Hacker News with Generative AI: Best Practices

Excellent Pull Request Reviews (michaelheap.com)
Pull request reviews are a critical part of building high-quality products, but too often, they become a rubber-stamping exercise—skim, “LGTM,” approve. This kind of review can lead to broken code, unclear documentation, and missed opportunities for improvement.
Software Development, Code Review, Best Practices
6 points by mooreds 5 hours ago | 1 comments
Ask HN: What commit message conventions do you follow? (ycombinator.com)
I'm new to the world of programming and came to know about commit conventions. Just wanted to know what conventions do you use.
Programming, Git, Best Practices
18 points by rishikeshs 5 days ago | 39 comments
Are libraries always the best choice in secure development? (ycombinator.com)
I attended a secure development course where the instructor insisted on always using third-party libraries.
Security, Software Development, Best Practices
5 points by jeeybee 8 days ago | 5 comments
The "late‐binding closure" pitfall in Python (notion.site)
Python, Programming, Software Development, Best Practices
5 points by behnamoh 8 days ago | 8 comments
Prefer tee -a, not >>, in CI (huonw.github.io)
Shell scripts sometimes have to append data to a file. Redirecting output with >> is the conventional way and works fine, but using tee -a instead is a usually better default, especially in continuous integration. It’s just as easy and gives automatic introspection: the same value is printed to stdout and so appears in normal logs too.
Shell Scripting, Continuous Integration, DevOps, Software Development, Best Practices
4 points by dbaupp 8 days ago | 0 comments
Disabling cert checks: we have not learned much (haxx.se)
And by that I mean the global “we” as in the world of developers.
Security, Software Development, Best Practices
35 points by caution 9 days ago | 22 comments
PostgreSQL Best Practices (speakdatascience.com)
PostgreSQL (Postgres) is one of the most powerful and popular relational database management systems available today. Whether you’re a database administrator, developer, or DevOps engineer, following best practices ensures optimal performance, security, and maintainability of your database systems.
Databases, PostgreSQL, Best Practices, Data Management
72 points by lemonwaterlime 11 days ago | 45 comments
Restrict Mutability of State (medium.com)
What appears at first to be a trivial observation turns out to be a subtly important one: a great many software defects arise from the (incorrect) modification of state. It follows from this that if there is less opportunity for code to change state, there will be fewer defects that arise from state change!
Software Development, Software Defects, Programming, State Management, Best Practices
5 points by ingve 12 days ago | 1 comments
21st Century C++ (cacm.acm.org)
It is now 45+ years since C++ was first conceived. As planned, it evolved to meet challenges, but many developers use C++ as if it was still the previous millennium. This is suboptimal from the perspective of ease of expressing ideas, performance, reliability, and maintainability. Here, I present the key concepts on which performant, type safe, and flexible C++ software can be built: resource management, life-time management, error-handling, modularity, and generic programming.
C++, Programming Languages, Software Development, Software Engineering, Best Practices
177 points by bandwitch 15 days ago | 269 comments
Reasons Not to Refactor (thoughtbot.com)
Refactoring is a wonderful practice for making code and change easier to manage. That said, here are some reasons why we should not proceed with a refactor.
Software Development, Code Refactoring, Best Practices
80 points by chmaynard 17 days ago | 59 comments
It's OK to hardcode feature flags (mendhak.com)
Feature flags (or toggles) are often used to control the visibility of new features in a product.
Software Development, Feature Flags, Best Practices
99 points by PuddleOfSausage 19 days ago | 107 comments
Global variables are not the problem (codestyleandtaste.com)
In this article I'll show an example where avoiding a global variable has led to a bug, I'll define what global variables are, explain the problem, and then give examples where I have used them successfully.
Programming, Software Development, Best Practices
80 points by levodelellis 20 days ago | 158 comments
Why Aren't You Idempotent? (lightfoot.dev)
Idempotency doesn't get the attention it deserves.
Software Development, Programming, Best Practices
8 points by thunderbong 20 days ago | 3 comments
What have we forgotten? (mova.org)
This is the story of an organization that seems to have forgotten basic software engineering concepts. This organization does exists and has these exact problems, but it is also a generic story about similar organizations that abandon engineering excellence for their own peril.
Software Engineering, Organizational Culture, Best Practices
98 points by sam_lowry_ 23 days ago | 97 comments
Best Practices for Key Derivation (trailofbits.com)
Key derivation is essential in many cryptographic applications, including key exchange, key management, secure communications, and building robust cryptographic primitives. But it’s also easy to get wrong: although standard tools exist for different key derivation needs, our audits often uncover improper uses of these tools that could compromise key security. Flickr’s API signature forgery vulnerability is a famous example of misusing a hash function during key derivation.
Cryptography, Security, Best Practices, Key Management
3 points by tatersolid 23 days ago | 0 comments
Create-react-app is a zombie application (clientserver.dev)
create-react-app hasn't been in the official documentation for over a year, but that doesn't stop a constant flood of new developers from trying to use it.
React, Web Development, Developer Tools, Software, Best Practices
3 points by thunderbong 28 days ago | 0 comments
Storage is cheap, but not thinking about logging is expensive (counting-stuff.com)
The bad habits of data over-collection run deep.
Data Storage, Logging, Best Practices, Data Management
11 points by todsacerdoti 30 days ago | 0 comments
Do any languages specify package requirements in import / include statements? (ycombinator.com)
When coding small programs in python, js, java, C++ it often feels to me that the dependency requirements list in pyproject.toml, requirements.json, maven.xml, CMakeLists.txt, contains information that is redundant to the import or include statements at the top of each file.
Programming Languages, Dependency Management, Software Development, Best Practices
40 points by foobarbecue 31 days ago | 87 comments
Code reviews: A success story (blogsystem5.substack.com)
Code reviews have a bad rap: they are antagonistic in nature and, sometimes, pure red tape. Some argue that they are bad practice; others say that peer programming is better. And while these may be true, I want to tell you a story about a case where code reviews worked well!
Software Development, Code Reviews, Best Practices
64 points by mu0n 38 days ago | 62 comments
Be Aware of the Makefile Effect (yossarian.net)
Software Development, Programming, Tools, Best Practices
9 points by Aissen 41 days ago | 1 comments
Six Sins of Platform Teams (serce.me)
Software Engineering, Platform Teams, Best Practices
58 points by kaycebasques 44 days ago | 27 comments
Systems ideas that sound good but almost never work (learningbyshipping.com)
Some engineering patterns that sound good but almost never work as intended
Software Engineering, Design Patterns, Best Practices
419 points by kaycebasques 51 days ago | 261 comments
Database mocks are not worth it (shayon.dev)
It’s tempting to rely on mocks for database calls. Mocking is faster and often feels more straightforward. However, testing against a real database uncovers hidden pitfalls that can appear as the application matures. Issues like unique constraint violations, default value handling, or even performance bottlenecks may only surface when the code is exercised against actual data.
Database Testing, Software Development, Best Practices
178 points by shayonj 52 days ago | 262 comments
State of the Art Python in 2024 (4zm.org)
Software development is about making choices. But available options change and so do the tradeoffs. Are you up to date with the best practices for creating a Python application in 2024? Let’s take a look at some great default choices.
Python, Software Development, Best Practices, Programming Languages, 2024
9 points by belter 52 days ago | 0 comments
Test Accounts: A Hidden Risk (cacm.acm.org)
When it comes to the fundamental principle of never testing in production, nearly every software engineer is guilty of breaking that rule at some point in their career. But this is not just a best practice. It is a keystone value meant to protect your reputation, your customers, and your sanity.
Software Engineering, Best Practices, Security
19 points by yarapavan 59 days ago | 0 comments
15 Times to use AI, and 5 Not to (oneusefulthing.org)
There are several types of work where AI can be particularly useful, given the current capabilities and limitations of LLMs. Though this list is based in science, it draws even more from experience. Like any form of wisdom, using AI well requires holding opposing ideas in mind: it can be transformative yet must be approached with skepticism, powerful yet prone to subtle failures, essential for some tasks yet actively harmful for others.
Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Tools, Best Practices, Limitations
12 points by twapi 73 days ago | 3 comments
The Rules of Programming (2023) (therulesofprogramming.com)
The Rules of Programming were born of exasperation.
Programming, Software Development, Rules, Best Practices
109 points by davikr 74 days ago | 41 comments
Refactoring in C++: Top Techniques and Best Practices (jetbrains.com)
Whether you’re a seasoned C++ developer or just starting out, refactoring is a key way you can make your code cleaner, more efficient, and easier to maintain.
C++, Refactoring, Software Development, Best Practices
47 points by signa11 75 days ago | 19 comments
Yet Another List of Random Opinions on Writing Readable Code and Other Rants (lucavall.in)
After more than a decade of writing software, I've read lots of opinions on how to write good software. Everyone loves to throw around rules and principles, so I'll do it too. Writing readable code is about making life easier for the people who have to deal with it later - not about flexing your cleverness or following trends that sound smart on social networks.
Software Development, Programming, Readability, Opinions, Best Practices
4 points by ingve 78 days ago | 0 comments
Codin' Dirty (htmx.org)
“Writing clean code is what you must do in order to call yourself a professional. There is no reasonable excuse for doing anything less than your best.” Clean Code
Web Development, Software Development, Programming, Best Practices
34 points by todsacerdoti 88 days ago | 5 comments