Archive for the ‘General’ Category
[DevoxxFR 2021] Maximizing Productivity with Programmable Ergonomic Keyboards: Insights from Alexandre Navarro
In an enlightening session at Devoxx France 2021, Alexandre Navarro, a seasoned Java backend developer, captivated the audience with a deep dive into the world of programmable ergonomic keyboards. His presentation, titled “Maximizing Your Productivity with a Programmable Ergonomic Keyboard,” unveils the historical evolution of keyboards, the principles of ergonomic design, and practical strategies for customizing keyboards to enhance coding efficiency. Alexandre’s expertise, honed over eleven years of typing in the Bépo layout and eight years on a TextBlade, offers developers a compelling case for rethinking their primary input device. This post explores the key themes of his talk, providing actionable insights for programmers seeking to optimize their workflow.
A Journey Through Keyboard History
Alexandre begins by tracing the lineage of keyboards, a journey that illuminates why our modern layouts exist. In the 1870s, early typewriters resembled pianos with alphabetical key arrangements, mere prototypes of today’s devices. By 1874, the Sholes and Glidden typewriter introduced a layout resembling QWERTY, a design often misunderstood as a deliberate attempt to slow typists to prevent jamming. Alexandre debunks this myth, explaining that QWERTY was shaped by practical needs, such as placing frequent English digraphs like “TH” and “ER” for efficient typing. The addition of a number row and user feedback further refined the layout, with quirks like the absence of dedicated “0” and “1” keys—substituted by “O” and “I”—reflecting telegraphy influences.
This historical context sets the stage for understanding why QWERTY persists despite its limitations. Alexandre notes that modern keyboards, like the iconic IBM model, retain QWERTY’s staggered rows and non-aligned letters, a legacy of mechanical constraints irrelevant to today’s technology. His narrative underscores a critical point: many developers use keyboards designed for a bygone era, prompting a reevaluation of tools that dominate their daily work.
Defining Ergonomic Keyboards
Transitioning to ergonomics, Alexandre outlines the hallmarks of a keyboard designed for comfort and speed. He categorizes ergonomic features into three domains: physical key arrangement, letter layout, and key customization. Physically, an ergonomic keyboard should be orthogonal (straight rows, unlike QWERTY’s stagger), symmetrical to match human hand anatomy, flat to reduce tendon strain, and accessible to minimize finger travel. These principles challenge conventional designs, where number pads skew symmetry and elevated keys stress wrists.
Alexandre highlights two exemplary models: the Keyboardio Model 01 and the ErgoDox. The Keyboardio, which he uses, boasts orthogonal, symmetrical keys and accessible layouts, while the ErgoDox offers customizable switches and curvature. These keyboards prioritize user comfort, aligning with the natural positioning of hands to reduce fatigue during long coding sessions. By contrasting these with traditional keyboards, Alexandre emphasizes that ergonomic design is not a luxury but a necessity for developers who spend hours typing.
Optimizing with Programmable Keyboards
The heart of Alexandre’s talk lies in programming keyboards to unlock productivity. Programmable keyboards, like the ErgoDox and Keyboardio, emerged around 2011, powered by microcontrollers that developers can flash with custom firmware, often using Arduino-based C code or graphical tools. This flexibility allows users to redefine key functions, creating layouts tailored to their workflows.
Alexandre introduces key programming concepts, such as layers (up to 32, akin to switching between QWERTY and number pad modes), macros (single keys triggering complex shortcuts like “Ctrl+F”), and tap/hold behaviors (e.g., a key typing “A” when tapped but acting as “Ctrl” when held). These features enable developers to streamline repetitive tasks, such as navigating code or executing IDE shortcuts, directly from their home row. Alexandre’s personal setup, using the Bépo layout optimized for French, exemplifies how customization can enhance efficiency, even for English-heavy programming tasks.
Why Embrace Ergonomic Keyboards?
Alexandre concludes by addressing the “why” behind adopting ergonomic keyboards. Beyond speed, these devices offer comfort, reducing the risk of repetitive strain injuries—a concern for developers typing extensively. He shares his experience with the Bépo layout, which, while not optimized for English, outperforms QWERTY and AZERTY due to shared frequent letters and better hand alternation. For those hesitant to switch, Alexandre suggests starting with a blank keyboard to learn touch typing, ensuring all fingers engage without glancing at keys.
His call to action resonates with developers: mastering your keyboard is as essential as mastering your IDE. By investing in an ergonomic, programmable keyboard, programmers can transform a mundane tool into a productivity powerhouse. Alexandre’s insights, grounded in years of experimentation, inspire a shift toward tools that align with modern coding demands.
Links:
- Watch the full presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCMra9RgCzw
- Follow Devoxx France on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devoxxfrance/
- Follow Devoxx France on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DevoxxFR
- Visit Devoxx France: https://www.devoxx.fr/
Kotlin Native Concurrency Explained by Kevin Galligan
Navigating Kotlin/Native’s Concurrency Model
At KotlinConf 2019 in Copenhagen, Kevin Galligan, a partner at Touchlab with over 20 years of software development experience, delivered a 39-minute talk on Kotlin/Native’s concurrency model. Kevin Galligan explored the restrictive yet logical rules governing state and concurrency in Kotlin/Native, addressing their controversy among JVM and mobile developers. He explained the model’s mechanics, its rationale, and best practices for multiplatform development. This post covers four key themes: the core rules of Kotlin/Native concurrency, the role of workers, the impact of freezing state, and the introduction of multi-threaded coroutines.
Core Rules of Kotlin/Native Concurrency
Kevin Galligan began by outlining Kotlin/Native’s two fundamental concurrency rules: mutable state is confined to a single thread, and immutable state can be shared across multiple threads. These rules, known as thread confinement, mirror mobile development practices where UI updates are restricted to the main thread. In Kotlin/Native, the runtime enforces these constraints, preventing mutable state changes from background threads to avoid race conditions. Kevin emphasized that while these rules feel restrictive compared to the JVM’s shared-memory model, they align with modern platforms like Go and Rust, which also limit unrestricted shared state.
The rationale behind this model, as Kevin explained, is to reduce concurrency errors by design. Unlike the JVM, which trusts developers to manage synchronization, Kotlin/Native’s runtime verifies state access at runtime, crashing if rules are violated. This strictness, though initially frustrating, encourages intentional state management. Kevin noted that after a year of working with Kotlin/Native, he found the model simple and effective, provided developers embrace its constraints rather than fight them.
Workers as Concurrency Primitives
A central concept in Kevin’s talk was the Worker, a Kotlin/Native concurrency queue similar to Java’s ExecutorService or Android’s Handler and Looper. Workers manage a job queue processed by a private thread, ensuring thread confinement. Kevin illustrated how a Worker executes tasks via the execute function, which takes a producer function to verify state transfer between threads. The execute function supports safe and unsafe transfer modes, with Kevin strongly advising against the unsafe mode due to its bypassing of state checks.
Using a code example, Kevin demonstrated passing a data class to a Worker. The runtime freezes the data—making it immutable—to comply with concurrency rules, preventing illegal state transfers. He highlighted that while Worker is a core primitive, developers rarely use it directly, as higher-level abstractions like coroutines are preferred. However, understanding Worker is crucial for grasping Kotlin/Native’s concurrency mechanics, especially when debugging state-related errors like IllegalStateTransfer.
Freezing State and Its Implications
Kevin Galligan delved into the concept of freezing, a runtime mechanism that designates objects as immutable for safe sharing across threads. Freezing is a one-way operation, recursively applying to an object and its references, with no unfreeze option. This ensures thread safety but introduces challenges, as frozen objects cannot be mutated, leading to InvalidMutabilityException errors if attempted.
In a practical example, Kevin showed how capturing mutable state in a background task can inadvertently freeze an entire object graph, causing runtime failures. He introduced tools like ensureNeverFrozen to debug unintended freezing and stressed intentional mutability—keeping mutable state local to one thread and transforming data into frozen copies for sharing. Kevin also discussed Atomic types, which allow limited mutation of frozen state, but cautioned against overusing them due to performance and memory issues. His experience at Touchlab revealed early missteps with global state and Atomics, leading to a shift toward confined state models.
Multi-Threaded Coroutines and Future Directions
A significant update in Kevin’s talk was the introduction of multi-threaded coroutines, enabled by a draft pull request in 2019. Previously, Kotlin/Native coroutines were single-threaded, limiting concurrency and stunting library development. The new model allows coroutines to switch threads using dispatchers, with data passed between threads frozen to maintain strict mode. Kevin demonstrated replacing a custom background function with a coroutine-based approach, simplifying concurrency while adhering to state rules.
This development clarified the longevity of strict mode, countering speculation about a relaxed mode that would mimic JVM-style shared memory. Kevin noted that multi-threaded coroutines unblocked library development, citing projects like AtomicFu and SQLDelight. He also highlighted Touchlab’s Droidcon app, which adopted multi-threaded coroutines for production, showcasing their practical viability. Looking forward, Kevin anticipated increased community adoption and library growth in 2020, urging developers to explore the model despite its learning curve.
Conclusion
Kevin Galligan’s KotlinConf 2019 talk demystifies Kotlin/Native’s concurrency model, offering a clear path for developers navigating its strict rules. By embracing thread confinement, leveraging workers, managing frozen state, and adopting multi-threaded coroutines, developers can build robust multiplatform applications. This talk is a must for Kotlin/Native enthusiasts seeking to master concurrency in modern mobile development.
Links
- Watch the full talk on YouTube
- Touchlab
- American Express
- KotlinConf
- JetBrains
- Kotlin Website
- Kotlin/Native Repository
Hashtags: #KevinGalligan #KotlinNative #Concurrency #Touchlab #JetBrains #Multiplatform
[ScalaDays 2019] Techniques for Teaching Scala
Noel Welsh, co-founder of Underscore VC and a respected voice in the Scala community, known for his educational contributions including the books “Creative Scala” and “Essential Scala,” shared his valuable insights on “Techniques for Teaching Scala” at ScalaDays Lausanne 2019. His presentation moved beyond the technical intricacies of the language to explore the pedagogical approaches that make learning Scala more effective, engaging, and accessible to newcomers.
Addressing Scala’s Complexity
Welsh likely began by acknowledging the perceived complexity of Scala. While powerful, its rich feature set, including its blend of object-oriented and functional paradigms, can present a steep learning curve. His talk would have focused on how educators and mentors can break down these complexities into digestible components, fostering a positive learning experience that encourages long-term adoption and mastery of the language.
Structured and Incremental Learning
One of the core themes Welsh might have explored is the importance of a structured and incremental approach to teaching. Instead of overwhelming beginners with advanced concepts like implicits, monads, or higher-kinded types from day one, he probably advocated for starting with Scala’s more familiar object-oriented features, gradually introducing functional concepts as the learner builds confidence and a foundational understanding. He might have shared specific curriculum structures or learning pathways that have proven successful in his experience, perhaps drawing from his work at Underscore Training or the philosophy behind “Creative Scala,” which uses creative coding exercises to make learning fun and tangible.
Practical Application and Real-World Examples
Another key technique Welsh likely emphasized is the power of practical application and real-world examples. Abstract theoretical explanations, he might have argued, are less effective than hands-on coding exercises that allow learners to see Scala in action and understand how its features solve concrete problems. This could involve guiding students through building small, meaningful projects or using Scala for data manipulation, web development, or other relatable tasks. The use of tools like Scala Worksheets or Ammonite scripts for immediate feedback and experimentation could also have been highlighted as beneficial for learning.
Psychological Aspects of Learning
Welsh may have also delved into the psychological aspects of learning a new programming language. Addressing common frustrations, building a supportive learning environment, and celebrating small victories can significantly impact a student’s motivation and persistence. He might have discussed the role of clear, concise explanations, well-chosen analogies, and the importance of providing constructive feedback. Techniques for teaching specific Scala concepts that often trip up beginners, such as pattern matching, futures, or the collections library, could have been illustrated with practical teaching tips.
Investing in Scala Education
Ultimately, Noel Welsh’s presentation would have been a call to the Scala community to invest not just in developing the language and its tools, but also in refining the art and science of teaching it. By adopting more effective pedagogical techniques, the community can lower the barrier to entry, nurture new talent, and ensure that Scala’s power is accessible to a broader audience of developers, fostering a more vibrant and sustainable ecosystem.
Links:
- Creative Scala (Book by Noel Welsh & Dave Gurnell)
- Essential Scala (Book by Noel Welsh & Dave Gurnell)
- Scala Lang Official Website
Hashtags: #ScalaDays2019 #Scala #Education #Teaching #Pedagogy #NoelWelsh #CreativeScala
[VivaTech 2019] What’s Your Next Bet
A 22-minute fireside chat at VivaTech 2019, moderated by Harry Stebbings, Founder of Stride VC and The Twenty Minute VC, featured Pär-Jörgen Pärson, General Partner at Northzone, available on YouTube. Connected via LinkedIn and LinkedIn, Harry and Pär-Jörgen discussed VC decision-making. This 1000–1200-word post, for VCs, startup founders, and tech enthusiasts, explores lessons from market cycles and Spotify’s success.
Navigating Market Cycles
Pär-Jörgen, having weathered the 2001–2003 dot-com crash (95% value loss) and 2008–2009 cleantech wipeout, emphasized resilience. These cycles taught him to prioritize sustainable growth over hype-driven valuations. Europe’s VC ecosystem, now complete with angel-to-growth financing, avoids early exits (e.g., $60 million sales once deemed successes). In 2018, six of eight global IPOs were European, reflecting a maturing market. Pär-Jörgen advises founders to choose investors wisely, ensuring alignment for tough times, as market booms tempt over-valuation risks.
Aligning Interests in VC
Pricing, Pär-Jörgen argued, hinges on aligned interests, often undermined by high valuations with anti-dilution clauses. These misalignments strain founder-VC partnerships during downturns. He recommends founders stress-test investor alignment pre-investment, prioritizing resilience over maximizing valuation. Northzone avoids consensus-driven decisions, relying on individual conviction to back founders like Spotify’s Daniel Ek. This approach, coupled with transparent, meritocratic fund structures, has driven Northzone’s success, including three multi-billion-dollar exits, despite long-term performance uncertainty in VC.
Lessons from Spotify’s Growth
Pär-Jörgen’s early bet on Spotify, led by Daniel Ek, hinged on Daniel’s vision and ability to oscillate between granular details (e.g., instant playback UX) and strategic abstraction. Initially reluctant to lead, Daniel’s paranoia and customer focus—balancing creators, consumers, and labels—built a two-sided marketplace over a decade. Spotify’s near-death moments, resolved in hours, underscore the value of experienced VCs who remain calm. Pär-Jörgen’s latest unannounced investment in group travel reflects his knack for spotting young, serial founders with high-growth potential.
[VivaTech 2019] Funding and Growing Tomorrow’s Unicorns
A 25-minute panel at VivaTech 2019, moderated by Emmanuelle Duten of Les Echos/Capital Finance, featured Philippe Botteri, Partner at Accel, Virginie Morgon, CEO of Eurazeo, and David Thevenon, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, available on YouTube. Connected via LinkedIn, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn, they discussed Europe’s unicorn boom. This 1000–1200-word post, for investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, explores the drivers of unicorn growth.
Europe’s Unicorn Momentum
Philippe highlighted Europe’s unicorn surge, with 17–18 created in 2018, fueled by $23 billion in investments. Accel’s $575 million fund targets 22 European cities, a shift from London-Tel Aviv dominance 15 years ago. Virginie noted that two-thirds of 2018’s new unicorns were European, driven by ambitious founders and growing growth capital. David emphasized Europe’s robust ecosystem, with SoftBank’s investments in Germany and beyond, signaling that the region now rivals global hubs, supported by professional early-stage and growth investors.
Characteristics of Unicorn Founders
Virginie stressed that unicorn founders, like Farfetch’s José Neves, exhibit exceptional execution and ambition, mastering complex platforms (e.g., logistics, delivery). Philippe cited Doctolib’s Stan, whose passion for transforming European healthcare inspired Accel’s Series A investment, now a unicorn. David pointed to OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal, scaling from 13 to 200,000 hotel rooms since 2015, driven by urgency and global vision. These founders combine strategic thinking, platform-building (e.g., Grab’s shift to financial services), and relentless focus, distinguishing them in competitive markets.
Supporting Unicorn Growth
Beyond capital, VCs provide operational support. Philippe’s Accel leverages its global network (Silicon Valley, London, India) to help software startups relocate to the U.S., hiring top sales talent. Virginie’s Eurazeo offers strategic guidance, from commercial partnerships to U.S. expansion, as seen with ContentSquare. David’s SoftBank provides long-term capital (12-year funds) and market access (China, Latin America), fostering peace of mind for innovation. This hands-on partnership—$100 million on average to reach unicorn status—ensures rapid scaling, even if profitability lags behind growth.