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Ben Lesh
@BenLesh
#RxJS core team lead. Dad. Art Lover. Literally not paid by the observable, or for anything RxJS-related. My views actually belong to @_jayphelps. he/him
Austin, TX
linktr.ee/benlesh
Joined March 2009
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  • Pinned
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Apr 29
    Really proud to show off the 3D dungeon game I built for @OpenAI using Codex, GPT 5.5 (and 5.4) and new plugins/skills I worked on. This game was created in about 2 work days, including art and audio, etc. This doesn't even show all of the dev tools that are built in.
    user avatar
    corey.ching
    @coreyching
    Apr 23
    GPT-5.5 is here - two demos I wanted to share and are featured in the launch post. One is a playable 3D dungeon arena prototype built with Codex and GPT models — from game architecture and combat systems to HUD feedback, environment textures, and character dialogue. The other
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Oct 22, 2019
    1/ Me at age 38, versus me at age 42. Today is my birthday. I'm not posting this just to show off. (I mean I am proud) I'm posting this because I am hoping it inspires somebody to do something to take care of themselves consistently.
    Me, age 38, very overweight, winning an Emmy for best double chin. Okay, really I'm just holding an Emmy I didn't win.
    Me, age 42, standing in the gym on the way out the door, after asking the lady that works at the gym to take a picture. (Sorta embarrassed)
  • user avatar
    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Mar 4, 2021
    I seriously don't understand how people are parents, employees, do open source, and have time for hobbies and other interests. My life is on autopilot, barely a gap in time where I'm not exhausted. Especially during this pandemic.
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Apr 22, 2018
    If you're a complete beginner starting off in JavaScript, there is nothing wrong with just learning a framework up front. Don't listen to people that say you have to master fundamentals first. You have to master them *eventually* but you need to have fun and be productive first.
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    May 17, 2021
    When I first flew out to interview at Netflix in 2014, I didn't think I was qualified. I found myself -- an overweight, 37 year old father of 3, with no college degree -- sitting next to two bright, young fresh college grads. One from MIT, the other Carnegie Melon.
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Apr 2, 2021
    You have years to learn the minutiae of web development. The first thing you should learn is whatever gets you paid.
    user avatar
    Zeno Rocha
    Resend
    @zenorocha
    Mar 31, 2021
    Junior developers these days...
  • user avatar
    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Nov 30, 2017
    Open Source is such a strange thing. The open source work I do is clearly the most impactful work I do, but no one wants to pay me to work on it. Yet I'm asked to speak about it, and the work I'm actually *paid* to do no one really wants to hear about. 🤔
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Apr 1, 2020
    PSA: THIS IS NOT WHAT "WORKING FROM HOME" IS LIKE I've been working from home for nearly a year. What's going on now is very different. Kids are home. Everything is shut down. Supplies are critical. Stress is high. Worries are high. WFH is usually more streamlined than this.
  • user avatar
    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Apr 13, 2019
    If you'd have told me 15 years ago, when I was a Windows developer writing C#, and using GUIs for everything, that I'd now be writing JavaScript on a Linux machine with a text editor and spending hours a day in terminal, I'd have thought you were crazy. Keep an open mind in tech
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Jun 23, 2019
    After a bad experience on Twitter a while back, about 80% of the time I type up a tweet, usually to say something fun, help, or even encourage someone else, I delete it and walk away, out of fear that something I don't see in it will offend someone.
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Nov 15, 2024
    PSA: Use `crypto.randomUUID()`, NOT the `uuid` library. It's a lot faster, and it's zero cost on your bundle size. Available in all modern browsers, and all actively supported versions of Node.
    // Old and busted import { v4 as uuid } from 'uuid'; uuid(); // New hotness crypto.randomUUID();
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Oct 8, 2019
    Friends: JSX, CSS-in-JS, just say no! SEPARATE YOUR CONCERNS! Separation of concerns by file IS NOT ENOUGH. Concerns must now be in separate docker containers. Ideally in different AWS regions. Don't let that HTML touch your JavaScript! Don't do it! Just think of the concerns!
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Feb 13, 2019
    Folks, changing names away from things like "master" and "slave" or "whitelist" and "blacklist" is about making everyone feel welcome MATTERS + Inclusion DOES NOT MATTER + Your feelings on "what the world is coming to" + Your "slippery slopes" + Your "well actually" etymologies
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    Ben Lesh
    @BenLesh
    Mar 18, 2021
    Add comments about WHY code exists, not what it does. The code is right there, we know what it does. Developers that can't or don't write good comments aren't great developers yet.
    if (account.active) { // We only want to do this if the account is active executePayment(account, team) } (Duh, what a silly comment)
    if (account.active) { // Teams can only execute payments on active // accounts. Inactive accounts must go through // billing as outlined in http://hr/docs?item=12345 executePayment(account, team); } This comment is better, because it has more detail about *why*