Toptal Engineering Blog

The Toptal Engineering Blog is a hub for in-depth development tutorials and new technology announcements created by professional software engineers in the Toptal network.

authors are vetted experts in their fields and write on topics in which they have demonstrated experience. All of our content is peer reviewed and validated by Toptal experts in the same field.

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authors are vetted experts in their fields and write on topics in which they have demonstrated experience. All of our content is peer reviewed and validated by Toptal experts in the same field.

A Deep Look At JSON vs. XML, Part 2: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Both

Nearly all computer applications rely on either JSON or XML. Today, JSON has overtaken XML, but is it better? In part 1 of this series on JSON vs. XML, we take a closer look at the history of the web to uncover the original purpose of XML and JSON and analyze how JSON became the popular choice.

15 minute readContinue Reading

Seva Safris

Seva is a veteran of both enterprise and startups with 20 years of industry experience and a UC Berkeley graduate in EECS and MSE.

A Deep Look at JSON vs. XML, Part 1: The History of Each Standard

Nearly all computer applications rely on one of two principal message standards: JSON and XML. Today, JSON is the most widely used format, having overtaken XML within the last 5 years, but is JSON better than XML?

In part 1 of this multi-part series on JSON vs. XML, Toptal Freelance Full-stack Developer Seva Safris will take a closer look at the history of the web to uncover the original purpose of XML and JSON, and analyze the software trends in recent years that lead to JSON becoming more popular than XML.

13 minute readContinue Reading

Seva Safris

Seva is a veteran of both enterprise and startups with 20 years of industry experience, and a UC Berkeley graduate in EECS and MSE.

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Rails 6 Features: What’s New and Why It Matters

Rails 6 is finally here, featuring major improvements and clever new features that should make development easier and faster than ever.

In this article, Toptal Ruby on Rails Developer Avant Mittal dives into the Rails 6 changelog to introduce you to these new features and explain how you will be using them in your next Rails project.

9 minute readContinue Reading

Avant Mittal

Working as a consultant, Avant helped build applications for clients such as Chipotle, Sebamed USA, HealthEngine, DealDey, and many more.

Supercharged Testing Tips for 2019: A Java Automation Testing Tutorial

Test automation engineers continuously research the latest tools and techniques to ensure that their test automation framework stays fast, stable, and easy to use.

In this article, Toptal Freelance Java Developer Simon Stratton will take a look at some tips that you can use to update your framework for 2019 by improving your use of Selenium Grid, Java’s wait function, and Chrome DevTools.

10 minute readContinue Reading

Simon Stratton

Simon has been a technical tester for over 18 years. He started at IBM, moved to EADS, then Fujitsu, and now runs his own company.

Building Your First Telegram Bot: A Step by Step Guide

Chatbots are revolutionizing the way people interact with technology. In recent years, their simplicity and low cost have helped drive adoption across various fields and industries.

In this article, Toptal Natural Language Processing Developer Ali Abdel Aal demonstrates how you can create and deploy a Telegram chatbot in a matter of hours.

11 minute readContinue Reading

Ali Abdel Aal

Ali has built multiple NLP systems and has hands-on experience in a variety of machine learning tools as well as Python libraries.

NLP With Google Cloud Natural Language API

Natural language processing (NLP) has become one of the most researched subjects in the field of AI. This interest is driven by applications that have been brought to market in recent years.

In this article, Toptal Deep Learning Developer Maximilian Hopf introduces you to Google Natural Language API and Google AutoML Natural Language.

13 minute readContinue Reading

Maximilian Hopf

Max is a data science and machine learning expert. He has helped to build one of Germany’s most highly funded fintechs.

How to Approach Modern WordPress Development (Part 1)

It’s no secret that the WordPress codebase is a mess. Many developers use its legacy code as an excuse for writing sloppy code themselves, even if its newer additions follow best practices. If this is you, it’s time to level up your skills!

10 minute readContinue Reading

Andrey Shalashov

Andrey is a full-stack web developer and WordPress expert. Lately, his focus is on serverless computing and JAMstack.

Toptal Engineering Expert

Gabriel Courtemanche

Gabriel is a highly efficient and reliable professional who possesses a broad skill set for web application development. He's been working on a range of products and clients—from working on scalability problems in production engineering teams at Shopify and Autodesk to launching new applications for startups. Most of his work consists of leading technical teams, by creating an easy development environment, fixing technical debts, providing best practices code examples, and mentoring devs.