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How we keep GitHub fast

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Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#91

Is it me or the new feature that hasn't shipped they mentioned is the source code search input box next to the download button?

I thought it might be the "tags" panel - a way to organize your watched repos?

That's actually a list of git tags (http://learn.github.com/p/tagging.html), and they're on the current site, e.g. https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_girl/tags

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#92
post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

Github has so much raw talent on staff that such things are totally reasonable indulgences. Why would Kyle be happy working on it if it was going to be ugly. It's that drive for excellence that motivates the kind of people Github hires. I think it would be a major management mistake to force (or even urge) someone like Kyle to do things half ass.

It's not half-ass if you're achieving excellence by some other metric. I personally take pride in my ability to recognize tradeoffs. I encourage my peers to see things in the same light.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#94

Is it me or the new feature that hasn't shipped they mentioned is the source code search input box next to the download button?

  - Public repo search.
  - Main search box says "Search or Type a Command"
  - Heartbeat icon in main navigation.
  - Compass icon in top right user navigation.
  - Advanced search button is now an actual button.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#95
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it might be the "tags" panel - a way to organize your watched repos?

That's actually a list of git tags ( http://learn.github.com/p/tagging.html ), and they're on the current site, e.g. https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_girl/tags

oops.. wishful thinking!

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not the point Steve Jobs was making. The point is: if you care about what you do, you'll do your best even when you don't have to. Because as far as you're concerned you do have to.

I just got finished reading his biography and I am nearly 100% sure he meant this literally.

Steve Jobs was a well-known woodcarver and carpenter. When he wasn't at Apple, he was usually found in his garage, finishing off a new wardrobe or a sturdy deck chair.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#97
post #90

Is it me or the new feature that hasn't shipped they mentioned is the source code search input box next to the download button?

I believe GitHub admins have that little search bar on every repo, while regular joes can only search private repos.

You can search the contents of public repos from the main search box (https://github.com/search has instructions on how), and the search bar on private repos is only intended as a workaround for the main search not working for them. I have no idea how it's taken them this long to figure out that the repo-specific search box is far more user-friendly and discoverable.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#98
post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

I believe Peopleware said it best:

"Allowing the standard of quality to be set by the buyer, rather than the builder, is what we call the flight from excellence. A market-derived quality standard seems to make good sense only as long as you ignore the effect on the builder's attitude and effectiveness.

In the long run, market-based quality costs more. The lesson here is,

Quality, far beyond that required by the end user, is a means to higher productivity."

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#99
post #18
post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

"When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through." -Steve Jobs

But if you construct the chest so no one can verify what's used to make it, what's the point?

If Apple's products are quality all the way through, why can't I easily open up my iPod/iPhone/iPad?

If it's quality all the way through, why would you hide what's on the inside?

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