely on recognition, not recall
  • Make it a conversation, not a single request
  • If at first you don’t succeed, try again in a different way