The notion of function options (or arguments, settings, configuration values) has been around for a while. At a high level, a function option is a closure over some value that needs to be set on some other entity. By using some helper method, you can set a defined, yet flexible, set of values on an […]
Introducing people to a new concept can be tough – especially when it includes complex algorithms and code-based logic. At PMG, we pride ourselves on engineering new solutions that empower media teams to make faster, smarter decisions but explaining the tech behind these solutions can be difficult. Some of our solutions are easily explained, with […]
At PMG, we have been using Symfony (or its components) for a long time. I made my first commit on my first Silex in February 2013. In the following six years, we built a lot of Symfony forms — mostly by hand as PMG has not done a lot of work with ORMs where something […]
In the digital advertising industry, the question is always “how can this program drive more efficiency?”. And that question is increasingly being answered with automation. While big picture automation projects like bidding algorithms fueled by machine learning or ad copy written by AI are the most exciting and headline-grabbing developments, automation doesn’t have to be […]
It’s Okay to Start From Scratch The announcement of the new facebook.com came with plenty of cool new features and ideas (see here). But, the most impactful idea I grasped onto was that it’s okay to start from scratch sometimes. Whether it be a technical or client project, we often find ourselves so deep into […]
Every company hits a point where simply providing the right data across the organization is no longer good enough. As your data infrastructure scales, questions get asked like: Which individuals and teams are using the data most frequently? How is the data typically being accessed? Through Excel, dashboarding solutions, or SQL IDEs? How does your […]
Have you ever created technology you found to be amazing but no one used it? You see a tremendous amount of value in the tech but you just can’t seem to get your users to consistently use what you’ve created. This is a common problem I’ve seen at companies that build tech internally and for […]
I was recently assigned a ticket in which I had to rebuild a UI in React. Here at PMG, we use Karma, Enzyme, and Chai to help test our React components. In completing the ticket, I learned a few things about Mocha/Enzyme and thought I would share. Let’s start with a quick tip in the […]
While UX and user testing experts are important and have their place, they’re often less common on smaller development teams. So what can you do without a specialist to improve the usability of your software? Before we get started, there are a few realities about UX (User Experience) design we need acknowledge: All software has […]
Before I dive into to Terraform and all its power, I want to make it clear how little I knew about infrastructure before I started working with Terraform and AWS. On our team here at PMG, we like to have everyone be as full-stack as possible so that you’re able to understand what’s going on within a […]