Building Async and Cloud Native organizations - Issue #8

Author

Michiel van Oudheusden
January 10, 2023

Welcome to my weekly newsletter! Every week, I bring you the latest news, updates, and resources from the world of coding and architecture. I'm so glad you've decided to join me, and I can't wait to share my insights and expertise with you.

In this newsletter, you'll find a curated selection of articles, tutorials, and other resources that I think will be useful and interesting to you. I cover a wide range of topics, from new tools and technologies to best practices and remote working tips. I'm always on the lookout for the latest trends and developments in the field, and I'm excited to share them with you.

I hope you'll find this newsletter to be a valuable resource, and I welcome your feedback and suggestions. If there's something you'd like to see more of, or if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you for joining me, and happy reading!

REST and APIs

NGINX delivered their State of App and API report containing insights based on their survey.

2022 NGINX State of App and API Delivery Report - NGINX

In our 2022 survey report, we explore the current state of the NGINX community when it comes to app and API delivery practices, technologies, and challenges.

https://www.nginx.com/blog/2022-nginx-state-of-app-api-delivery-report/

As I mostly work with Azure and as such with the Azure Api Management solution, I do not play with the many open source gateways. However, there are some pretty impressive ones out there:

6 Open-Source API Gateways | Nordic APIs |

We review six robust open-source API gateways from Kong, Tyk, Gravitee, and others. Each can handle rate limiting, authentication, and more.

https://nordicapis.com/6-open-source-api-gateways/

Bi-directional contract testing (BDCT) is a type of API contract testing unique to Pactflow. Pactflow is a testing platform that deploys and manages testing for APIs using Pact. BDCT compares two contracts to check their compatibility. One contract outlines the consumer's expectations, while the other details the provider's capabilities.

Bi-Directional Contract Testing: A Basic Guide to API Contract Testing Compatibilities

In this guest blog from Pandadoc, we dive into what contract testing is for those who are curious.

https://blog.stoplight.io/bi-directional-contract-testing-a-basic-guide-to-api-contract-testing-compatibilities

Coding technicalities

Sometimes I just want to try out something in dotnet, and although a command line app is quickly created, it is overkill for quick experiments. There are online services allowing you to run some code, but what if you can just run it from the command line?

GitHub - waf/CSharpRepl: A command line C# REPL with syntax highlighting – explore the language, libraries and nuget packages interactively.

A command line C# REPL with syntax highlighting – explore the language, libraries and nuget packages interactively. - GitHub - waf/CSharpRepl: A command line C# REPL with syntax highlighting – expl...

https://github.com/waf/CSharpRepl

That compression makes a difference should not come as a shock, but do you also use it for your deployments as well? Not only saving time, but also cost.

How to reduce the deployment time using the file compression technique in Azure App Service

Uncompressed file uploads are slower than uploading the compressed file to the artifact when using the GitHub Workflow. The time taken for a sample Node application to Azure App Service was 50mins to an hour for completing the deployment, that was triggered using GitHub Action Workflow. The screen...

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/apps-on-azure-blog/how-to-reduce-the-deployment-time-using-the-file-compression/ba-p/3708095

Minimal API endpoints are a great way to set up a web api, but how do they actually work? Andrew Lock dives into the details:

A first look behind the scenes of minimal API endpoints: Behind the scenes of minimal APIs - Part 1

In this post I take a high-level look at how a call to MapGet("/", () => "Hello World!") is turned into a RequestDelegate that ASP.NET Core can execute.

https://andrewlock.net/behind-the-scenes-of-minimal-apis-1-a-first-look-behind-the-scenes-of-minimal-api-endpoints/

GitHub related

GitHub released their state of open source software report. Read more on the most used programming languages, the popular repositories, and how they are used:

The top programming languages

Explore the top programming languages on GitHub—and what languages are growing the fastest.

https://octoverse.github.com/2022/top-programming-languages

A quick tip; for keyboard shortcuts there is a separate markup tag that will render a bit different to highlight that it is a key.

A totally useless bit of info, but did you know that the company creating GitHub used to be called Logical Awesome?

New Year, New Company | The GitHub Blog

As of January 1, 2010 we’re operating this site as GitHub, Inc. What does that mean for you? In a word: nothing. We originally incorporated Logical Awesome LLC prior to launching GitHub thinking that it would be just one of a number of brands we were going to release. GitHub took off in a serious […]

https://github.blog/2010-01-22-new-year-new-company/

Computing in general

A bold move; Shopify will just remove all meetings from calendars when there are more than two persons involved. Next to their meeting free Wednesday, this is another take on reducing time spend in meetings.

This Company Is Canceling All Meetings With More Than Two Employees To Free Up Workers’ Time

Shopify’s move to reduce meetings is an approach more companies have been taking as productivity concerns increase and the habits of a pandemic filled with half-hour Zoom calls have lingered.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2023/01/03/shopify-is-canceling-all-meetings-with-more-than-two-people-from-workers-calendars-and-urging-few-to-be-added-back

Scaling can be a better option than implementing SAFe:

SAFe vs. Simple Scaling

Leaders and Executives considering a “scaled Agile transformation” – you have a choice. SAFe vs. Simple Scaling.

https://agileauthority.com/safe-vs-simple-scaling/

One of the terrible things in development; naming things. Let alone on how to name a new startup. Zach Holman wrote about his struggles:

How to Name a Startup

Written pieces, talks, and other bits by Zach Holman.

https://zachholman.com/posts/how-to-name-a-startup

Helpers and utilities

Need a quick way to simulate a response code? Like a 202, a 500, maybe a 402? With a direct link to for example https://httpstat.us/411 you get a 411 response code. Check their site for more options and explanation.

httpstat.us

https://httpstat.us/

Computer Laws

If the same tests are repeated over and over again, eventually the same test cases will no longer find new bugs.

Pesticide Paradox

This paradox arises because, as the tests are repeated, any bugs that the tests are able to detect will be found and fixed. As a result, the likelihood of those tests finding new bugs decreases with each repetition, until eventually they will no longer uncover any new issues.

The Pesticide Paradox highlights the importance of regularly updating and expanding the test suite being used, in order to continue effectively finding and fixing bugs in the software. Without introducing new tests and test cases, the efficiency of the testing process will eventually decline.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's issue of my newsletter. If you found it useful, I invite you to share it with your friends and colleagues. And if you're not already a subscriber, be sure to sign up to receive future issues.

Next week, I'll be back with more articles, tutorials, and resources to help you stay up-to-date on the latest developments in coding and architecture. In the meantime, keep learning and growing, and happy coding!

Best regards, Michiel

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