Discussion and Comment of the Week - v5

This weekly roundup highlights what we believe to be the most thoughtful and/or interesting discussion of the week. We're also be highlighting one particularly cool comment in each installment. 🙌

The DEV Community is particularly special because of the kind and thoughtful discussions happening between community members. As such, we want to encourage folks to participate in discussions and reward those who are initiating or taking part in conversations across the community. After all, a community is made possible by the people interacting inside it.

Discussion of the Week

We'd like to put the spotlight on @shahednasser's #discuss post with the topic "What Tool Do You Wish Was Open Source?":

What Tool Do You Wish Was Open Source?

Shahed Nasser for Medusa ・ May 16 ・ 1 min read

#discuss #opensource #watercooler #programming

It's always fun reading through the comments section on posts like these to get a sense of different software tastes out there. Plenty of folks out there wishing Notion and the Adobe suite were OSS, and lots of folks chiming in with open source alternatives to each.

I'd like to second @moopet's suggestion:

Ben Sinclair • May 16

All of them?

Wouldn't that be nice! 😀 One can wish...

Also, for those that don't already know, the platform that DEV is built on, Forem, is open source! Check it out on GitHub and if you have ideas for how we might improve our tech, consider starting up a discussion.

Comment of the Week

For this week's pick, I gotta give it up for @inhuofficial who responded with some incredibly thoughtful advice to @nombrekeff's excellent prompt "How to tell a Junior Dev that what they've done is wrong?"

InHuOfficial • May 19 • Edited on May 19

Ask the person directly how they prefer to receive constructive criticism.

I like blunt and to the point (this is wrong, do this instead) and early (if you can see I am about to take a wrong action, tell me then rather than letting it get to the point the damage is done).

Most people would prefer a softer approach, some would prefer you give them a heads up in a message before talking with them so they can get into the right frame of mind and not be defensive before taking criticism on board etc. (if you start a conversation without prior notice on something that needs improving, even welcomed feedback can get a “gut reaction” response and make someone defensive)

The point is to ask!

Also a universal truth is give them the “why”. Why was this incorrect, what impact does it have on the team, bow or in the future etc.

This last part is the bit I am bad at and working hard on at the moment. I ask a question or give my opinion too quickly and without the context of why this matters and why it should be done differently!

The points they highlighted here are seriously helpful: asking folks how they like to receive criticism + giving them constructive reasons so that they know why they were wrong and can improve. But beyond the advice itself, the way it was stated felt so incredibly self-aware and empathetic. To quote a Forem team member (@erinposting) who pointed this comment out to me:

The more managers that have candid conversations about this stuff, the better off all the juniors of the world will be.

So true!

What are your picks?

There's loads of great discussions and comments floating about in this community. These are just a few we chose to highlight. 🙂

I urge you all to share your favorite comment and/or discussion of the past week below in the comments. And if you're up for it, give the author an @mention — it'll probably make 'em feel good. 💚