Python at Netflix • Hacker News Board

Re: Python at Netflix

#91

Post by winter_blue » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:06 PM UTC

sametmax wrote: post #77

winter_blue wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but I'm not ready to relocate to the US Even if you wanted to, it's nearly impossible to immigrate to the US as a skilled worker legally . I have a friend who is an really talented programmer (and a really diligent worker) who studied Computer Science at some of the best universities in Europe: École Centrale Paris and the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland. One of his biggest desires fo…

I know at least 3 french persons that managed to make it work. They don't even work for a FAANGs, and only of of them is technically better than I am. I'm an optimist :)

Could you ask them on what visa they moved to the U.S.? I know a few French people in New York. But they're on J-1 visas -- which are very short in duration (~1 year), and truly temporary -- you are required to have plans to return to your "home country" after that period. It offers no practical path towards permanent residence.

The only visas that don't prohibit immigrant intent (i.e. desire to immigrate + company applying for permanent residence for you) are the H-1B visa, L-1 visa, and O-1 visa. For anyone looking to permanently move the U.S. on the basis of skills, those are the only options. (I didn't mention the L-1 and O-1 in my comment above because they're even more narrowly granted.)

> only of of them is technically better

Technical skill doesn't really matter with the H-1B visa; only salary really does. Even going to a top university doesn't mean anything. The lottery doesn't discriminate.

There are foreign students who graduate from the best universities in the U.S. like Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc, often with advanced degrees (Master's / PhD), with good high-paying jobs, who get deported from the US because they did not win the H-1B lottery.

The Harvard Crimson complained about this even back in 2007: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/9/raise-the-h-1b-c...

Re: Python at Netflix

#92

Post by tsss » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #39

0815test wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Python is in fact a type safe language for a while now Well it has a typing mechanism, which is better than nothing, but has the mechanism been shown to be safe ? C has types too, but I'm not sure that it would be described as type safe.

C is weakly typed. Python is strongly typed. That's orthogonal to 'having types'.

There is no agreed-upon definition of weakly and strongly typed; It is a nonsense word. Any Haskell programmer would laugh at someone who calls Python strongly typed.

Re: Python at Netflix

#93

Post by Thaxll » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:07 PM UTC

winter_blue wrote: post #71

sametmax wrote: post #11

Do you know what the Netflix culture is regarding remote work ? I've been looking for a job for the first time in 10 years of Python, and Netflix is one of the rare big companies that I still have respect for. https://jobs.netflix.com/ has several offers I would be a good fit for, but I'm not ready to relocate to the US.

> but I'm not ready to relocate to the US Even if you wanted to, it's nearly impossible to immigrate to the US as a skilled worker legally . I have a friend who is an really talented programmer (and a really diligent worker) who studied Computer Science at some of the best universities in Europe: École Centrale Paris and the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland. One of his biggest desires fo…

If you're European from a "good" country it's pretty easy to get an H1-B with a master / eng degree to work for a SV company.

Re: Python at Netflix

#94

Post by kickopotomus » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:08 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #32

z3t4 wrote: post #24

Wasn't Netflix a Node.JS shop two years ago when Node was popular and now when Python is the most popular they are a Python shop ? :P (sarcasm) It's good to use many languages as it favors a micro-service architecture.

Is Python the most popular language now? I'm not trying to argue, I'm trying to see how out-of-the-loop I am nowadays.

It has gained a lot of popularity and is used across disciplines pretty heavily. Apart from the typical CS uses, it's used a lot by scientists and engineers because it's pretty easy to pick up and the available resources have snowballed such that someone has probably already solved your problem so all you have to do is import antigravity[0].

[0]: https://xkcd.com/353/

Re: Python at Netflix

#95

Post by knicholes » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:10 PM UTC

terryschiavo22 wrote: post #81

fokinsean wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's valid syntax, so it likely won't make it in their repo

Drats! We were so close!

Just remove the "return"

Re: Python at Netflix

#96

Post by adrianhel » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:10 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #40

yifanl wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on how you measure most popular. I think I saw a post here saying that the most new questions on SO were for python over js now, which might be a good enough proxy?

I suppose Python is so popular in the ML and data-science spaces now that it makes some sense. I don't know a lot about those spaces, and the little bit I've played with neural networks I've done with Clojure because I'm hipster. Amazing how much of a pure-functional bubble I live in now. I should probably branch out more.

The university I went to have now switched from Java to Python for introductory computer science. So this type of change may influence this increase in popularity as well.

I remember being a bit baffled that they used Java and not Python as an introductory language. It's a very obvious choice for beginners.

Lol, I remember the first lesson.

    class HelloWorld {
      public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello, world");
      }
    }

Re: Python at Netflix

#97

Post by hyeomans » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:10 PM UTC

butterpeanut wrote: post #76

Id like to contribute to the netflix code base by offering what is obviously a missing but much needed piece of code: def enableAutoPlay( flag ): annoyingAutoPlay = flag return

At least as an option hidden somewhere.

Re: Python at Netflix

#98

Post by 2StepsOutOfLine » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:13 PM UTC

glckr wrote: post #63

Interesting. I had it in my head that Netflix was a pure Java shop. Was I wrong in the first place, or has something changed?

From what I understand from their talk on how they (don't) do devops they adopt a polygot architecture and teams use different languages.

Re: Python at Netflix

#99

Post by tsss » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:13 PM UTC

chadash wrote: post #7

vturner wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Down voted you will be, the dynamic typing sheriffs are on the watch ;)

I didn't downvote the parent, but I think that doing so is justified because the comment doesn't add much to the conversation, whether you agree with it or not. To be a substantive comment, it should explain _why_ typed languages would be a better choice for these particular use cases.

At this point it should be common sense, there are arguments about this in practically every thread that mentions Python or JS.

As much as I hate dynamic typing, there are use-cases where I don't care about it much. What makes Python truly an awful experience in any case is the completely asinine dependency management.

Re: Python at Netflix

#100

Post by mixmastamyk » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 4:14 PM UTC

praneshp wrote: post #66

mixmastamyk wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially when their stuff runs on AWS.

what that does have to do with remote work? I commute to work everyday, but my team's code doesn't run in a cpu under my desk.

Systems administration used to be done in-house.