daveungerer

Joined 19 years ago

Karma
675
Submissions
247
Member since
Nov 15
daveungerer at google's free mail service.

Blog: https://tech.simplepay.cloud

My start-up is an online payroll system. I entered this crowded market because the competing software has very poor usability. The goal is to allow a novice to easily create a correct payroll. South Africa, Singapore and Ireland. Soon the world.

https://www.simplepay.co.za https://www.simplepay.com.sg https://www.simplepay.ie

View on Hacker News

Recent submissions

Comment · 8 months ago
How does SQG compare to SQLDelight, for someone only interested in Kotlin and PostgreSQL?
Comment · 10 months ago
> Same, what is the risk/reward for someone who is and plans to be monogamous. Young or old. Cost not a concern. Give me the info and let me decide for myself, my kids, my parents.

Did I read this correctly? You are going to decide for your children based on their plans to be monogamous?

And you’re also going to decide for your parents? I can only assume you’re in the unfortunate situation where your parents are no longer capable of making decisions?

Comment · 1 year ago
Comment · 2 years ago
Not the person you were asking, but after years of using i3, AeroSpace is the only way I can use a Mac productively, and does indeed have the feature you're describing.
Comment · 3 years ago
SimplePay | Ruby on Rails Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid annual growth. Our software lets 30,000 small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about)

Do you believe SPAs are overkill for most apps, but wouldn't mind digging into Vue.js for pages that will benefit from the increased interactivity? Do you laugh when people give up the power of SQL DBs in favour of data stores that don't offer any benefits for their use case? If so, you may fit in well with our mindset.

Experience: Ruby on Rails. If you've used other web frameworks and are keen to get into Rails we'd definitely consider you! Just be sure to mention that in your application. The work is mostly on the back-end, but some front-end skills are welcome.

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/EbcxxS8ICj/Senior... and attach your resume / CV in PDF format. In the "Cover Letter" section of the application, please include 1) the time zone in which you reside, and 2) a link to a PR created or an issue logged for an open source project (no matter how small or long ago) as the first two lines. Also tell us why you would like to join SimplePay.

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 30,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

Our goal is to create our own internal low-code tools to enable us to deliver more products, faster. We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense.

We are not taking a framework-heavy approach, so we are using Ktor along with appropriate libraries. We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/JfYhdQxWxh/Senior...

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 28,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

Our goal is to create our own internal low-code tools to enable us to deliver more products, faster. We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We are not taking a framework-heavy approach, so we are using Ktor along with appropriate libraries. We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/JfYhdQxWxh/Senior...

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 28,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

Our goal is to create our own internal low-code tools to enable us to deliver more products, faster. We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We are not taking a framework-heavy approach, so we are using Ktor along with appropriate libraries. We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/WyQYFOo1wB/Experi...

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 28,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We haven't decided on a web framework yet. I don't mind Spring Boot, but investigating lighter weight alternatives would be great too (you can tell I have many battle scars from dealing with framework upgrades). We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/WyQYFOo1wB/Experi...

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Web Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 28,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We haven't decided on a web framework yet. I don't mind Spring Boot, but investigating lighter weight alternatives would be great too (you can tell I have many battle scars from dealing with framework upgrades). We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/WyQYFOo1wB/Experi... and attach your resume / CV in PDF format. In the "Cover Letter" section of the application, please include 1) the time zone in which you reside, and 2) a link to a PR created or an issue logged for an open source project (no matter how small or long ago) as the first two lines. Also, tell us why you would like to join SimplePay.

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Web Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 23,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We haven't decided on a web framework yet. I don't mind Spring Boot, but investigating lighter weight alternatives would be great too (you can tell I have many battle scars from dealing with framework upgrades). We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/WyQYFOo1wB/Experi... and attach your resume / CV in PDF format. In the "Cover Letter" section of the application, please include 1) the time zone in which you reside, and 2) a link to a PR created or an issue logged for an open source project (no matter how small or long ago) as the first two lines. Also, tell us why you would like to join SimplePay.

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Kotlin / Java Web Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid growth. Our software lets 23,000 (and counting!) small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines - for example, we're doing a new time tracking and staff scheduling system.

We've decided to add Kotlin to our stack for server-side development. Experienced Java developers who want to get into Kotlin are also welcome to apply. As much as I enjoy Ruby on Rails (and it's definitely helped us succeed), refactoring is becoming more painful the larger our code base becomes (using Sorbet helps, but can only take us so far). We intend to use Kotlin for the new products we're launching as well as to rewrite selected components of our existing system where it makes sense. I haven't coded in a statically typed language in years, but I've been writing Kotlin lately, and it feels surprisingly productive.

We haven't decided on a web framework yet. I don't mind Spring Boot, but investigating lighter weight alternatives would be great too (you can tell I have many battle scars from dealing with framework upgrades). We use PostgreSQL as our DB server. On the front-end, we mainly render plain HTML, but use Vue.js on the pages that need more interactivity - this role is more focused on the back-end, but front-end skills are welcome too. As you can see from our no-nonsense stack, we prefer to keep things simple with robust, proven technologies, so we can focus on solving client issues.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are continuously putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check out our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about).

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/WyQYFOo1wB/Experi... and attach your resume / CV in PDF format. In the "Cover Letter" section of the application, please include 1) the time zone in which you reside, and 2) a link to a PR created or an issue logged for an open source project (no matter how small or long ago) as the first two lines. Also, tell us why you would like to join SimplePay.

Comment · 4 years ago
SimplePay | Ruby on Rails Developers | UTC+0 to UTC+8 | REMOTE

SimplePay is a profitable, developer-owned online payroll software company, with solid annual growth. Our software lets 23,000 small business owners (and their accountants) run their South African, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong payrolls without headaches, so they can focus on the challenge of building their businesses. We're also developing new product lines.

Our development team was already mostly remote pre-pandemic. We have a very supportive culture, and are putting a lot of thought into ensuring remote work is happy work.

To find out more about us, check our developer blog (https://tech.simplepay.cloud) or about page (https://www.simplepay.co.za/about)

Do you believe SPAs are overkill for most apps, but wouldn't mind digging into Vue.js for pages that will benefit from the increased interactivity? Do you laugh when people give up the power of SQL DBs in favour of data stores that don't offer any benefits for their use case? If so, you may fit in well with our mindset.

Experience: Ruby on Rails. If you've used other web frameworks and are keen to get into Rails we'd definitely consider you! Just be sure to mention that in your application. The work is mostly on the back-end, but some front-end skills are welcome - we're doing more and more interactive things with Vue.js.

Location: UTC+0 to UTC+8

Please apply at https://teamsimplepay.applytojob.com/apply/52BYVkQodf/Senior... and attach your resume / CV in PDF format. In the "Cover Letter" section of the application, please include 1) the time zone in which you reside, and 2) a link to a PR created or an issue logged for an open source project (no matter how small or long ago) as the first two lines. Also tell us why you would like to join SimplePay.

Comment · 4 years ago
> I found in my research that people defending the title “engineer” rarely coherently define what an engineer is, usually boiling it down to “engineers solve problems”. The arguments against the title tend to be a little more developed, as are the arguments about transcending it.

It's a pity the author didn't go into more detail about why problem-solving is not the key defining characteristic of engineers. Since the author claims this is somehow not coherent enough, I'll share my very strong view that this is exactly what separates engineers from programmers:

Engineers apply technology to solve problems. They are rarely interested in technology just for the sake of it (that's what scientists are for), but rather in what it can do for them.

Most people in our industry today are far from being engineers. Engineers don't pick their technologies based on hype (or more charitably, excitement), and then try to find problems to solve. That's how some companies ended up using machine learning for projects where simpler statistical methods would have sufficed. It's how inexperienced developers fell for MongoDB's marketing and jumped straight to using it without considering whether it's better for their use case than the alternatives. It explains how at some point a ton of companies were using blockchain for things that could have been done with centralised databases (although that one's likely more due to company executives trying to impress investors).

If you’re always focused on using the latest thing, you’ll always have a solution in search of a problem. Reach for new tools when you have or anticipate a problem that you think might reasonably be solved by such tools. Do that and you've at least inched a bit closer to being able to reasonably refer to yourself as software engineer... if that's your thing - I'm generally not a fan of the title myself, but the engineering mindset is the most important thing I look for when interviewing candidates.

Comment · 4 years ago
Not OP, but hopefully this helps with your first point: we're happily using Sorbet with Rails (leveraging sorbet-rails). It's by no means perfect, but a gradual typing experience in Ruby never will be, unless you restrict the way you use the language. The benefits of having at least some level of type-checking outweigh the cons, IMHO. Sorbet picks up many of the little typos that only become apparent when you try out the code / run a test. I've been using an unofficial VS Code extension for ages, and I really like the increase in iteration speed.

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