tushartyagi

I am reading the book "Apprenticeship Patterns" by Dave Hoover & Adewale Oshineye. It's a very interesting book and lists a set of patterns which (novice?) software developers can use to get better at the craft of programming.

One of the patterns listed is called "Create Feedback Loops" which states that one of the best ways to not get stuck with whatever wrong you're doing is to create feedback loops which provide objective data about your performance and allow you to fail early & fast, without wasting your time stuck with bad practices and implementations.

While coding, this can be something like TDD. At a higher level, this can be pair programming, code reviews, finding mentors, etc.

I wanted to know if any HN users have created their own personal feedback loops. How has it helped you in progressing in your careers and saved you from following the wrong path?

There are two ways of using email addresses, either use something like abc@gmail.com, abc@fastmail.com or use your own custom domain like me@customdomain.com.

Given that any email address that's given out quickly becomes a target for spammers, does it makes sense to actually give out the custom email address? I assume that the answer is going to be yes. In such situation, what are the precautions that you guys take to reduce the amount of spam you get? What are some of the example places where you give out your custom email address?

My assumption is that having a custom domain gives one the independence of changing providers, and each provider will reduce spam to a different degree.