Since its debut in 2008, Python 3 has come a long way. Gone are the days when it lacked support for almost all useful libraries and tools. Python 3 offers many improvements and amazing new features that make writing robust code in Python easier than ever.

In this article, Toptal engineer Dario Bertini discusses some of the improvements and features that Python 3 has to offer, and explains whether switching to Python 3 is a smart choice right now.

#Python #Python3 #Porting

The impending adoption of Smart Home technology is looming. What will this mean for domestic life as we know it? For as long as people have kept homes, the dwelling as been a refuge for isolation. With the circuitry concerns surrounding Smart Home technology and the rise of the Internet of Things, has our concept of the home changed forever?

In this article, design editor Kent Mundle questions where Smart Home technology is now, how it relates to the history of home automation, and what might be next for the market.

#InternetOfThings #SmartHome

Meteor is a framework for rapidly building real-time JavaScript web applications. It can be used to build complex applications with amazing ease. However, that can often result in adoption of bad development practices and poorly structured code.

In this article, Toptal engineer Darion Cassel shares some simple ways to improve the structure of your next Meteor-based web application without resorting to complicated boilerplates and scaffolding tools.

#Meteor #ProjectStructure #Guide #Scaffolding #Schema

Sketch promises a faster workflow and greater ease-of-use than its counterparts. You can think of Sketch as Illustrator with some Photoshop stitched together, but that’s only part of the story. Many Adobe features that you don’t use 90 percent of the time have been stripped out, giving us a streamlined tool that is designed to quickly prototype everything from simple wireframes to complex mockups.

In this article, Toptal freelance designer Alex Gurevich takes a closer look at the Sketch vs. Photoshop dilemma, explaining which has the advantage from a variety of perspectives.

#Sketch #Photoshop #Adobe #AdobeComet #SketchVsPhotoshop

Robot Operating System, a framework for building robot applications, allows developers to assemble a complex system by connecting existing solutions for small problems. 

In this article, Toptal engineer Adnan Ademovic gives us a step-by-step tutorial to building software for an onboard computer that allows us to remotely control and monitor a robot and running it in a simulated world using Robot OS.

#ROS #RobotOS #Simulation #Python

React is a library developed by Facebook that has revolutionized the way we think about apps. Borrowing ideas from declarative, reactive, and functional programming, it makes developing highly interactive UIs a breeze. As such, it is something that every front-end developer should have in their tool belt.

Finding the right engineer for all your React needs can be challenging. This hiring guide provides a set of insightful questions to help you identify amazing React developers who are experts in their field.

#ReactJS #Recruiting #Hiring #Interviewing

Small teams frequently have to compete with bigger, more structured organizations who are capable of allocating more resources to project management, and software release management in particular. This means that small teams, or even individual developers, need to properly organize and execute their release process in order to keep up.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Lucas Mancini focuses specifically on small startups, teams that don't have, or can’t afford, DevOps support, or teams that don't have a formal process defined for releasing new versions of their product. The author provides a suggested checklist method to manage releases, tailored to match his past experience working on different projects, together with some recommended best practices and guidelines.

#ReleaseManagement #DevOps #Agile #Lean #SoftwareRelease

Freelance designers often work on a project-to-project, short-term basis, a reality that sometimes limits the extent to which they can design products that have a major effect on the big picture. How can designers leverage their abilities to have maximum impact on more significant projects?

Strategic Design Thinking questions the role of design as a discipline, suggesting that it can offer more than the crafting of products and artifacts. In this article, freelance designer Kent Mundle shows us how designers can better communicate their abilities and establish a vocabulary to increase the potential value of their projects for themselves and their clients.

#StrategicDesignThinking #Communication #DesignCommunication