frequently asked questions, answered (or dodged)
Who's behind this thing?

I am, hello! This is me.

You can find me on, say, Twitter as @maligree.

Are these questions sorted in any way?

I don't think so.

Is this your day job?

No, more of an after-hour playground. Wait, do you think it could be, someday?

Is there any way I can support the project at this stage?

Yes! You can buy me a coffee! Any bit of support means a lot to me and will help me keep adding new challenges over time.

How long does it take to implement a new challenge?

Based on experience so far, from idea do production, anywhere between two hours and six months.

I have an idea for a challenge.

Let me know!

I have a feature request.

I'm listening.

Why are the things hand-drawn?

I was going through dribbble, looking for inspiration. However the only thing I found was anxiety, because people do wicked beautiful designs. I figured my only shot at making something notable was to draw things on my own.

Plus it gives the site a nice tounge-in-cheek spin.

Will there ever be a traditional, binary-tree or sort-related challenge?

Truth is, I don't know. In general, I thoroughly dislike those sorts of challenges. The whole idea was to show that other types of challenges are possible. Of course they require a bit more work, but why not?

What's the stack behind hackattic?

A simple Django app, a boring Postgres DB and Redis. Some demanding content (postgres dumps, redis snapshots) for challenges are generated on-demand in a separate worker container, using a state-of-the-art, military-grade, 12-line custom queue implementation. It has zero error handling.

I want to get notified about new content

Believe it or not, I'm still figuring out what's the best way to notify interested people in new content. I'm not a fan of emails, because I'm very protective of my own mailbox. There's RSS. Check the footer of any page for more.

I know an article/book/post that would fit the "Becoming a better developer" newsletter perfectly.

Send it over! I'll check it out and credit you if it makes it in.

Is my data being sold anywhere?

No. I'm rather sensitive about that. You'll also notice the site does not use Google Analytics or equivalent, no HotJar, no customer tracking nonsense. Whatever I need to know about how people are responding to things I can get from my own logs, plus there's always your feedback via email. Which I can't get enough of.

Making sure the website is honest and lightweight is a very important factor during development.

What language versions are supported for kata?

Ugh, let me check. Here:

  • Python 3.7
  • PHP 7.3
  • Node 10.16
  • Go 1.12
  • Ruby 2.6
  • g++ (GCC) 9.1.0 (C++17 available!)
  • Haskell GHC 8.6.5

Want a language added? Pester me. Go for it!

I need to get in touch with you!

Cool, email me! I reply to 99% emails I get. Up from 78% last year.


——
You too can support h^ by buying me a coffee. Cheers!
Also, I'd love to hear from you. Whatever you got, drop me an email. My h^ profile is here.