Toptal Blog

The Toptal Blog is the top hub for developers, designers, management consultants, executives, and entrepreneurs, featuring key technology updates, tutorials, freelancer resources, and management insights.

Toptal core team members share their experience, expertise, and perspectives on the Toptal Edge Blog

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The Ultimate UX Hook : Anticipatory, Persuasive, and Emotional Design in UX

Some products prove irresistible because they combine psychological design techniques that create an ultimate UX hook: anticipatory, persuasive, and emotional design.

15-minute readContinue Reading

Miklos Philips

Miklos is a UX designer, product design strategist, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

Command Line Tools for Developers

In this article, Toptal Freelance Software Engineer Piotr Gaczkowski explains how to make the most out of command line tools and lists some of the best tools out there.

13-minute readContinue Reading

Piotr Gaczkowski

With low-level (C/C++) and high-level (Python) experience gained at Intel and ADVA, Piotr follows the DevOps path to build great products.

Presentation Design and the Art of Visual Storytelling

Discover a practical approach to designing results-oriented presentations and learn the importance of crafting a compelling narrative.

11-minute readContinue Reading

Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

Digital Transformation in the Field: CSR Connect

Learn how CSR Limited, a global leader in the construction supply industry, partnered with Toptal to digitize a 150-year-old supply chain to optimize operations and delight customers.

< 5-minute readContinue Reading

Toptal Research

Toptal is an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, management consultants, and project managers in the world.

The Future of Teams: Managing the Blended Workforce

Discover the eight key competencies critical to creating a sustainable blended workforce and learn how managers can best adapt their businesses to the future of teams.

< 5-minute readContinue Reading

Toptal Research

In-depth analysis and industry-leading thought leadership from a panel of Toptal researchers and subject matter experts.

REST Assured vs. JMeter: A Comparison of REST Test Tools

Apache JMeter and REST Assured are two very popular Java-based tools for automated testing of REST API services.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Java Developer Nemanja Veskovic gives us an overview of the pros and cons of both of these tools and shows where they fit best in your existing REST API projects.

7-minute readContinue Reading

Nemanja Veskovic

Nemanja is a QA with more than ten years of experience working with various QA teams. He also has 4 years of experience as QA team lead.

Salesforce Einstein AI: An API Tutorial

Non-Salesforce app developers may be overlooking a hidden gem in the AI world: Salesforce Einstein offers image recognition and text analysis for plain-vanilla apps and Salesforce apps alike. In this article, Toptal Freelance Salesforce Developer Fahad Munawar Khan shows how any developer can leverage Einstein Vision and Einstein Language.

8-minute readContinue Reading

Fahad Munawar Khan

Fahad is a Salesforce Certified Force.com Developer and web developer since 2011, including being a senior dev for clients like Honeywell.

Perfect Your UX Design Process: A Guide to Prototype Design

Prototype design is a powerful process detailing how designers do everything required to test, iterate, and develop prototypes, beginning with user flows and ending in functional wireframes.

9-minute readContinue Reading

Judit Casacuberta

Judit is a UX Designer and researcher with a master’s degree in Human Computer Interaction.

Are Art Investments a Worthwhile Asset Class?

Did you know that, in 2016, $60 billion was invested in art, which was comparable to the exit proceeds from venture capital investing?

This article sheds light on the opaque world of art investments and whether it’s a realistic choice for inclusion in portfolios. The article covers types of art as well as how investments are valued and return performance relative to other assets.

10-minute readContinue Reading