chrisutz

I've found lambda helpful for adding bits of code in other languages to your stack. Want to use a NodeJS library from your Python app? Jam the NodeJS in a lambda and don't worry about maintaining/scaling it.

Started a new job working on a company's API team. The API had out of memory issues and had processes crashing all the time.

The code was PHP. All API calls ended like this:

echo json_encode($data) . "\n";

Changed just one character, the period to a comma so the string wasn't duplicated before being output. Problem solved. Felt like a hero.

And Amazon is pretty aggressive and proactive about spam - if the bounce rate is high (<10%) the SES account gets suspended or shut down, so Amazon servers are not likely to end up on any ISPs black lists.

Can't beat free of course, but there are some commercial services that use Amazon SES and are significantly cheaper than market leaders.

BigMailer.io - free tier up to 5K contacts, then $1 per 1K contacts. Features: built-in multi-brand management, support for multiple opt-ins (interest lists), segmentation, signup forms, support for GA tracking, list suppression. On roadmap: AB testing, automation, support for transactional emails (so all your emails are in 1 place). https://www.bigmailer.io/blog/bigmailer-email-marketing-soft...

Anyone who mentions NewsHacker post after account setup will get lifetime 20% discount.

I think the point the author was trying to make was that you shouldn't split CSS files because the import order on a page influences how its all interpreted; that CSS files are not independent modules and you are kidding yourself in a sense by using multiple files. HTTP/2 will not fix the problem the author was trying to call out, it will just remove the speed penalty.

I use Quill on my site to allow trusted but non-technical users to write rich text. It was easy to configure so it only allows a strict subset of tags. My users have been using it for a few months and haven't managed to slip in any disallowed tags, attributes, or styles.

Alot of the difficulty was explaining to others that there wasn't an easy way to upsert, and trying to ensure everyone did it the proper way.

Having worked with MySQL for years, my mind was blown using Postgres for the first time this year (mainly due to HStore, CTEs, and transactional DDL statements). However, one constant pain point for me was the lack of an upsert. Glad to read Postgres will be getting it in 9.5!

Striking a balance between shipping and perfecting has always been a struggle for me. The only thing that helped me get a handle on it was writing alot of code. Eventually, I gained a bit of intuition about what to skimp on, so I can usually do things fast while still delivering something that will not need to be thrown out in the immediate future. Mostly this amounts to coding things in a simple, straightforward manner and applying abstraction only when it's really necessary.

Getting support for paid Google accounts is also pretty bad. At times, I've had things broken in my account for months.

Thanks for sharing. I've always just reflexively setup paid Google for Business accounts for my projects. Nice to know there are free options out there. Zoho Mail looks attractive for those side projects where you're paying out of pocket and you're not too sure how serious you're gonna take things :)