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20 lines of code that beat A/B testing every time

stevehanov.ca Essays & writing Essays & articles AI & data Candidate
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Resurfaced independently across 3 calendar years, with breakout response in 2 of them.

submissions
3
submitters
3
observed span
2012–2024
peak thread · 157 comments
989 pts
latest 20+ return · 2016-04-06
545 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

A stevehanov.ca link? Wow, HN is getting classy again. Please more articles with code, equations and / well visualizations, and less upvoting of badly thought out infograpics (i.e. pretty numbers which would lose nothing by just being presented in a table) and far less self-help pseudo business articles please. +1 on an article does not mean "I agree". It means "I learnt something".

wisty·989-point thread·

Here's what everyone is missing. Don't use bandits to A/B test UI elements, use them to optimize your content / mobile game levels. My app, 7 Second Meditation, is solid 5 stars, 100+ reviews because I use bandits to optimize my content. By having the system automatically separate the wheat from the chaff, I am free to just spew out content regardless of its quality. This allows me to let go of perfectionism and just create. There is an interesting…

orasis·545-point thread·

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
2

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
1536

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
304

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2012-05-2920 lines of code that beat A/B testing every timeFirst breakout · Best threadspiffytech989147
2016-04-0620 lines of code that beat A/B testing (2012)Latest 20+ point return_kush545157
2024-05-2220 Lines of code that will beat A/B testing every time (2012)colinprince20