I like making things with software.
The Woodlands, TX
Joined August 2013
- Tweets1.6K
- Following427
- Followers881
- Likes4.6K
Chris Oakman retweeted
The 'correctness' that matters most in software is "being compatible with or in agreement with something ELSE -- something OUTSIDE of what we're doing. This latter definition of 'correct' is really what you get paid to do."
So fundamental! Unpacks into so many things.
Chris Oakman retweeted
I just spent the last few days at Clojure/conj having dozens of conversations about this. People are standing under a hurricane and pretending like it’s a summer storm. This hurricane isn’t going away and will only get stronger. Brother, you will need more than an umbrella.
Chris Oakman retweeted
No one sets out to destroy themselves, or society. They just get there with reasonable iterative steps along their incentive surface.
Enron, Jerome Kerviel, TikTok, SBF, Kalshi, Anthro.
You can probably add Purdue Pharma, 737MAX, electoral college politics, publish-or-perish.
Chris Oakman retweeted
I’m looking for my next role.
I’m a software engineer and product designer with deep experience in databases, sync engines, frontend systems, performance, and UI/UX.
Open to full-time or contract work, remotely or in Berlin.
Details in reply ↓
RT for reach 🙏
Chris Oakman retweeted
The speed at which a product is developed doesn't inherently make the product better or worse. The number of commits doesn't make the product better or worse. The number of people or agents working on it doesn't make it better or worse. The number of hours you’re pouring into it doesn’t make it better or worse. Working on a weekend, or late into the evening, doesn’t make it better or worse. Talking about these things sounds like it’s talking about the product, but it’s not talking about the product.
Those are all development metrics and styles of work. They don't speak to the product itself. They're all back of the house. Important to those making the work, but not inherently important to the people using the work.
Development metrics and style say nothing about fit. They say nothing about quality. They say nothing about clarity. They say nothing about usability. They say nothing about utility. They say nothing about performance. They say nothing about how customers feel when they use your product.
It's like reviewing a restaurant by talking about how many cooks were in the kitchen, how long the shift lasted, how many orders they fired, or how late they stayed cleaning up. None of that tells you about the meal, the product, the customer’s experience.
Mistaking making for the thing you've made is like confusing the kitchen for the meal or the blueprint for the building. They're connected, but they're not the same thing. One of them matters a whole lot more than the other.
Chris Oakman retweeted
Making illegal states unrepresentable is a good idea in dynamically typed languages also: simply prevent construction of illegal values at runtime.
Of course you can't check this at compile-time, but the states _are_ not representable, if you take this to mean, existing at runtime
Chris Oakman retweeted
One of the most devastating beliefs you can hold is: if you go through the motions and do things the right way then you’ll get to a good result
Approximately nothing works like this in reality. Even the simplest things require sanding down rough edges, blood and sweat
If you think that the world owes you anything for “doing the process”, you will be forever disappointed
Chris Oakman retweeted
Top regrets of people in the last twelve weeks of their life
Live your life accordingly
Chris Oakman retweeted
The most dangerous gap in your life isn’t lack of knowledge.
It’s the gap between what you know and what you actually do.
Most people already know the habits that would change their life.
But few have the discipline to execute them consistently.
Chris Oakman retweeted
The wedding is an event, love is a practice.
The graduation is an event, education is a practice.
The race is an event, fitness is a practice.
The heart, mind, and body are endless pursuits.
Chris Oakman retweeted
Trades are always happening whether you see them or not.
-Yes to the early meeting = no to the quiet morning
-Yes to the extra project = no to the free weekend
-Yes to something that drains you = no to time that fulfills you
Saying yes to one thing is always saying no to something else. The cost of a bad yes isn't just the time it takes. It's whatever could have grown in that space instead.
The point isn't to say no to everything, but simply to recognize the difference between a good yes and a bad yes. Then, try to improve the ratio in your life.
Chris Oakman retweeted
Why do you save so many things? Why do you bookmark articles you'll never read? Why do you screenshot quotes you'll never revisit? Why do you add courses to wishlists you'll never open?
Because saving feels like having. And having feels like being.
Saving that article about productivity makes you feel, for one brief second, like a productive person. Saving that workout plan makes you feel like a fit person. Saving that recipe makes you feel like someone who cooks.
The save button is an emotional pacifier. It soothes the anxiety of "I should be doing more" without requiring you to actually do more.
And over time, your digital life becomes a monument to the person you wish you were. Folders full of aspirational content.
A graveyard of good intentions. A museum of the self you keep promising to become.
And every time you open those folders and feel the weight of all that unacted-upon potential, you feel worse. So you close the folder and go consume something new. And save it. And the cycle continues.
The hard drive gets fuller.
The person stays the same.
Transformation isn't something you collect, it's something you do.
Chris Oakman retweeted
The intelligence is in choosing the meaningful over the measurable even when the measurable is what everyone can see.
