Software Engineer @ M (ex. fb) Captain of @hampsteadrugby 2nd XV
- Tweets3.4K
- Following1.4K
- Followers984
- Likes11.9K
ALT GitHub comment from MarcoZehe on 4 Aug 2020: The main reason I would like to see this change is for refreshable braille displays that are used by blind programmers a lot. Each space wastes one braille cell and takes away valuable braille realestate. So if the default indentation of a project is 4 spaces per level, a 3rd level indentation wastes 12 braaille cells before code starts. On a 40 cell display, which is the most commonly used with notebooks, this is more than a quarter of the available cells wasted with no information. If each indentation level was represented by only one tab character, there would be three cells occupied by a tab character each, and on the 4th cell, the code would start. That's less than 10 percent occupied on the same length display, but all cells contain valuable information that is easily discoverable and immediately comprehensible.
ALT Facebook has one of the most engineering-centric cultures in all of Big Tech: only Google comes close in this sense. Here are a few characteristics about this culture. Engineers get to choose both their teams, and, frequently, their projects. Coming off Bootcamp, it’s still not uncommon to join a team where the roadmap for a project is set, and the work needs to be done. However, upon onboarding to the team, engineers are both expected and encouraged to accept more autonomy. Engineers are responsible for their own impact. A manager cannot just tell an engineer “you have to work on X.” If the engineer feels working on X is a bad idea, they can — and should! — push back on doing so. The tradeoff is that the engineer’s choices impact their performance rating. A manager cannot give a good rating for an engineer who has done only low-impact work. This is particularly true if the manager specifically asked the engineer to do the given work.
ALT 1. Introduction Overview Vocabulary Core values Standout differences between Facebook and other Big Tech companies On the engineering-centric culture On the individualistic culture 2. Hiring Hiring processes Hiring support Software engineer hiring Engineering manager hiring Compensation Internal mobility Perks Alumni and boomerangs 3. Career Engineering and product roles Career ladders Competencies (axes) Engineering management Performance reviews, bonuses and equity refreshers The calibration process Promotions Archetypes 4. Engineering processes Bootcamp & onboarding Hackathons How teams and projects operate Documentation Testing The tech stack Notable internal systems and tools Open source Company divisions Company-wide processes Changes at the company over time 5. Advice Advice to succeed as an engineer Advice to succeed as an engineering manager Advice when leaving the company Advice and inspiration for founders and managers to take from Facebook
