Amigo is a local event discovery platform bringing all the truly local events in one place, and a new way to meet people

amigo

Do You Know the Three Amigos? Don’t worry. This doesn’t mean we have to write our stories in Spanish! Instead, we’ll explore one of the agile ways of working, the Three Amigos. We’ll discover what the Three Amigos is with an example of how a session can help a team better understand requirements. What Are the Three Amigos? The “three amigos,” translated to “three friends” in English, is an agile way of working where three individuals with different perspectives come together to refine user stories. These three perspectives, as described by , consist of: Agile Alliance Business — What problem are we trying to solve? Development — How might we build a solution to solve that problem? Testing — What about this? What could happen? Therefore, when refining a user story, a developer, tester, and business analyst (BA) should be present to understand the requirements sufficiently. How Do the Three Amigos Work? Let’s go through an example of a team discussing a user story in a three amigos session. The team sits down together with the following user story to refine: As an employee, I want to submit my timesheet so I can get paid Developer: So, what do we need to capture on the timesheet? BA: We need to capture the number of hours worked each day in a calendar month. Developer: No problem at all. We can create a form where users can enter their work hours daily. Then, when the user hits submit, can we send an email to HR to process the timesheet. BA: Unfortunately, an email isn’t going to cut it. We need to send this information to our HR system as we have an automated process for payroll. Developer: OK, in that case, we can send it to the HR system via the HR API. Tester: What happens if they enter incorrect information? Developer: We can provide feedback to the user. For example, we can show a validation message when a user provides invalid data. Tester: What is invalid data? Can a user enter a negative number for hours worked? Is there a maximum number of hours a user can work on a given day? BA: No, a user should only be able to enter positive numbers up to twelve. Tester: OK, we should write a test case to cover this. Developer: I’ll also ensure we have the appropriate validation for the number of hours. BA: Also, I just remembered we need to send an email notification to the line manager for approval. Developer: So, we need to make sure we submit the timesheet in a “review” state, so the employee doesn’t get paid until their line manager approves it? BA: Correct. Tester: What if the line manager is absent? BA: That’s a good question. We should also email line manager B. Tester: What if the line manager wants to reject the submitted timesheet? Developer: This is turning out to be a lot of development work. May I suggest we create new user stories for these additional scenarios? The team agrees the user story is now quite large, so they split out the email notification work into separate user stories for later refinement: As a line manager, I want to get notified if one of my staff submits a timesheet so I can review it As a line manager, I want to be able to approve my staff timesheets so I can ensure my staff get paid As a line manager, I want to be able to reject a timesheet so I can ensure my staff aren't paid incorrectly Developer: Is there anything else we need to consider for capturing the timesheet details? BA: I think that’s everything covered. We can iterate on this in the future if we need to. The team moves on to the next story. What Did the Team Discover From This Session? For this single user story, the team discovered the following: Firstly, the number of hours worked for each day of the month must be captured. Second, the number of hours worked must be positive, up to twelve. Third, the form must be validated and feedback provided to the user. Finally, when the user submits their timesheet, the system must send the data to the HR API in a state of review. On top of that, the team has created three new user stories. They are now better prepared to estimate and take on this work. Best Practices There’s no right or wrong way to refine user stories using three amigos. Instead, I’d suggest trying it out to find what works best for your team. However, here are a few good practices that can help: Timebox sessions — Timeboxing helps focus the team; you can always return to a story later if you don’t finish refining it. 45 minutes to an hour is generally a good rule of thumb. Rotate team members each session — this helps share knowledge amongst the team. Have one member from each area — different perspectives provide additional value. Don’t rush — it takes as long as it takes. Refining stories upfront means we’re not asking as many questions when we’re in development. Takeaways From the example above, we can see the value of the Three Amigos. The developer helped to define the solution to the problem. The tester provided value by highlighting potential issues. The BA provided information right there and then, so the team didn’t have to go away to find the answers they desperately needed. The team is now more confident in taking on the story in their next sprint! First published here

Three Amigos Teach Us a Lot About Writing Better Agile User Stories 

The last few years have been characterised by rapid advancements in technology. This has paved the way for businesses and startups and has led to intense rivalry in the ecommerce space. Surviving there has become a matter of prudent business choices and unorthodox approaches, rather than mere chance or luck. So how do businesses meet the impending challenges or tackle the cut throat rivalry that exists there? Let us find out. Below mentioned are some approaches that e-commerce businesses may actively consider: Embrace Minimalism Less is often more. This means trying to please every market segment may have your business landing in some real and unnecessary challenge. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, businesses may choose to focus on a specific niche. They must choose a target audience, which they feel confident of serving. By offering a specialized and tailored solution, they can embrace minimalism. By being away from too many distractions, businesses can carve out a unique position in the market. It leads to building a dedicated customer base for themselves. This can set them going in an instant. Create a Movement “You can exist as a business for a lifetime, but to thrive requires an overarching business approach.” This necessitates that ecommerce businesses can and other channels. It helps them to let the word about their business get out. . Building a strong brand that goes beyond selling products or services is something that is at the heart of successful businesses. Perhaps this is why businesses behave as responsible citizens– reflecting their philanthropic element. leverage social media Engage in storytelling Along the same lines, businesses may develop a mission and purpose. They may also devote themselves to a cause that resonates with their closest communities, society, and target audience. This helps them to become part of a larger movement. Also, this emotional connection can foster deep loyalty and word-of-mouth advocacy. Put in Place Reverse Engineering Ecommerce businesses of today are in dire need of this. They have to have that “outside-in approach”– one where they actively seek the ‘whatabouts’ & ‘whereabouts’, ‘tactics’, ‘manoeuvers’, and ‘strategies’ of their close competitors. Instead of starting from scratch or trying some rudimentary marketing gimmicks, or market leaders and reverse engineering their strategies and way of working can be a big breather for businesses in crises. studying successful competitors Identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and building upon their successes while addressing their shortcomings can believably help speed up a business’s growth by learning from the lessons of others. Gamify the Experience Gamification has emerged as a pivotal tool in implementing . This can be a new idea for several businesses but it can work. Introducing some elements of gamification into the products, services, or customer journey can set the ball rolling. By incorporating game-like mechanics, rewards, and challenges, businesses can increase engagement, drive loyalty, and create a sense of fun, inquisitiveness, and excitement around their brand. consumer engagement strategies Co-Creation with Customers “Prudent businesses have their .” There is an underlying meaning to this. If your business can have the customers talking and discussing about your offerings as freely as they have their drawing room discussions, you have surreptitiously and, maybe quite unknowingly infused a sense of patronage in them. best amigos in customers It is recommended that businesses involve their customers in the product development process by encouraging their input and ideas and letting them co-create with you. This not only fosters a sense of association and ownership but also ensures that your offerings align with their needs and desires, giving your business the much-needed competitive advantage. Disrupt the Status Quo Challenge long-standing industry norms and disrupt traditional approaches. Identify outdated practices, inefficiencies, or pain points within your industry, and develop innovative solutions that revolutionize the way things are done. By being a disruptor, you can attract attention, gain market share, and create new opportunities. For instance, this can involve bringing in ecommerce. innovative technologies for last-mile delivery Harness User-Generated Content (UGC) Surrounded by the ‘vocal’ consumers of today, businesses should learn to . It is a valuable tactic that smart businesses of today are using to outsmart their peer businesses. Businesses can encourage and help their customers to create and share content related to their brand. leverage UGC This can be anything right from enabling them to write testimonials, reviews, referrals, and social media posts, to pitching for user-generated products. By leveraging user-generated content, businesses can inspire authenticity, boost credibility, and achieve organic growth through word-of-mouth marketing. Go Hyperlocal Going hyperlocal is no longer an option for contemporary businesses. It has an ‘essential’ element in it. With a surge in hyperlocal ecommerce deliveries, hyperlocal ecommerce platforms have become a necessity. Businesses of today make up for prudent enterprises if they can leverage them in the right manner. The hyperlocal delivery network is getting so widespread because it helps contemporary businesses and modern-age entrepreneurs get free from usual logistical challenges, become more organized, get increased visibility for their brand/business, command a better standing in the digital market, and have an upper hand over their competitors. Partner with your Industry Players Businesses can identify non-competing businesses in their industry that share a similar target audience and are open to partnerships— whether short-term or long-term. They can further explore collaborative opportunities to cross-promote each other's products or services, bundle offerings, or even co-create new solutions. This can certainly broaden their reach, help tap into new customer segments, and create mutually beneficial partnerships, thereby producing synergistic advantages. Conclusion The ecommerce industry is no short of competitors. From food delivery businesses to groceries and from shopping goods to even the most luxurious goods, everything is getting delivered online at an unprecedented pace, and ecommerce is the force behind it. It is this rapid pace that has rendered the entire industry to be full of competitors who cannot merely sit back, relax, and think of their plan of action. Instead, they need to ‘excogitate’ and be ‘on their toes’ to work out smart strategies and tactics— a few of which have been suggested. Though the approaches appear a bit unconventional accompanying some risks, it has their significant rewards. Experimenting with such approaches can lead to innovative breakthroughs and provide businesses the much-needed formidability and robustness that they, in today’s competitive times, so desperately need.

Thriving in the Ecommerce Landscape by Adopting Offbeat Approaches for Sustainable Growth

122 Stories To Learn About Teamwork

Imagine you are creating some kind of software, for example a mobile application for ordering food. What functionality should be implemented in this application? Let's create a restaurant search on the map. User will love it, or not… For sure you don’t want to spend money and time on useless features. Oh, let’s start with basic functions, such as allowing users to place food orders. But what else? Here you need to define the requirements. These may cover various areas, such as what the business wants to get, what users want to get, and how the app works and looks like. To solve the mentioned problem (what to implement for the client) you can use one of the user requirements - . use cases describe the expected ways in which a user (or other ) can with an app (or other ) to get some . A use case is an expected behavior of a system ( ), not the exact implementation (how). Use cases actor interact system result what For example, in a mobile application for ordering food a user can choose a restaurant and some dishes, create an order, and so on. These are all different use cases. Let’s find out what use cases are, why they were invented, and how they look like. Who came up with use cases and why? The approach was created over 30 years ago by and published in the book “ ” in 1992. Use cases Ivar Jacobson Object-Oriented Software Engineering - A Use Case Driven Approach Remarkable thing here is that Ivar Jacobson is one of the pioneers in object-oriented architecture and one of the three principal authors (three amigos) of (Unified Modeling Language), which is still high-demand in requirements elicitation and software design. UML Before Jacobson's work, use case requirements focused on the functions of a system, but Jacobson had a vision to enrich them with an understanding of the context and sequence of user actions. Initially, Jacobson used the terms "usage scenarios" or "usage cases" and then moved on to "use cases". UML includes different diagrams, one of which is . As Jacobson's book gained popularity and UML became more widespread, the use case approach became more popular. By the way, the Use Case Diagram remains one of the most widely used diagrams in UML. Use Case Diagram Since then, the use case approach has been developed and refined by many authors, including Ivar Jacobson himself. As a result, the approach has expanded beyond the classic use case diagram in UML, but the main concepts remain the same. What is a Use Case? A use case describes a of interaction between different with the , leading to a . Gurus of requirements Karl Wiegers and Joy Beatty define use cases like this in their book "Software Requirements": scenario users system result A use case describes a sequence of interactions between a system and an external actor that results in the actor being able to achieve some outcome of value. In the UML guide “Unified Modeling Language User Guide” Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson provide the definition of a use case as: A description of a set of sequences of actions, including variants, that a system performs
that yields an observable result of value to an actor. Jacobson himself describes use cases in the following statements in his book "Use Case 2.0": A sequence of actions a system performs that yields an observable result of value to a particular user. That specific behavior of a system, which participates in collaboration with a user to deliver something of value for that user. The smallest unit of activity that provides a meaningful result to the user. The context for a set of related requirements. Let’s point out 4 main points from all these definitions: ✓ there is a system you study or design ✓ there are different actors, mainly users of the system ✓ you have to describe each interaction between a system and each actor ✓ and there is a result of each interaction that creates value for involved actor Examples of use cases: Who and where can use it? The major feature of use cases isn't just that it's an easy to use and understand technique to work with users' requirements, but that it affects the whole development lifecycle. Let’s see how and in what scenarios a use case approach can be valuable for different IT roles. Use cases help specify what functionality of the system is needed, so it's a helpful tool for and to elicit requirements from the user's perspective. business analysts managers By describing the key use cases of the system, can get a “slice” or a top-level view of all system’s functionality, and this helps them in finding and designing the application architecture. software engineers At the same time, (testers) can make use of it too and identify tests based on use cases to check the implementation of the system. quality analysts Additionally, use cases allow and to identify core components which guide the architecture work to achieve software reuse. software engineers architects Moreover, use cases break down the software into separate valuable scenarios – ready-to-use elements for backlog when planning sprints or to put on the Kanban board – being a useful tool for . managers Use cases are valuable for all roles, but depending on the role, the filling of use cases might vary. While going from product managers and analysts to developers and QA, the focus goes from an abstract/business level (considering users and their goals) to product level with more technical details and enabling functionality. In addition, not for all systems use cases approach will be sufficient. Use cases work well for exploring the requirements for applications and systems where a user controls a piece of hardware or interacts with it. On the other hand, there are also systems for which the requirements will be more specific. For example, computationally intensive systems or data warehousing. The complexity of these applications lies not in the user-system interactions, but in computations or algorithms performed. There might be a few simple use cases, but complex system requirements. Text vs Diagram Use cases can be depicted: as a diagram as a text It’s easier to provide more information about a use case in a text or table view. Also, some people find it faster and easier to create and edit text than a diagram. On the other hand, diagrams help users absorb information better, and there are plenty of great editors to work with (such as or pluntUML). draw.io Some authors suggest making a choice according to the following logic: diagrams – for modelling top-level behaviour, text (tables or just text) – for more detailed description of use cases. However, there are no strict or generally accepted rules, so it's up to personal preference. Jacobson used sticky notes for tracking use cases in his book, which also worked well. Note that both views (text and diagram) should be acceptable for understanding. If there is too much information, you should break it down into several levels of detail. Conclusion This marks the conclusion of the first segment of the Use Case Chronicles. The second part will concentrate on the structure of use cases in different views and examples.

The Use Case Chronicles – Part 1: Who, What, and How to Use Cases

I'm Leandro, coming to you from the heart of Argentina where I immerse myself in code, often more tangled than a good tango. Hello there! I love building with Next.js, and if you're anything like me, you're not just in this for the coding.
It's about the connections we make and the stories we tell through our craft, right? Today, I’m here to chat about our next adventure: migrating from Next.js 12 to 13. No jargon, no fluff — just you, me, and some real talk about the nitty-gritty of upgrading. Ready to jump in?
¡Vamos! Table of Contents Introduction Transitioning to the 'app' Directory Structure Fetching Data and Handling API Routes Dynamic Paths and Incremental Static Regeneration Styling Changes Conclusion References Introduction In the realm of , has always been a game-changer, especially for folks like us who appreciate a framework that's both powerful and manageable. With the release of Next.js 13, things have gotten even more exciting. However, change can be challenging, and migration, a tad bit daunting. Fret not; we'll demystify this process step-by-step. React development Next.js Transitioning to the 'app' Directory Structure First off, Next.js 13 introduces a shift in the directory structure. Instead of the pages directory acting as the sole hub, we now work with the directory. This new setup offers more flexibility, especially when our projects begin to expand in complexity. app // Before: pages/_app.js
// After: app/layout.js

import '../styles/globals.css'

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  )
} The directory becomes the central place for our layouts, pages, and components, enhancing overall organization and scalability. app Fetching Data and Handling API Routes Next.js 13 simplifies data fetching. Remember or ? Well, they've become more intuitive.
Instead of juggling different data fetching methods, you can now use straightforward functions in your directory components. getServerSideProps getStaticProps app // app/page.js

async function getProjects() {
  const res = await fetch(`https://...`)
  const projects = await res.json()

  return projects
}

export default async function Index() {
  const projects = await getProjects()

  return projects.map((project) => <div>{project.name}</div>)
} API routes see a transformation as well, replaced by Route Handlers in the directory. These handlers allow for more customizability and direct interactions with requests and responses. app // app/api/route.js

export async function GET(request) {
  // Your server-side logic here
} Dynamic Paths and Incremental Static Regeneration Dynamic routing and paths also get a revamp, making them more intuitive to work with, especially within nested routes. The function replaces , simplifying how we define our dynamic routes. generateStaticParams getStaticPaths // app/posts/[id]/page.js

export async function generateStaticParams() {
  return [{ id: '1' }, { id: '2' }]
}

async function getPost(params) {
  const res = await fetch(`https://.../posts/${params.id}`)
  const post = await res.json()

  return post
}

export default async function Post({ params }) {
  const post = await getPost(params);

  return <PostLayout post={post} />
} Moreover, the new option with data fetching methods adds the Incremental Static Regeneration feature, allowing pages to update automatically after a specified period. revalidate // app/page.js

async function getPosts() {
  const res = await fetch(`https://.../posts`, { next: { revalidate: 60 } })
  const data = await res.json()

  return data.posts
} Styling Changes Styling your components is more flexible in Next.js 13. Global styles are no longer restricted to a specific file, meaning you can maintain styles within relevant component files, enhancing modularity. If you're using Tailwind CSS, don't forget to update your to include the new directory. tailwind.config.js app // tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
  content: [
    './app/**/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,mdx}', // New line to add
    // ... other paths
  ],
} And, of course, continue importing your global styles as needed. // app/layout.js

import '../styles/globals.css'

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  // ... your layout
} Conclusion So, there we have it, amigos! Transitioning to Next.js 13 might seem like a handful at first, but it's a smooth sail once you get the hang of the changes. The enhancements in data fetching, API handling, routing, and styling are all aimed at making our lives as developers easier, allowing us to focus more on creating fantastic web experiences. As we adapt, let's continue to share our knowledge and grow together in this ever-evolving tech landscape. References Official Next.js documentation: App Router Migration I hope this guide serves as a helpful resource for all of you embarking on this migration journey.
Remember, staying updated with the latest changes helps us grow and innovate in our projects. ¡Hasta la próxima!

Migrating to Next.js 13: A Simple Walkthrough

Let's learn about via these 67 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the to find the most read stories about any technology. Problem Solving /Learn Repo 1. Scrum Teams Thinking Like Millennials is the Way Ahead By Professional Scrum Trainer, John Gillespie, Scrum.org 2. Flexbox vs CSS Grid is Not A Thing That’s right. There is NO flexbox vs CSS Grid. It’s just flexbox and CSS grid. 3. Why Learning PyTorch Can Make you a Better Engineer Pytorch is a powerful open-source deep-learning framework that is quickly gaining popularity among researchers and developers 4. Will Robots Take Your Job: Reality or a Misconception? There has been a lot of fear regarding human beings being made redundant due to artificial intelligence and automation taking away their jobs. The recruitment industry is one of the many sectors AI has enhanced in recent years. AI and robots are used to optimize the workflow through machine learning and problem-solving. Automation with AI helps to dig the best resource out of many available candidates. The ability of robots and AI to provide efficient outcomes swiftly is the reason for the massive adoption of these technologies. There is no divided opinion about the fact that digital workers known as robots are performing more of the work traditionally done by humans so saying that these AI-based robots are taking away human jobs is nothing more than a  dystopian claim. 5. 5 Repeatable Steps I Follow to Solve Almost Any Coding Problem Every programming problem involves some kind of algorithm. An algorithm, in this sense, is a process or set of steps to accomplish a certain tasks; or simply a step-by-step way to solve a problem. There are about 700 programming languages. (Seriously: Here's a list.) So, what to learn and why to learn it - that's what most people are stuck on. From my perspective, you can (and should) choose learn any language. Learning the basics of one on-demand programming language will do you no harm. But: you must select ONE language that becomes your magic spell, and you should always be ready to create something out of it. Learning varieties of languages and not being able to do anything really well is like a curse. 6. 53% of People Think We Buy New Tech, Not Progress. They're Wrong. I did a Twitter poll to see what people think is the best approach to developing new products/services. The poll has been featured among people with startup or entrepreneurial interests. After looking at the results, I was surprised. 7. You Cannot Learn Coding without Problem-Solving Skills In a sea of options available to learn computer science, Learnly might be the right fit for you. 8. How Product Manager Solve Complex Problems Excellent problem-solving skill is very essential for a Product Manager, because in the real day to day as a Product Manager will face a lot of complex problems that require deeply thinking for finding the root cause of problems, not only user’s problems but also internal problems such as slow development process, increase growth rate, increase retention rate, etc. 9. Problem Solving Questions During PM Interview Problem-solving question is the most frequent and recurring question asked PM interview. Here's a way on how shall one approach it. 10. My Approach To Not Understanding When creating any software, it is almost inevitable to spend a big part of your development time researching, and many times this involves looking for syntax you don't remember, or for finding out how other people have approached the same problem you are trying to solve. 11. Why Solo Developers Should Never Take the Easy Route This story is my own take on why working solo shouldn't mean you take the easy route as a developer. Sometimes you've got to force yourself to do things to become better at what you do. 12. How I Solve Problems as a Developer There is no programmer in the world who knows how to solve every coding problem. That person simply doesn’t exist, because the programming field is so big that to a normal person, it would take two lives to learn all of that, but we only have one life. 13. 7 Most Valuable Soft Skills Of Exceptional Software Engineers When we think about software engineering, we tend to think about the technical skill set of the professional first. And this makes sense because the skill set defines the quality of work that the software engineer can perform-and make no mistake, quality comes above everything in software development. 14. Automation: Figuring It Out is Just Like Doing a Puzzle When you're wondering if something can be automated or not, a way of looking at the situation is like a puzzle. 15. Use This 7-Step McKinsey Framework to Solve Any Problem Julia MacDonald, a Fractional Growth Executive, breaks down a 7-step framework to solve any problem. 16. Thinking Like Elon Musk Means Thinking Bigger Than Big: Huge In simple language, First Principles Thinking involves actively questioning every assumption you believe. 17. Simple Advice on How To Complete That Never Ending Task Faced with a mind numbing, insurmountable challenge, you stare at
your screen, thinking of all the hours that are about to slip by you as
you chip away at the never ending task you’ve been set. 18. 3 Sharpest Instruments for Debugging: Using the Old-School Mind Mapping Strategy I found a bug in one of the open-source GitHub repositories and fixed it using the three sharpest instruments: pen, paper, and brain. 19. Kadane’s Algorithm Explained with Examples Given an array, the algorithm to find the maximum subarray sum is called Kadane’s Algorithm. 20. Why Your Tech Project Can Fail and How to Avoid the Failure Project Management Institute claims that one out of four organization’s projects failed outright. The numbers are far from being encouraging. 21. Why do you need project templates? With the ubiquitous use of microservices, docker, k8s, and other containerization technologies, I noticed an interesting change. Microservices - although they can be written in different programming languages, use different databases, cache systems, and other backend technologies, they tend to be uniform. This is a very important and correct step since such services are easy to manage, deploy and maintain. 22. How to Get Better at Solving Programming Problems Getting better at problem-solving requires more than just reps. It’s also how you go about it. We discuss How to Get Better at Solving Programming Problems. 23. Contains Duplicate and Missing Number author: Sergei Golitsyn https://t.me/crack_code_interview return true if any value appears at least twice number in the range that is missing from arr 24. Helping My Engineering Friend Build a Text Classifier My engineering friend, let’s address him as Mr. Wolf 🐺 (identify hidden), requested a 1:1 call to help him fix his classification model. 25. Following George Pólya’s Methods of Problem-solving. How It Might Help You In The Process of Coding. When my coding instructor started teaching the topic ‘Approaching Solution Of A Problem’ ,  he introduced George Pólya’s methods of problem-solving to us. 26. How to Get the GCD Of Two Numbers in C The greatest common divisor (GCD) is the largest positive integer that is also a common divisor of a given set of positive integers. It is also known as the highest common factor (HCF) or the greatest common factor (GCF). 27. How Do You Alternate Positive and Negative in Python? Have you ever written a program for pairing alternate positive and negative numbers? If not, then you are missing some great opportunities. 28. How to Solve Any Machine Learning Problem [Almost] TL, DR; When coming across an ML problem, don’t try to be a hero and dive right into solving it. Process and understand the problem, review your dataset, set a realistic goal and then go about actually solving the problem. Chances are that you will end up saving a lot of resources (most importantly time) if you plan your execution properly. 29. The Hidden Catch With Using Frameworks Framework's ready-made functionality is great for app building, but often hides drawbacks. Find out why you need to switch to a problem-solving mindset. 30. Solving the Edit Distance Problem Using The Dynamic Programming Approach The first question that arises when solving a problem using dynamic programming(DP) is how to figure out that DP is a way to solve it? 31. Three Amigos Teach Us a Lot About Writing Better Agile User Stories Do you use the “Three Amigos” Agile strategy? 32. An Introduction to Design Thinking Some of the most common approaches to solve a problem are situational or context-specific. For example, in the field of structural engineering, most of the challenges are solved by applying time tested rules in the field of civil engineering. For a problem that is considered less severe, a common approach is a trial by error. Mission-critical requirements and issues are solved by using a well-defined set of steps and strategies. The first reaction to solve any problem is to compartmentalize the problem into something which was solved earlier. The mind likes the comfort of the known after all. This is our primordial nature. These approaches have served us since time immemorial and will continue to do so. A common thread running through all these problems is they are well known, and they have been faced before plus they are well documented 33. A Better Way to Pass Technical Interviews To LeetCode or not to LeetCode? What if you don't want to practice 100s of coding questions before your next coding interview? 34. Fixing Root Certificate Expiration Errors in cURL Learn how to mitigate certificate expiration errors in cURL and the Android HTTP client using the AddTrust certificate. 35. Things You Need To Learn Before You Start Writing Code I'm sure you all have read a quote like this, "First solve the problem, then write the code". At first I took it lightly. I liked to follow a different approach, "Solving the problem with code". After coding for a long time, I realized the importance of solving the problem first before jumping into writing code. In this article, I will try explain why you should slow down and how to actually save your time. Also, this will make you a better programmer. 36. Does Software Need to Solve Problems? “What is the problem your software is solving?” 37. 6 Marketing Problems Of 2021 And How To Fix Them The internet has changed the world. Most would say for the better, especially those of us running an online business. When it comes to business, marketing has never been so easy as it is today - with access to a plethora of digital marketing channels. 38. The Five Step Approach for Tackling Complex Problems “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” - Albert Einstein 39. Programmer’s Pyramid: Take Your Programming To The Next Level Build a solid foundation of programming knowledge, develop core skills, and obtain an effective learning system with Programmer’s Pyramid. 40. Approaching Problems like a Software Engineer During a recent, mock technical interview, I was given the following problem to solve. 41. When Everyone Corrected the World's Smartest Woman I find the Monty Hall Problem one of the most fascinating brain teasers, because it seems deceivingly simple. When Marilyn Von Savant, the woman with the highest IQ, answered this brainteaser correctly in 1991, she was inundated with over 10,000 letters from academics and Ph.Ds criticizing her “error”, only to be proven later that she was correct. 42. The Developer’s Guide to Being a Better Leader: Solution-ing is Contagious More often than not, developers and architects spend a large portion of their time in solving problems. The complexity involved in finding a solution varies from problem-to-problem and is directly proportionate to the individual’s or team’s ability in finding the solution. As a lead, architect or a senior architect, we need to instill the culture of solution-ing in our team. 43. House Robber You need to solve this: given an integer array nums representing the amount of money of each house, return the maximum amount of money you can rob tonight. 44. A Step By Step Guide To Finding The Best Partner To Outsource From In this blog, we will discuss some points you should consider to help narrow down the most suitable partner for outsourcing. 45. Imagination Split The Atom People tend to equate an artist with a hobbyist who daubs paint on a canvas or plays around with lumps of clay of a Sunday. Or someone who really keeps at it, never gives up and maybe will make it, if he or she is lucky enough to encounter the right key person to open the doors to that art market where the big collectors reside. 46. Creativity and Problem Solving is Required at Every Level Many times, the best problem solvers in an organization never get a chance to contribute their creativity, so a lot of potential goes undiscovered. 47. Using Data Science To Deal With RTOs Considering how much fraudulent RTOs can cost a business, using data science to mitigate their frequency can help save an e-commerce business money over time. 48. Is the Pinterest Way to Measure Ads the Right Way? A cutting-edge data science model can only be created if impact is measured properly. Pinterest upgraded everyone's preferred impact measurement metric, CTR. 49. Harnessing Growth Mindset to Design a Spider Killer I was in the middle of doing a pilates class over Zoom when I noticed a big spider on the ceiling. I pointed it out to my kids who were in the room with me, but knowing that none of us could reach it, I dismissed it and went back to struggling through “the hundreds”. Around me, the kids also resumed their activity... or so I thought. 50. RCA for Tech Managers : How to approach a Product Issue Root Cause Analysis  for Managers 51. Crucial Steps Towards Effective Problem Solving In The Workplace Every business - and everyone - encounters problems, whether it's too few customers, a product now working, or a team not functioning as it should. 52. How to Solve Engineering Problems Using Scientific Method On every new software product, feature or project you develop you are bound to come across challenges that don’t have a clear answer at first. 53. The Case Against Upgradeable Smart Contracts The use cases appropriate for upgradeable smart contracts may be narrower than you think. 54. Incorporating Art into Engineering by Introducing the STEAM Approach There is a perception that science, technology, and the arts are separate vocations. The STEAM approach incorporates the arts and sciences. 55. Problem-Based Learning: David Merrill's Principles of Instruction Merrill's First Principles of Instruction are a series of very effective problem-based teaching methodologies. The principles are based on the five core princip 56. I Really Struggled With Math Because My Teachers Were Horrible I really struggled with Math at a point cause my teachers were horrible. 57. Succeeding at Pre-Sales and Solutions Engineering [The Prerequisites] A lot of the people I know, have been asking me questions regarding pre-sales / Solution engineering and how to succeed in it 58. Users Who Hate Change; Not Pivoting Enough; And Other Product Challenges 59. Solving the Single Number and Climbing Stairs Coding Challenge author: Sergei Golitsyn
element appears twice except for one. Find that single one.
how many distinct ways can you climb to the top? 60. MO’s Algorithm: Efficient Way to Solve Offline Range Query Problems MO’s Algorithm aka Square Root Decomposition, a very efficient and easy technique to solve Range Query Problems (RQP). For MO’s Algorithm to work, the RQP has to be offline. In this post, we will understand about RQP, Offline RPQ, Naive Approach to solve RQP and an Efficient Approach using MO’s Algorithm. What is Range Query Problem? 61. Field Notes from My Journey into Engineering Management I am going through what one might call “career puberty”. I’m growing up and moving to an engineering manager role. It’s more of a recognition of a position I reached organically and a job I’ve been de facto doing for some time now, rather than an abrupt change dictated by external factors. 62. Manacher’s Algorithm Explained— Longest Palindromic Substring Manacher’s Algorithm helps us find the longest palindromic substring in the given string. It optimizes over the brute force solution by using some insights into how palindromes work. How? Let’s see! 63. Learn The "Disagree and Commit" Exercise for Better Leadership What can make us incredibly valuable at work - our willingness to disagree openly and commit to helping others succeed or sticking to our arguments even when others have moved forward and a decision has been made. 64. How To Swap Values In JavaScript At some point in their career, developers need to swap values. Most of the time we use the one plain old solution of “using a temporary variable”. Ugh, if only there was a better way. But wait! There is, and there’s not just one but many. In desperate times, we scour the web for solutions, find one, and copy it without ever wondering how this little snippet of code works. Lucky for you, now is the time to learn about how to swap values easily and efficiently, putting an end to your misery. 65. Speed Up Your Updates Delivery: This Method Really Works A development method to bring value quickly while not slowing down the pace of software releases. 66. Is ‘bias for action’ making product managers lazier? Let me preface this by saying I’m a big believer in the bias for action principle popularised by Amazon. I’ve used it as a guideline whenever I didn’t have enough data to make an informed decision. 67. Corporate Cybersecurity Should Include Trust, Accountability, and Culture Having good Trust, Accountability, and Culture is like having a good immune system for your body - less of a need to visit a doctor AKA Security Professional. Thank you for checking out the 67 most read stories about Problem Solving on HackerNoon. to find the most read stories about any technology. Visit the /Learn Repo

67 Stories To Learn About Problem Solving

Hola, amigos! I've been on the dark side... uh excuse me, I mean the VC (Venture Capital) side for years. Invested my own hard-earned money and raised funds multiple times for my startups. But now? Now I'm self-funding, and it's like someone turned on a light bulb in my head. My eyes are popping open wider than when you accidentally run your code without testing only to find out there were bugs hiding in there like ninjas! I realized that most of this so-called "VC money" is just burned playing what I have come to call the "unfair game." We're talking about buying Forbes articles, media ads, bot farms, and 1000 more hacks or as we devs love to say - cheats. When I was backed by VCs myself, it didn't seem so different. They put a million dollars on your table with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop while pushing you to grow fast at costs.
But when you switch sides and suddenly see things from another perspective... woah Nelly! all The rule of money seems simple: those who have it use it not just for multiplication tables but also for domination games. Those with followers get even more followers because hey why not?! So basically our motto becomes: 'To those who have something, everything will be given.' But hold up folks! This ain't no Bible verse nor is it any kind of fair play. Now, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying wealth distribution should look like one big pizza everyone gets an equal slice of – after all capitalism isn’t quite dead yet last time I checked 😄 – but surely we can do better than this? Because fewer players start doing everything in this scenario which would be great if they loved their initial stuff, but as their user base grows, they add more products just because…well…they can. Do they love these new products? Most likely nope; it’s business pure and simple. This leads us back round full circle to where we started off: Is being driven by monetary returns alone really such a good thing? Can dreams powered by passion rather than cash create successful ventures too? So today, dear friends, let’s embark together on a mission: A mission towards changing how things work; towards creating tools made by teams that live & breathe what they do rather than simply chasing dollar signs! One such fight we’re currently engaged in is through one of our brave projects called unicornplatform against another product funded by guess who? Our old friend Money Bags himself! Mr.VC This contender has launched a landing page complete with a waitlist & magically accumulating upvotes despite having negligible site traffic or social media presence plus zero evidence of any real product launch dates!! And yes, before anyone asks – God’s will apparently doesn’t extend itself toward getting your code working properly either. 😜 As always remember, life isn’t simply about winning or losing battles folks – sometimes standing up & fighting against odds stacked high enough to give Jack & his beanstalk vertigo counts too. ✊ P.S. If you read till here, then congrats amigo! You’ve earned yourself some Twitter candy 🍭 Go ahead and follow me unless you want bad karma waiting outside your door tomorrow morning 😉 Don't say nobody warned ya!! @johnrushx -- P.S.2.0 The AI landing page builder I talked about that’s fighting against injustice https://www.producthunt.com/posts/unicorn-platform-ai Also published here

VC Funding Can Turn Into an Evil Empire

Given the number of API Gateways available on the market, I’m regularly asked which is better. Better is a very subjective term. However, there’s no denying that if you’re advocating for a product, you should know your product and its competitors. In this post, I’d like to share my understanding of Spring Cloud Gateway and how it compares to Apache APISIX. I’m cautious when comparing products because most comparisons I read are heavily biased. That’s a risk, especially when working on one of the products one is comparing. I’ll also avoid "benchmarketing" - when you benchmark products in a context that favors your own; I’ll focus on the so-called Developer Experience. As a safeguard, I’ve asked my friend Iván López, a Spring Cloud Gateway user, to proofread the post. Iván reviewed the post as my friend, not as a VMWare developer. Despite all my best efforts, I may appear not as objective as I’d like. I accept it, and that’s fine. First steps with Spring Cloud Gateway All API Gateways that I know about provide a Docker image. For example, provide three flavours: Debian, CentOS, and recently, Red Hat. At this point, you can start deploying the images in your containerized architecture. Apache APISIX Spring Cloud Gateway’s approach is radically different. It’s just a regular dependency on a regular Spring project: <dependency>
      <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-gateway</artifactId>
      <version>4.0.6</version>
</dependency> You can leverage all standard ways to create the project, including the popular , as for any regular Spring project. This developer-oriented approach is pervasive in everything related to Spring Cloud Gateway. start.spring.io Concepts and abstractions Apache APISIX features a rich model: In particular, you can create an abstraction and share it across different routes. Likewise, allows you to create a reusable combination of plugins. Upstream Plugin Config Here’s the Spring Cloud Gateway model: The APISIX model is richer, with abstractions and the possibility of reuse. Configuration Apache APISIX has two deployment modes (actually three, but let’s not get into details): and . traditional standalone In traditional mode, APISIX stores its configuration in . APISIX offers a rich API to access and update the configuration, the . In standalone mode, the configuration is just plain YAML. It’s the approach for GitOps practitioners: you’d store your configuration in a Git repo, watch it via your favorite tool ( , Argo CD or Tekton), and the latter would propagate the changes to APISIX nodes upon changes. APISIX reloads its configuration every second or so. etcd Admin API e.g. Here’s a sample: upstreams:
  - id: 1
    nodes:
      "catalog:8080": 1
  - id: 2
    nodes:
      "pricing:8080": 1

routes:
  - uri: /v1/products*
    upstream_id: 1
    plugins:
      proxy-rewrite:
        regex_uri: ["/v1(.*)", "$1"]
  - uri: /prices*
    upstream_id: 2
    plugins:
      referer-restriction:
        whitelist:
          - catalog.me

global_rules:
  plugins:
    prometheus:
      prefer_name: true Spring Cloud Gateway supports all configuration options of regular Spring projects, and they are . However, "flat" configurations, such as file(s) and environment variables, are error-prone: many .properties spring.cloud.gateway.routes[0].id=products
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[0].uri=http://catalog:8080
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[0].predicates[0]=Path=/v1/products*
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[1].id=pricing
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[1].uri=http://pricing:8080
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[1].predicates[0]=Path=/prices*
spring.cloud.gateway.routes[1].predicates[1]=Header=Referer, http://catalog.me IMHO, one should stick to a hierarchical configuration, such as YAML - and remember that I’m not too fond of YAML. Here’s the same configuration as above: spring.cloud.gateway.routes:
  - id: products
    uri: http://catalog:8080
    predicates:
      - Path=/v1/products*
    filters:
      - StripPrefix=1
  - id: pricing
    uri: http://pricing:8080
    predicates:
      - Path=/prices*
      - Header=Referer, http://catalog.me I believe the YAML version leaves less space for errors, especially regarding indices. Be warned that Spring applications don’t reload their configuration by default when the latter changes. While it’s possible - and indeed, a couple of options are available - it requires coding. 's a good tutorial on how to achieve it. Here As for Apache APISIX, you can also create via the endpoint. However, the API doesn’t offer a method: you need to update the whole route in case of updates. update and delete routes dynamically /actuator PATCH Features comparison Apache APISIX implements features with , while Spring Cloud Gateway implements them with . While an exhaustive, detailed feature-by-feature comparison is beyond the scope of a single blog post, we can still get a good overview. plugins filters Feature Spring Gateway Apache APISIX Request headers manipulation AddRequestHeader``AddRequestHeadersIfNotPresent``RemoveRequestHeader``SetRequestHeader``MapRequestHeader``SecureHeaders``FallbackHeaders``SetRequestHostHeader``PreserveHostHeader``AddRequestParameter``RemoveRequestParameter proxy-rewrite Path manipulation StripPrefix PrefixPath RewritePath SetPath proxy-rewrite Response headers manipulation AddResponseHeader``DedupeResponseHeader``RewriteLocationResponseHeader``RemoveResponseHeader``RewriteResponseHeader``SetResponseHeader``SetStatus response-rewrite Redirection RedirectTo redirect JSON gRPC transcoding JsonToGrpc grpc-transcode Body manipulation ModifyRequestBody ModifyResponseBody Only available via code response-rewrite Only the response can be modified Resiliency CircuitBreaker Retry api-breaker Resiliency RequestRateLimiter No configuration via "shortcut" notation limit-count limit-conn limit-request Resiliency - fault-injection Caching LocalResponseCache proxy-cache Apache APISIX and Spring Cloud Gateway offer more or less the same features set. Regarding common features, the Spring way is much more granular, with a dedicated filter for each operation. In contrast, APISIX provides a single plugin with many configuration options but for rate-limiting. Some plugins are Spring-specific, , - APISIX has no such integration. Conversely, APISIX provides many plugins for authentication with different third-party services, , KeyCloak, OpenId Connect, etc. Spring Cloud Gateway achieves it via the Spring Security dependency, a whole subject. e.g. SaveSession e.g. If a feature is unavailable out of the box, developing a custom plugin in Lua for APISIX, in a JVM language for Spring is possible. Observability Observability implementations differ wildly between Spring Cloud Gateway and Apache APISIX. The first relies on , which offers plenty of observability-related features. To use it in any Spring Boot project, just add the dependency: the Actuator <dependency>
	<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
	<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
	<version>3.1.0</version>
</dependency> To serve metrics for Prometheus consumption, add the following Micrometer dependency: pom.xml <dependency>
	<groupId>io.micrometer</groupId>
	<artifactId>micrometer-registry-prometheus</artifactId>
	<version>1.11.0</version>
</dependency> On the other hand, Apache APISIX uses the same plugin system for features for observability: For tracing: , , and zipkin skywalking opentelemetry For metrics: , , and prometheus node-status datadog For logging: too many to list exhaustively, but integrates with Kafka, Elasticsearch, Splunk, Google Cloud, ClickHouse, etc. Both products cover the three pillars of Observability and provide many integrations with third-party backends. Documentation IMHO, Spring’s documentation is second to none; is no exception. It belongs to the Spring portfolio and offers the same structure: an overview, the reference documentation (exhaustive), a get-started guide, and two sample projects organized by version. Spring Cloud Gateway’s The only reproach I have is that everything is developer-oriented. API Gateways are infrastructure components and should cater to Ops people. For example, configuration snippets should highlight YAML and only show code as a second option. I won’t comment on because I know the issues too well. If you have any constructive feedback, however, I’m all ears. Please comment below. Apache APISIX’s documentation Usability Usability is quite subjective, but I didn’t notice significant differences in my sample demo. Here’s the general design, pretending to mimic a microservices architecture. I’ve slightly changed the implementation, though, to leverage the gateway. Instead of the catalog calling the pricing/stocks components, I call the gateway to forward the call. Additionally, I want to prevent external callers from accessing pricing and stocks: only the catalog should be allowed. Many implementations of this requirement are possible. In real-world scenarios, I’d probably use a TLS-based authentication. For this demo, I chose to pass a configurable header. Prometheus scraps the metrics of the gateway. Apache APISIX offers a dedicated port and thread, so regular routing and observing are decoupled. You can also customize the path to the endpoint. Spring Cloud Gateway uses the same port but a specific path, , which you can customize. You can also change the port of the actuator via the property. /actuator whole management.server.port The project offers two branches, and . To use it, check out one of the two branches. apisix spring Launch the project: docker compose up Then, test it: curl localhost:8080/products Both branches should yield the same result. I’ve added a Grafana dashboard. Note that the Spring one doesn’t output anything usable, but it’s my fault that I could not configure it properly. Conclusion Spring Cloud Gateway and Apache APISIX are two (API) Gateways offering more or less the same set of features. However, their approach is radically different. Spring Cloud Gateway stems from the Spring framework and the Spring Boot platform and essentially focuses on developers already familiar with Spring. If you’re in such a scenario, it’s easy to get into as one feels right at home, with a slight warning. For performance reasons, Spring Cloud Gateway implements non-blocking I/O with Spring WebFlux, which relies Project Reactor. It will be a challenging ride if you need to code non-trivial logic using code and you’re not familiar with and . Mono Flux On the other side, while using it without prior knowledge of Spring internals is possible, it will be a massive step for non-Spring developers. It will be an even more gigantic step if they are not JVM developers and a complete leap of faith if they aren’t developers at all, , Ops. i.e. Apache APISIX is more suited to regular Ops profiles, providing the product in a packaging they’re familiar with: Docker images and Helm charts for Kubernetes. He also pointed out to me misconceptions I had about Spring Cloud Gateway. Muchas gracias amigo! Thanks for his kind review. Iván López The complete source code for this post can be found on . GitHub To go further: Apache APISIX Apache APISIX reference guide Spring Cloud Gateway Spring Cloud Gateway reference guide Originally at on June 18th, 2023. published A Java Geek

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