The Software Essays That Shaped Me

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

zdw

28 points

6 comments

refactoringenglish.comTechstory

calmpositive

Debate

20/100

Software DevelopmentInfluential EssaysCareer Development

Key topics

Software Development

Influential Essays

Career Development

The author shares a curated list of software essays that have significantly influenced their career, sparking a discussion on the importance of foundational knowledge and personal growth in the tech industry.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

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First comment

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72-84h

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Key moments

01Story posted
Sep 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Sep 30, 2025 at 8:40 PM EDT
1h after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
4 comments in 72-84h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Oct 5, 2025 at 2:13 AM EDT
3 months ago
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Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (6 comments)

Showing 6 comments

eternityforest

3 months ago

2 replies

> Test code doesn’t have its own test code

I would love it if we had better tools to make testing the tests explicit, line inline "This is what this code shouldn't do and it's a problem if there's no test that could catch it if it does" blocks.

scarface_74

3 months ago

1 reply

I have always wanted to deploy mutatation testing and experimented with it back in the .Net framework days with a package called NinjaTurtles.

https://stryker-mutator.io/docs/

01HNNWZ0MV43FF

3 months ago

Rust has a tool for mutation testing called cargo-mutants iirc. It's not perfect but it'll find low-hanging fruit

jffhn

3 months ago

When I do functional unit tests, they tend to include the same functional logic as the code to test. What I strive for is then to express it in a different and possibly clearer way, and I see the testing as mutual testing of two implementations, one more easily humanly checkable.

jauntywundrkind

3 months ago

1 reply

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45425568 303 points, 3 days ago, 47 comments.

Great topic. But imo Too Soon (to post again).

typpilol

3 months ago

I thought hackernews didn't even allow same links within 7 days.

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ID: 45432656Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 4:32:26 PM

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