🚨 DOJ vs. Google Chrome

Hey everybody,

In this edition, I share a fresh batch of front-end challenges from Roadmap.sh, and explore why AI struggles with code reviews. We also have hot takes on project management in big tech, a DOJ move that could reshape Google, and a look at how AI impacts tech debt. Plus, we remember Thomas E. Kurtz, co-creator of BASIC.

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Quick Links

🖋️ Intermediate Frontend Projects
Roadmap.sh is back with a fresh lineup of front-end challenges. 15 beginner and 5 intermediate projects ready for you to build. Each comes with a detailed mockup, and you can submit your creations to get valuable feedback from the community.

🤖 AI Sucks at Code Reviews
This post explores the surge of AI code review tools, noting that while many claim to revolutionize coding, they often fall short. After testing numerous tools and building one himself, Mike concluded that AI still struggles with code reviews overall. However, he does highlight areas where AI performs well, even if it’s not ready to fully replace human oversight.

🏢 How I Ship Projects at Big Tech Companies
A front-page article on Hacker News, “How I Ship Projects at Big Tech Companies,” made waves with a brutal take: “If you ship something users hate and makes no money, but your leadership is happy, you still shipped.” Ryan counters by emphasizing that while visibility and optics matter, true impact should always come first. Perception, he argues, should be a result of meaningful work, not the other way around.

🚨 DOJ to propose Chrome sale to curb Google’s search monopoly
The US Department of Justice is reportedly planning to push for Google to sell its Chrome browser to curb its search market monopoly. This comes after an August 2024 ruling that found Google illegally dominated the search market. The DOJ’s proposal also targets Google's AI initiatives and Android operations.

💰️ AI Makes Tech Debt More Expensive
There's a growing belief that AI will make tech debt less of a problem, given how easily code can be written and cleaned up. But the reality is the opposite, AI has actually increased the cost of carrying tech debt. 

Computer Pioneer, Thomas E. Kurtz, passes away

With deep sadness, we bid farewell to computer pioneer Thomas Kurtz, who passed away on November 12, 2024, at the age of 96. Kurtz, an American mathematician and computer scientist, co-invented the BASIC programming language alongside John Kemeny and was instrumental in the creation of the Dartmouth Timesharing System.

In the 1960s, academic computing lacked accessible programming languages for non-professional users. Kurtz and Kemeny addressed this by developing BASIC, a simple, user-friendly language aimed at undergraduate students. To support its widespread use, they also built the Dartmouth Timesharing System, enabling students to access BASIC from Teletype terminals across campus.

BASIC has since spanned generations, evolving from mainframes and minicomputers in the 1960s to microcomputers in the 1970s and 1980s, and even powering devices like today’s Raspberry Pi. In 1978, Harvard students Bill Gates and Paul Allen adapted BASIC for the MITS Altair 8800, transforming it from a limited machine into a fully functional computer. Their work helped popularize BASIC during the rise of personal computers, cementing Kurtz’s legacy in computing history.

More Reading

• Amazon S3 now supports up to 1 million buckets per AWS account

• An Engineer’s Checklist of Logging Best Practices

• LLMs have been all the rage in tech since ChatGPT’s release, here are 5 Non-LLM Software Trends To Be Excited About

• What makes concurrency so hard?

Until next week,

Travis.