Young Reacts #240
Software Engineering ⚙️
Relay-style GraphQL
Since I only have experience with Apollo GraphQL, I enjoyed learning from this heavily biased article for Relay. Even though Relay has a steeper learning curve than vanilla GraphQL, I see the benefit of defining the data requirements in the component, which reduces type errors. I will weigh between Apollo and Relay when I adopt GraphQL in my next project.
Tech debt: Reclaiming tech equity
Tech debt tends to mean anything developers want it to mean. That lax definition makes it difficult to have productive conversations with leadership and product management. So I loved the idea of a shared definition. But one question I still have after reading this article is how one can measure the cost of tech debt.
Keyboard-navigable JavaScript widgets
I believe that keyboard interactions are core to empowering heavy users. Moreso, if the app is for work. I have leaned on the shared library team to provide a reasonable default behavior, but I loved learning how to customize keyboard behaviors further.
People ❤️
The Power of Proximity to Coworkers: Training for Tomorrow or Productivity Today?
This paper finds that working from home boosts senior engineers’ productivity but hampers junior engineers’ learning. That aligns with my belief that any policy or technology has tradeoffs.
Business 💰
How a California vote on self-driving taxis could alter the future of AI
The California state government will decide whether self-driving taxis can operate 24/7 in San Francisco. I found this debate interesting because the state government is happy to position California as the innovation center. In contrast, the city government, which needs to deal with self-driving taxis, balks at the idea.