January 2022 Summaries

Participating in the Advent of Code challenges, engineers at Heap explored solving problems using both JavaScript and PostgreSQL, discovering intriguing insights into SQL's capabilities. They highlighted the utility of window function ranges, which allow for dynamic data manipulation, as well as the advantages of Common Table Expressions (CTEs) over traditional subqueries for their clarity and ability to handle recursive tasks. The team also learned the value of thinking relationally rather than iteratively, which helped them address complex problems like determining bingo board winners by abstracting iterative logic into a sorting problem. They were surprised by the compactness and elegance of SQL solutions compared to JavaScript, particularly in tasks such as calculating positions with directional commands. This exercise not only enriched their algorithmic skills but also reflected Heap's engineering culture, emphasizing growth and collaboration, as they actively use PostgreSQL and engage in coding challenges.

Heap's engineering team recently held meetups in New York City and Canberra, Australia, where they engaged in various activities and shared knowledge, both work-related and non-work-related. The team decided to publish several internal talks from the meetup to showcase their engineering culture and technical challenges. These talks included Matan's presentation on juggling and scheduling algorithms, exemplifying Heap's Virtual-First culture and relaxed work environment, Howie's discussion on the company's blameless incident management approach that encourages everyone to lead incidents as a learning opportunity, and Matt's talk on the technical challenges and tools like Rcitus that optimize data queries. The events highlighted Heap's collaborative and supportive culture, with an open invitation to explore opportunities to join the team.