It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these. Complete Clutter is a collection of links, videos, etc. that I’d like to share. I’d also like to keep them for later and the permanence of a blog post appeals to me.

Web API Design - Crafting Interfaces that Developers Love

First up, I’d like to share this API design guide. My colleague, Jeff, shared this and I’ve found a lot of value here. The guide describes the best words used to describe the API and accessibility considerations. I also like the insights related to request format, authentication, and handling errors. Minimalistic simplicity at its finest. Definitely a choice reference for API design.

Coding is not the new literacy*

by Chris Granger

This read was incredible and I get shivers when I reread it. Chris Granger is the author of the programming language Eve focused on data and modeling. He writes well in this post and describes concepts that can be seen clearly in his programming language.

This post describes how coding literacy is the wrong focus for education. We don’t need more programmers to learn how computers work, we need more doctors and inventors who can model systems to better understand them. We should design tools that help us make models and help others gain knowledge from our exploration’s findings.

I desire to build a “talent stack” outside of programming and this post really bolsters my resolve. I think developers spend too much time focused on best practices and the intricacies of how computer work. I could better use my time building models of real things by utilizing computers increase the overall societal value.

Great post Chris! I’m excited for Eve to evolve in the coming years!

Note*: this link is to a version of this article that I’ve highlighted in orange.

The Great Filter

An interesting concept I came across this week. Basically it’s the idea that there is some “filter” or force that is keeping planets from growing life similar to that of Earth. If there is a force out there keeping life from rising is it the destiny of our planet to become lifeless again? Is that why we have not found any other intelligent life in the universe? What will happen when we reach this force or have we already passed it?

This idea was a fun conversation starter and led to interesting conversations with friends and family.

RethinkDB: why we failed

by Slava Akhmechet

As a founder this post resonated strongly with me. RethinkDB is a database that was really easy for me to pickup given my SQL background. It’s proprietary language ReQL is extremely accessible and it’s a great introduction to NoSQL databases. This post describes why they failed to create a successful business around their database.

Thanks for the insights Slava! Really enjoyed the perspective from someone who was on the inside of the company and the decisions that had to be made.

Dat

This was a fun project to explore this week. It’s basically a secure datastore that focuses on speed. I wanted to share primarily because of the name. Now Dat is a great name.