Roundup: mirror flips, CSS grid, and 10x developers
July 6, 2017
Why do mirrors flip horizontally (but not vertically)? - Ben W
https://youtu.be/vBpxhfBlVLU
I found this a cool explanation, especially the bit where she flips the card with a bit of text.
The concepts of CSS grid layout - Tom S
https://fettblog.eu/grid-concepts
The grid layout is a hot topic right now, and there are volumes of articles about it. However, this article found from CSS Weekly covers the major concepts which at first seem very different to the normal CSS properties you are used to seeing. It's no doubt that when this is widely supported and can be used on production sites, that it will be a game changer for front end development.
The 10x Developer - Murray S
http://blog.jessitron.com/2017/06/the-most-productive-circumstances-for.html
There's a idea that certain developers are worth ten of their peers and you want to hire these devs because they're so good. A good number of dismissals of this idea have focussed on "10x" being nothing more than a more scientific sounding way of saying "ninja" or "rockstar" when describing the kind of developer you want to hire (e.g. meaningless hyperbole). This article explains that there probably are individual developers who are significantly more productive than their peers, but it's the situation they're in that makes them so, not some otherworldly level of skill they have. I'm sure I've been in this situation myself, and, if I'm being honest, I've enjoyed being the person that people ask to get things done. Looking back though I can see it's not a universally useful position to be in. I'm not a supremely talented developer, I was just the longest standing member of the team, or the only one that had touched a messy part of the system. I'd internalised the system so I knew how to change it but no-one else had been working on it long enough, or been given enough help to do so.
This article has some great tips on resolving these situations so that you spread the knowledge around your team and help make everyone a better developer. I look forward to using them when I next realise I'm in the same position.
Track of the Week - Steve L
It’s my 5 year wedding anniversary tomorrow and this song was our first dance. Happy memories.