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Why Naming Matters: Tips for Effective Naming Conventions

  In the world of IT, there’s a saying you often hear: There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things. — Phil Karlton While this may be a joke, it also holds a kernel of truth. Naming things in software design often sparks heated debates, and there’s a reason for that. Good naming conventions can significantly impact the readability, maintainability, and overall quality of the code. Recently, I organized workshops to define our new platform API specification. Defining good names for the endpoints and parameters was a major part of these discussions. Establishing a few conventions and best practices upfront and referring back to them when in doubt helped remove subjectivity and emotion from the discussion, facilitating a more objective and productive dialogue. So here are some typical best practices for naming variables, endpoints, parameters, classes, attributes, tables, etc.: Clear : A name should be self-explanatory and clearly describe its i
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Financial Institutions as Partners for Life-Altering Events Like Buying a Home

Life is full of   significant milestones   that often occur just once or twice in a lifetime. These milestones—while life-changing—are also highly complex to manage from both an administrative and financial perspective. The challenge stems from their unfamiliarity, as most people only experience them a handful of times. As a result, the process is new, and there’s much to learn and explore. Events such as the birth of a child, a wedding, the death of a parent, or buying a home are prime examples. Despite their importance, it’s surprising how   little comprehensive guidance  exists to help people navigate these pivotal life events. Professionals like wedding planners, notaries, accountants, and real estate agents can assist, but their services are often expensive and rarely cover the entire process. Additionally, finding the right expert adds another layer of complexity. Financial institutions, which already act as   long-term trusted partners , are well-positioned to help customers thr

Building Wealth for Everyone: How Banks Can Democratize Recurring, Low-Cost, Long-Term Investing

Active investing is challenging, often yielding less-than-desired results for the average investor . While professional investors with access to advanced tools, up-to-the-minute market information, and complex models might occasionally beat the market, for most of us, that’s a near-impossible feat. The efficiency of markets today means that any publicly available information is quickly priced in, leaving little room for non-professionals to gain an edge. As a result, many experts now agree that the best strategy for non-professional investors is   not to try to beat the market but to join it—in a low-cost, well-diversified, and passive way . This means moving away from active stock picking and market timing and instead adopting a buy-and-hold philosophy, primarily through recurring (at a fixed frequency) small investments in passive funds like ETFs that track broad, diversified indices. Research consistently supports the superiority of passive investing for long-term wealth building. N

Unlocking Business Value: Moving Beyond Low-Level Programming

Open source has undeniably revolutionized the world of software engineering . Instead of constantly reinventing the wheel, software teams now rely on reusable open-source components for low-level tasks. This shift allows developers to focus on programming that creates more business value, using tools like Docker, Kubernetes, Tomcat, MySQL, React, and Vue.js, which have become the backbone of modern software solutions worldwide. At first glance, it may seem that with such robust open-source ecosystems, developers can concentrate exclusively on coding business logic. After all, business logic is what differentiates one company from another—it is specific, continuously evolving, and typically requires close collaboration between developers and business experts, who are often less inclined to contribute to open-source projects. However, the reality is that   a large portion of development time is still spent on non-business-oriented programming   (such as installing components, setting up

Behind the Scenes: How Banks Handle Payment Claims and Disputes

Payment claim handling is a crucial process within the financial sector, ensuring that   all monetary transactions are accurate, legitimate, and properly accounted for . Despite its significance, this activity remains largely invisible and underappreciated. Very few articles are written on LinkedIn or other specialized content platforms about this topic, so I thought of giving the topic the attention it deserves. Payment claim handling refers to the procedures and actions taken to   manage claims or disputes related to payments . This process ensures that errors, fraudulent activities, or discrepancies in payment transactions are identified, investigated, and resolved efficiently. It encompasses both customer-initiated and counterparty-initiated claims and audits to maintain the integrity of financial transactions. Examples include: Fraudulent Transactions : Addressing unauthorized transactions made using a customer’s account. Duplicate Payments : Resolving instances where a payment ha

Innovation in Action: How Leading Companies Stay Ahead

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape,   innovation is the lifeblood of modern companies . Those that prioritize and integrate innovation into their core strategies not only stay ahead of competitors but also drive industry trends. However, fostering a culture of innovation requires deliberate actions and strategic initiatives. While many companies claim to be innovative, often this is only seen in a few high-profile projects that rarely extend beyond the proof-of-concept phase. For a company to truly be innovative, it must   create an environment where every employee can contribute to innovation . This is challenging, as daily business tasks often leave little time and energy for new ideas. Thus, it is crucial for top management to create the right conditions for innovation to thrive. Good innovation requires therefore actions on multiple fronts: Linking the Business Strategy to the Innovation Strategy : A strong connection between a company’s business strategy and its innova