IMHO the greatest inventions are those of the highest utility relative to cost of implementation. Such inventions usually arise from tenaciously scratching a particularly bothersome itch.
For example, I've seen many Scala programmers struggle with achieving maximal type safety due to getting bogged down in boilerplate. To attack this problem (as I see it anyway, but that's all which matters for now) I'm researching ways of utilizing Scala macros to cut down on such boilerplate while retaining type safety.
This has been huge for my own side work (which means the utility is definitely there), but I'm still uncertain as to the cost, i.e. what effects my approach might have on a "serious" commercial project. I'm just going to have to find out the old fashioned way.
No invention per se, but integration of various hardware parts into a much better hardware part. I just wanted to buy something like it, and all offers on the market are shit compared to what I want, compared to what I can make by buying various parts myself and connecting/programming it all together.
Although not me, but I have played the role of the engineer in the research going on currently in our lab for developing a more advanced brain computer interface, to help people in need that can't move their bodies, we're doing pretty well, I will share the realization soon.
We just launched a new developer tool named Coati, which is designed to navigate and understand source code: https://www.coati.io/
The idea was based on our experience that you spend too much time searching through code as a developer. Coati makes it much easier to see how the different parts of the software play together.
As a mechanical engineer, I thank you and how you succeed. If you need a tester for UX feedback, I'd love to help. My email is in my profile.
I checked out your profile and saw you're an ME and developer as well, but also see you're self employed. Do you do freelance programming? And what type of development do you do? Sorry for all the questions, I'm always curious to see what others in the same field are up to.
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 29.8 ms ] threadFor example, I've seen many Scala programmers struggle with achieving maximal type safety due to getting bogged down in boilerplate. To attack this problem (as I see it anyway, but that's all which matters for now) I'm researching ways of utilizing Scala macros to cut down on such boilerplate while retaining type safety.
This has been huge for my own side work (which means the utility is definitely there), but I'm still uncertain as to the cost, i.e. what effects my approach might have on a "serious" commercial project. I'm just going to have to find out the old fashioned way.
The idea was based on our experience that you spend too much time searching through code as a developer. Coati makes it much easier to see how the different parts of the software play together.
I checked out your profile and saw you're an ME and developer as well, but also see you're self employed. Do you do freelance programming? And what type of development do you do? Sorry for all the questions, I'm always curious to see what others in the same field are up to.