⚗️ Jonathan Palardy

Pull Requests shouldn’t feel like this. We’ve all opened a large PR review and thought: “Well... this is going to hurt.” Sure, small PRs are great, but sometimes you need the full picture. That’s where stacked PRs help (been using Graphite for that, a tool for managing PRs and code reviews). Stacked PRs treat your feature development as a chain of commits / PRs layered on top of each other. Think of it like a Jenga tower: each block (PR) builds on top of the previous one. pr1 → main pr2 → pr1 pr3 → pr2 Now it’s getting even better. I just got early access to Graphite Chat 👇 - I can literally ask it “what’s going on in this PR?” and it gives me the full story, codebase history, past PRs, even outside context. - I can just highlight it and ask “explain this”, instant breakdown. - Flags risks before reviewers even show up. - When someone leaves feedback, it helps me make sense of it and suggests fixes. - And the best part? When CI blows up, I can just ask “why did this break?” and actually get an answer. I’ll even be able to pop open the Graphite Editor right inside Chat to view and edit the codebase. Reviews feel lighter, more collaborative. Exactly how they should.

1,573

141 Comments

Hot take (with love): your To-Do app won’t get you hired. I’ve built them too. They’re great for learning CRUD, routes, and state. But the market’s seen a thousand. Hiring teams skim for signal. What they want to see: • You solved a real problem (yours or someone else’s) • End-to-end thinking (API design, auth, validation, tests) • You shipped (deploy + README + screenshots + a 60-sec demo) • You made it visible (why you built it, what’s next) It doesn’t have to be flashy—just useful and yours. How I’m doing it: FinLume. Not perfect. Not fancy. Still needs alot of work, But it solves my real headache (bills/subscriptions) and forced me into FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, auth, and testing. That’s the point. Simple non-To-Do ideas you could ship: • Renovation expense tracker with monthly summary (been living this! 🧱) • Job/quote scheduler for trades (my gardening days inspired this) • Interview tracker with follow-up email templates • Subscription cancel-reminder + renewal timeline Bottom line: Different > generic. Visible > invisible. Post progress. Ask for feedback. Make noise without screaming. #JuniorDeveloper #BuildInPublic #PortfolioProjects #LearnInPublic #PythonDeveloper #FastAPI

114

79 Comments

The biggest lie in tech hiring: "We hire the best developers." No, you don't. You hire the developers who interview the best. I've worked with brilliant developers who can build entire systems from scratch but freeze up in technical interviews. They know every design pattern. They've solved complex production issues. They've mentored entire teams. But they can't explain FizzBuzz under pressure. Meanwhile, less experienced developers who practiced mock interviews land the $150k+ offers. Here's what I discovered after helping 100+ developers: The interview is a completely different skill than actual development. And most experienced developers never learn it. They think their GitHub speaks for itself. They assume their experience is enough. They walk into interviews unprepared. Then they wonder why they're getting lowball offers or straight rejections. The solution isn't becoming a better developer. It's becoming a better interviewer. After working across different continents with developers at every level, I've seen the patterns. The ones who succeed treat interviews like any other skill: They practice. They prepare. They get feedback. They improve. Want my complete interview preparation framework that helped developers increase their offers by $50k-$80k? Comment "INTERVIEW" and I'll send you the free guide. Stop letting poor interview skills cap your career.

96

171 Comments

You may see folks claiming that they can get "A.I." coding assistants to do exactly what they want by completely and precisely describing the software they require up-front, and hailing the return of Big Design Up-Front. Anyone who's spent more than a handful of hours using these tools will know that this simply isn't true.

103

116 Comments

Stop stuffing your Quarto repo with figure files like an overpacked suitcase... If you're storing generated figures in your Quarto project's main repository, you're creating a mess. Slow clones, bloated repos, unhappy teammates. Git submodules = lean main repo + organized assets + happy developers See it working in Quarto projects: 📂 Main repo: https://lnkd.in/gUtitFyW 🖼️ Figures repo: https://lnkd.in/gHViUFCH Implementation guide: https://lnkd.in/gzgf3tMg #quarto #git #submodules

62

3 Comments

After a chat with a great contractor yesterday, we got on the topic of T-Shaped profiles in contractors. In today’s fast-paced tech landscape, the most impactful contractors aren’t just specialists, they’re T-shaped. A T-shaped JavaScript contractor combines deep expertise in core JS technologies (React, Node.js, TypeScript, etc.) with broad capabilities across adjacent areas like DevOps, UX, testing, and architecture. They don’t just write code, they solve problems holistically. 🔍 Why T-shaped contractors stand out: Adaptability: They can jump into unfamiliar territory and add value quickly. Collaboration: They speak the language of designers, product managers, and backend engineers. Efficiency: They reduce bottlenecks by bridging gaps across the stack. Strategic thinking: They understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. Whether you're scaling a product, modernising legacy systems, or building something new T-shaped contractors bring the agility and insight to move fast without breaking things. 💡 Looking to hire? Prioritise depth and breadth. The best contractors don’t just code, they connect dots. #JavaScript #Contractors #Hiring #TechTalent #TShapedSkills #Frontend #FullStack #React #NodeJS #TypeScript #AgileTeams

30

1 Comment

styled-components has entered maintenance mode. Its maintainer was refreshingly honest: "Don't use this for new projects." Respect. But what about the millions of components already in production? My colleague Cody recognized the problem immediately. He submitted a PR with React 18 optimizations back in July 2024. With maintenance mode, that PR wasn't going anywhere. So Cody did what great engineers do. He turned our lingering PR into a fork, optimized it further, then opened it up for everyone. Linear tested it: 40% faster initial renders. No big code changes needed. The kicker? styled-components never implemented React 18's useInsertionEffect - a hook specifically designed for CSS-in-JS performance. It shipped in March 2022. Cody PR'd it fixed it in a day. We're calling it styled-components-last-resort because that's what it is. Not a new maintenance path. Not a forever solution. Just a performance bridge while teams migrate properly. Sometimes open source isn't about building the future. Sometimes it's about helping each other manage the present. Massive credit to Cody Olsen for the implementation, Kenneth Skovhus at Linear for testing, and Evan Jacobs for maintaining styled-components for years. Technical deep dive: https://lnkd.in/dk4CfsP8 GitHub: https://lnkd.in/duzY-Vy6 What's your styled-components migration plan?

111

3 Comments

Tired of hearing excuses from your dev team? (Here’s what high-performing teams do differently.) Every time you ask why a project isn’t done, there’s a new story: ⤷ “We ran into unexpected challenges.” ⤷ “The requirements changed.” ⤷ “It turned out bigger than we thought.” It’s like playing whack-a-mole with your own roadmap. But here’s the truth: Good dev teams don’t hide behind blockers. They build with boundaries. What the Best Teams Do: 1/ Set unmovable deadlines → Not vague estimates → Real dates that drive accountability 2/ Define scope clearly → What’s in? What’s not? Put it in writing → Scope creep dies in documentation 3/ Protect momentum → No shifting goalposts → No sprinting in circles ⤷ Why It Matters: A dev team that avoids hard lines doesn’t just delay launches. They build a wall between you and your goals. If that’s what you’re up against, it’s not a people problem, is a standards one. Ready to work with a team that delivers? Start here: https://lnkd.in/gBr3wFRC 👉 Follow for more no-BS advice on building faster, accountable dev teams.

33

29 Comments