Theme Park Technology

Also: Back Rubs, Code Reviews, & More!

Author

David Thurman
April 17, 2025

Morning folks! This is Beyond Code - the newsletter designed to help developers build their careers, one Thursday at a time.

Note: This newsletter is not sponsored. Any websites/tools/apps we recommend are purely because we enjoy them personally

Did You Know…

Google Was Almost Called “Backrub”

Before settling on “Google,” founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin named their search engine “Backrub” due to its analysis of backlinks.

Luckily, they rebranded—“Just Backrub it” might have sended the wrong message.

Handy Coding Tool

Codeium – Your AI Coding Assistant

Codeium

Codeium is a free AI coding assistant offering unlimited code completions. Supporting over 50 programming languages, it integrates seamlessly with popular IDEs like VS Code and JetBrains.

Key Features:

  • Code Tools

  • Intelligent Autocomplete

  • Function Suggestions

  • Code Documentation Generation

Tech Highlights

What’s Happening In Tech?

Grab-and-Go Retail Hits Theme Parks: Legoland Windsor debuted Europe’s first checkout-free shop using Zippin’s AI-powered platform, while Six Flags Magic Mountain launched an Amazon-powered cashierless store. These innovations streamline shopping for visitors. (source)

Microsoft’s AI Security Agents Take the Lead: Microsoft has expanded its Security Copilot platform with new AI agents capable of autonomously managing phishing alerts and cyberattacks. These agents aim to handle routine security tasks, freeing up human defenders for more complex issues. (source)

Full Self-Driving Testing Goes National: Tesla has broadened its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta program, aiming to refine autonomous driving capabilities. The company is targeting a 15% reduction in traffic accidents by 2030 through these advancements. (source)

Programming Tip

Embrace Code Reviews (Even for Solo Projects)

Code reviews aren’t just for teams. Reviewing your own code after a break or having a friend look it over can help you spot issues you missed.

Why It Works:

  • Catches bugs and edge cases early.

  • Helps you see your code from a fresh perspective.

  • Encourages best practices.

Ask the Experts

“What are some non-technical skills that are important for software developers to have, and how can someone develop them?”

Soft skills in communication are key. You don’t only work with software developers. You will end up working with product managers, quality assurance engineers, UI/UX designers, scrum masters, project managers, and so many more individuals. All of these different people speak different languages and hold different roles in the software development lifecycle. The better you can communicate with all of them on why you think something should be done a certain way, why you changed it to do something else, or even just asking clarifying questions on a design can drastically help you.

Kimberly Brown, Engineering Manager @ TestBox

Open Source Highlight

Your Next Dev Playground - CodeSandbox

CodeSandbox is an open-source, online IDE that makes it easy to experiment with code. Start a project, share a link, and collaborate with others instantly.

Why It’s Awesome:

  • Instant project setup for popular frameworks.

  • Seamless sharing and collaboration.

  • Browser-based—no installation required.

What’s Open Source?
“Open sourced projects” refer to projects that have their code open to the public. They allow anyone to contribute to the project and help maintain it. Not only are they a great way to get hands on experience early on in your career, they also provide you a way to add bigger projects to your resume!

Shameless Plug

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Pop Quiz

What’s Wrong with This Algorithm?

def find_min(numbers):
    min_val = None
    for n in numbers:
        if n < min_val:
            min_val = n
    return min_val

print(find_min([4, 2, 9, 1]))

Find the answer at the bottom of the newsletter!

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Pop Quiz Answer: min_val starts as None, so comparing it to a number causes an error. Instead, initialize min_val with the first number in the list.