jannesblobel (u/jannesblobel)

jannesblobel commented on Stop squashing your commits. You're squashing your AI too · Posted by u/jannesblobel

skydhash · 3 days ago

Today I downloaded the source code of a small utility to check its internals. You know what I was not interested in? The git history. Instead I just download the tarball from Debian.

Version history is only interesting if you’re doing archeology. And I would prefer seeing a squashed commit that introduce a complete change instead of going back and forth to get the complete picture (anyone with such messy history will introduce unrelated changes too).

As for failure, put that in some tracker, with an “abandoned” status.

jannesblobel · 3 days ago

> You know what I was not interested in? The git history.

Sure, that makes sense, if you’re just interested in the internals, the history doesn’t matter. I get that.

But what do you think about the idea of keeping two views of history? One that’s clean and human-readable, and another that preserves all the detailed commits. With the right filters, you could switch between the simple view and the full story.

EDIT: By the way, I just want to discuss a theory/some thoughts here. There are always pros and cons, and perhaps my text is a little too harshly worded.

jannesblobel commented on Stop squashing your commits. You're squashing your AI too · Posted by u/jannesblobel

Hackbraten · 3 days ago

I’m finding it difficult to agree with you without a concrete example.

How exactly would it help to have a commit that introduces a problem and then another one that fixes it? How does leaving in a bad refactor, failed attempt, or typo help the AI tool with anything?

jannesblobel · 3 days ago

Think of a refactor where you tried one approach, rolled it back, then found the right fix. If you squash, all those failures vanish. With full history, an AI (or future you) can see the dead ends and spot patterns. I think that’s what Augment Code is doing with their Context Lineage idea: indexing the messy history so tools can explain how code evolved.

https://www.augmentcode.com/blog/announcing-context-lineage

jannesblobel commented on Show HN: A source-available billing system I've spent 18 months building billabear.com/... · Posted by u/that_guy_iain

electroly · a year ago

It's no joke, really. I worked on a product (B2B, not consumer software) that was primarily sold in the US and Germany. Not only did we leave the product in American English, but the Germans requested that we force all numeric inputs/outputs to use American formatting (period for decimal point, comma for thousands separator, even on computers configured for German formatting). To them, it was American software and thus it made sense for it to be in American English. Their English was certainly better than our German.

jannesblobel · a year ago

TLDR: i18n is more than just using translation tools; it requires collaboration among developers, translators, and designers. Developers need good DX tools, translators need TMS or CAT tools, and designers need translation visibility in Figma. Proper i18n is a continuous process and should be integrated from the beginning to avoid major issues.

Disclaimer: I have a connection to one of these companies, just want to share some knowledge. I strive to be as neutral as possible.

Fun fact: I'm German and know the challenges with the UI. It's a love/hate relationship!

The problem with i18n (internationalization) is that many developers and product owners believe it’s only about implementing a library and letting Google Translate, DeepL, or even ChatGPT do the rest. As most of you already know, that approach doesn't work well for German speakers. My language will break/destroy your UI design.

The real issue with i18n is that it involves many stakeholders throughout the process. Here are the most important ones to start with:

Developers: These folks need to implement a library and want a good DX (Developer Experience). It means You should choose a library with an IDE extension (e.g., VS Code's Sherlock i18n, i18n Ally). - Libraries: Please use something that utilizes .json files. Formats like .po are cumbersome and will cause many issues. - Use tooling that supports an ecosystem around it, like lint rules, to save time and effort.

Translators: Ideally, your preferred solution includes a TMS (Translation Management System) or a CAT (Computer-Assisted Translation) tool.

Designers: If your designers can't see the translations in tools like Figma, your UI will break, and users will complain. Figma plugins like Parrot, Phrase, or Weblate can help (just search for 'i18n' in Figma's marketplace).

All the apps mentioned are just a few examples among many tools available.

Conclusion: The important stakeholders in this process are Developers, Translators, and Designers. i18n is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. If you start your app or project with i18n from the beginning, the annoying parts are manageable, and it won’t cost you all your nerves.

jannesblobel commented on Do I work in a company that creates innovation? · Posted by u/jannesblobel

jannesblobel · a year ago

Why do I ask myself that? I was at the Merge Berlin Conf at the weekend and had a few conversations about the fact that the ambitions are far too big anyway. But doesn't it make a lot of sense to build a web sdk with build in version control? If not, what am I missing here?

jannesblobel commented on Writing a document with version control feauters github.com/opral/monorepo... · Posted by u/jannesblobel

jannesblobel · a year ago

It's ridiculous that we can land a rocket like a helicopter in 10 square meters, but there is still no decent document editor that gives me all the features of a version control system. I'm sitting on the train and must write a document to my colleague. Have you ever traveled with Deutsche Bahn? You can forget about the internet, so Google Docs is out. Well, writing Markdown and using a Git host and so on is out, too, because my colleague is unable to write Markdown. I really hope that Lix will be ready soon so that we can build a decent Docs editor and finally get VSC functions. Please excuse me if this sounds very harsh. But it is really annoying.