Professional Development – 2024 – Week 25

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

.NET

Forget Controllers and Minimal APIs in .NET! (via Nick Chapsas)

  • FastEndpoints is an alternative to minimal APIs and MVC. It nudges people to the REPR (request / endpoint / response) pattern. The name relates to it being fast to get set up and fast in terms of performance.
  • Each endpoint exists in its own class (rather than one controller class with many methods).
  • The video covers how to implement common actions such as getting a list, getting a single item by ID, and creating an item.

Decision Making

How to Vet Information Before Making a Decision (via HBR)

  • A statement is not a fact, because it may not be accurate. Follow footnotes and look at what was actually measured/stated.
  • A fact is not data, because it may not be representative. Exceptions to the rule make for great stories; however you must consider successes and failures.
  • Data is not evidence, because it may not be conclusive. Just because there’s a correlation, doesn’t mean there’s causation.
  • Evidence is not proof, because it may not be universal. Maybe the study applies to US companies, but not multinational companies.

Engineering

Generative AI Is Not Going To Build Your Engineering Team For You (via SWLW)

This post had several nuggets of wisdom — too many to list here. As the software engineering industry has evolved, the barrier to entry has grown. The author makes the case for AI not being able to replace junior engineers, as the systems we build are non-deterministic. With some caveats about situations where hiring juniors isn’t recommended, the article makes another case for why software engineering is an apprenticeship industry that requires mentorship.

Meetings

Hybrid Work Has Changed Meetings Forever (via HBR)

  • Those who used their cameras and participated (i.e., didn’t stay on mute the whole time) were more likely to stay at their job.
  • Meeting culture is an important part of company culture.
  • The study found 54% of all meetings were hosted by 10% of the employees. Those employees set tone and influence meeting culture.
  • Virtual meetings produce data which can be measured to see if changes are working.
  • Respect privacy concerns.
  • Provide executive visibility.