Category: English language

Posts in English language

Angular RxJS unsubscribe as a feature design

After few hours of thinking and more hours of implementation, I finally proved my idea is workable. I found it be a bit intriguing and so let me share it. Before jumping to the matter at hand, I would like to briefly mention that:

  • I don’t believe in end-2-end testing
  • I prefer unit testing
  • I like to test-drive my code

A few more details can be found here. On top of the above, I dislike using mocks, spies, stubs and other fakes to make testing “easier”. Now don’t get me wrong I do use mocks a bit, but mostly at a boundary (calls to backend, db and such). Let’s be reasonable, if code is a mess and/or legacy or there is a time constraint, options tend to dwindle and if you have to mock, you mock.

Now let’s see about my situation: I have simple app with navigation bar, located at the very top of the screen and top of the component hierarchy. The navigation bar contains search component. Below I have the main space with a router that happily swaps out different main components, depending where you click.

There is no simple way to pass data from the search component to presently displaying main component, unless we use observable, in particular Subject observable. So we have search observable and a main component is subscribed to it. The question is: “how do we test unsubscribe in the main component when we navigate away and the main component is destroyed?”.

After some thinking, I realized that NOT every main component is searchable, in those cases search component can be hidden. The approach has elegance to it, since it will help with testing and at the same time enhance user experience by eliminating confusing search feature that doesn’t seem to do anything when non-searchable main component is displayed.

On the other hand, when main component is searchable, then search component must be displayed so user can search it.

Ok, so how do we go about killing two rabbits with one bullet? We will enhance the search observable so it will count how many subscribers it has. Whenever any main component subscribes or unsubscribes to the search observable, the count will go up or down. Next a bit of elbow grease to wire up search component to hide/show when the count is equals to or less than 1 and we are done.

The whole logic can be tested by checking if the search component is displayed or hidden via jasmine spec, by navigating between main searchable components and main non-searchable components. No mocks, no spies, just elegant, user friendly feature and code design.

Decade with Accent

It seems the human mind likes round numbers – 10 year, a decade, all sound important. So here am I trying to grasp that it has been a decade since I bought my Hyundai Accent. Without any doubt it has been a journey, the car has seen a lot and I believe it is a good time for some thoughts.

Recently, I’ve re-read my reasoning to “why accent”, and at this point I wouldn’t be jumping the gun by saying: “I was right”. The vehicle got 241,702 kilometres on the odometer and never left me on the side of the road. Granted, I have always taken good care of the car and did proactive maintenance – complete log. It also doesn’t cost much to change out all fluids and filters earlier than needed, therefore the results are impressive – the car has plenty of life left in it. In addition, since it is a small car with small displacement, the amount of fluids required is also relatively small. Therefore buying high quality fluids is not a big deal. I remember after the purchase, my mechanic said: “this car will go for 300,000 kilometres easy” – back then I thought it was just wishful thinking, but now it seems more like a reality. The car is quite impressive in the reliability and repairability regard. I think one reason people don’t like cheap cars is because of perception: “cheap will break, but expensive cars will last”. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Recently I was reading up on Suzuki Jimny just for fun. One thing that stood out like a soar thumb is technology in the latest release of Jimny – by 2018 standards, it is hopelessly outdated. Even the most cheapest vehicles on the market had direct injection for a while now but Jimny doesn’t. So perhaps cost of the direct injection is not a factor, so why would any automotive engineer pass-up an opportunity to make engine more powerful and efficient? I believe the reasoning is: old technology is simple and proven by time. Jimny at its core is dead simple, rugged and the most reliable thing you can through into the wilderness. Let me make it very clear – old technology is not pretty on paper – fuel economy sucks, power output is embarrassing and the rest you don’t even want to see. But on the flip side, it is dead simple, accessible, and reliable vehicle that will work for a very long time.

Coming back to my Accent, the concept of reliability is the same as with Jimny – old, but simple and simple means reliable and cheap to fix. Now I’m not saying let’s stay with port injection and 4 valves per cylinder forever and ever. What I’m saying is that as new technology comes out and is fitted into expensive vehicles first, where it is being tested in the real world. By the time it trickles down to the cheapest of the bunch, the technology has been fairly tested, and so cheap vehicles receive proven tech.

Now 3 years ago I said that next car will be either another Accent or Miata. Well I bought a Miata which opened up my mind to such a different experience. Driving anything after Miata feels very dull, I believe Miata ruined my driving experience of any other car. Miata entrenched my opinion: either get a car that makes you feel good or simply don’t bother – get the cheapest. Nowadays when I drive Accent, I simply appreciate it as a simple transportation. I guess I would compare the experience to getting on a personal bus and slowly rolling to a destination, nothing more or less. Back in the day I often thought about upgrading, modifying and otherwise changing the character of my Accent, to give it more bite, more edge, more driving “feeling”. Well I’m happy I didn’t go for that. Accent is a car with its own character and when you buying one, it is imperative you understand what it is, then you will not be disappointed.

P.S: “If I needed personal transportation I would buy Accent again”, but unfortunately it is no longer an option in Canada. Hyundai stopped selling the Accent.

Everything passes, this too will pass

King Solomon

Goodbye TDK SoundCube

It is funny how things workout and sometimes don’t workout in life. A few years ago, I participated in a hackathon, it was a very interesting experience amplified by the front-center seat that I have taken. The experience primarily taught me one thing: no plan survives contact with a customer ( my version of the famous ). The same idea is applicable to many situations, mainly because planning and reality tend to diverge at least at one point.

So here, I’m 8 years after purchasing my “ultimate” speaker and the speaker is no longer with me, I sold it a few days back. Why am I thinking about it? For one, I have been a bit philosophical lately – life does not stand still, everything changes, customer’s mind moves on and ultimately nothing remains the same. Another reason is sunk cost bias – I spent time and money looking for the “ultimate” speaker and it didn’t make it past 8 years with me… I feel like there should be some kind of thought consolidation, lesson learned, so here I am.

Why did I part ways? Simply because I didn’t use it. In the last 4 years, I turned on the speaker probably less than a dozen times. My life has changed, I have a child, I live in a house and music time switched from late evenings to early mornings when I sit quietly and work on things. Playing music loud is out of the question and over the last few years I stopped enjoying loud music – aging is no fun. Since priorities have changed and the speaker was collecting dust, it was an appropriate time to make a decision: to cling to the past or to let go and move forward, I chose the latter.

Leaving things behind is not an easy thing (at least for me). I get attached to certain things, I let them define me in part. However, leaving things behind is a part of life – which needs to be examined, learned and practiced. Like any exercise it has its benefits – clearing mind, space and allowing for new things/experiences to flow in.

Well, it is time to say thank you for the experience and bring joy to the new owners, bye SoundCube.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

The book wasn’t on my reading list, but I had a long drive and a friend suggested it, so here I am. Now I’m not into “self-help” books, however I did read a couple related books in the past.

So should you give a f*ck about this book? The book is well written and quite interesting but by no means deep. Like many other books, it essentially calls for you to figure out your priorities and focus on them. Unlike other books, this one seems to fill a particular niche – millennial struggle. One has to admit, life nowadays is different from the past and the pace of change is accelerating. It is not a bad thing per se, but presents different challenges. Perhaps you have less chances to be physically harmed or abused, but mentally… I say more. Information stream is just overwhelming and it comes from every part of the world, depending on your web-preference, you can be endlessly bombarded by good or bad news. On top of that there is instant-gratification phenomenon, press a button or better yet just imagine it and you are the winner.

Now one thing that got my curiosity peaked is: “counterintuitive approach” – which took me a bit by surprise, but let me explain. Due to my background, upbringing and some personal challenges in the past, I’m not what you would call a cheerful person. I consider myself a neutral, but I would not blame you if I come across as pessimistic. As a kid I never could answer: what would I like to achieve or be when I grew up. As teenager I adopted “avoidance strategy” (I also call it “working from negative”) – do anything to avoid A or B or C outcomes. So I went to university in order to avoid being a disappointment to my mother and working for low wage for the rest of my life. By default I always pick to do something in order to mitigate or eliminate an obvious or bigger problem (in my estimation) that is coming up. But no-one is perfect and self-delusion is an evolutionary tool, so drinking, smoking and junk food are my guilty pleasures. So to my big surprise the author actually explores, explains and recommends the “avoidance strategy” to achieve things and make a better life for yourself.

In a nutshell:
-: can use a bit more depth and some examples are questionable
+: well written & easy read
+: recipes and methods
+: a counterintuitive approach
+: short
=: it is a good book, with some out of the box ideas and discussions. It is short, hits all main issues and doesn’t overburden – can be read in one (perhaps long) sitting – well-worth ROI.

Title: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Author: Mark Manson
Cover: