Kevin Conner kconner

WWDC                                      2007  2008  2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

libdispatch efficiency tips

The libdispatch is one of the most misused API due to the way it was presented to us when it was introduced and for many years after that, and due to the confusing documentation and API. This page is a compilation of important things to know if you're going to use this library. Many references are available at the end of this document pointing to comments from Apple's very own libdispatch maintainer (Pierre Habouzit).

My take-aways are:

You should create very few, long-lived, well-defined queues. These queues should be seen as execution contexts in your program (gui, background work, ...) that benefit from executing in parallel. An important thing to note is that if these queues are all active at once, you will get as many threads running. In most apps, you probably do not need to create more than 3 or 4 queues.
Go serial first, and as you find performance bottle necks, measure why, and if concurrency helps, apply with care, always validating under system pressure. Reuse

Stevey's Google Platforms Rant

I was at Amazon for about six and a half years, and now I've been at Google for that long. One thing that struck me immediately about the two companies -- an impression that has been reinforced almost daily -- is that Amazon does everything wrong, and Google does everything right. Sure, it's a sweeping generalization, but a surprisingly accurate one. It's pretty crazy. There are probably a hundred or even two hundred different ways you can compare the two companies, and Google is superior in all but three of them, if I recall correctly. I actually did a spreadsheet at one point but Legal wouldn't let me show it to anyone, even though recruiting loved it.

I mean, just to give you a very brief taste: Amazon's recruiting process is fundamentally flawed by having teams hire for themselves, so their hiring bar is incredibly inconsistent across teams, despite various efforts they've made to level it out. And their operations are a mess; they don't real

	// 3D Dom viewer, copy-paste this into your console to visualise the DOM as a stack of solid blocks.
	// You can also minify and save it as a bookmarklet (https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-are-bookmarklets/)
	(() => {
	const SHOW_SIDES = false; // color sides of DOM nodes?
	const COLOR_SURFACE = true; // color tops of DOM nodes?
	const COLOR_RANDOM = false; // randomise color?
	const COLOR_HUE = 190; // hue in HSL (https://hslpicker.com)
	const MAX_ROTATION = 180; // set to 360 to rotate all the way round
	const THICKNESS = 20; // thickness of layers
	const DISTANCE = 10000; // ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

	# A Best in Class Checklist
	A boiled down checklist adapted from this [post](https://www.swiftjectivec.com/a-best-in-class-app/), created by @jordanmorgan10.

	> To use this, create a Github Issue in your own repo, and simply copy and paste this text.

	## iOS Core Technology
	_Things any iOS app can benefit from_

	- [ ] iCloud Sync
	- [ ] Focus Filter Support