Good Morning! Google shakes up core development teams before its annual I/O conference. Additionally, GitHub launched Copilot Workspace to help developers with programming tasks, and Google blocked millions of malicious apps from the Play Store last year to improve security.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Google Cuts Core Dev Teams Before Big Conference

Google is gearing up for its big annual I/O developer conference in May. But in a surprising move, the company has confirmed layoffs across several key development teams just weeks before the event.

The layoffs impacted employees working on:

• Flutter

• Dart

• Python

• Related tooling and infrastructure

These are core areas that Google uses both internally and externally with developers.

A Google spokesperson framed the cuts as part of efforts to "simplify structures" and prioritize their biggest initiatives, while reducing bureaucracy and bloat. Affected staff have been told they can apply for other open roles within Google.

The layoffs provide an interesting contrast heading into I/O, where Google will probably showcase its latest developer tools, services, and roadmaps. The Flutter team has already signaled that updates are still coming at the event, despite the personnel changes.

For the Python community, these layoffs hit particularly hard. Some of those let go were key contributors to Google's internal Python runtimes, toolchains, and open source efforts. Developers have taken to sites like Hacker News to share reflections on the impact this team had over the years.

Read More Here

GitHub Launches Copilot Workspace

You simply describe your programming task to Copilot Workspace, and it automatically generates a step-by-step roadmap by tapping into:

• Its deep knowledge of your codebase

• Past issues and project history

• And more core context

While it provides the suggestions, you remain in full control. The plan Copilot lays out is fully editable, so you can tweak and customize it however you like.

As you start coding, Copilot offers up helpful tips and suggestions along the way. But you get final say on what to incorporate - think of it like a smart pair programming partner.

Testing and Collaborating Made Easy:

• Once your code is complete, you can run it and test it out right there inside Workspace. No context switching required.

• You can also easily share your work via a simple link to gather feedback from teammates. They'll see your full process from idea to implementation.

Read More Here

Google Blocks Millions of Malicious Apps from Play Store

Last year, Google really buckled down to keep the Play Store safe, blocking a whopping 2.28 million apps that broke the rules from being released. The company's stronger security checks and stricter vetting of developers helped stop nearly 200,000 app submissions that tried to misuse sensitive stuff like location tracking and SMS access.

Google also banned 333,000 shady accounts that were pushing malware and other major violations. New requirements, like developers needing a DUNS number if they're an organization, aim to boost trustworthiness and transparency.

The company teamed up with SDK providers to limit apps' access to sensitive device data. It also expanded its SDK Index to cover almost 6 million apps, giving developers more info to make good integration choices.

Google joined Microsoft and Meta in the overhauled App Defense Alliance to promote app security best practices across the industry. It also started labeling Play Store VPN apps that passed independent security audits from the Alliance.

To protect users installing apps from other sources, Google Play Protect got better real-time scanning to detect over 5 million new malicious apps not on the official store.

Read More Here

🔥 More Notes

• AWS generative AI assistant Amazon Q now generally available

• OpenText releases new browser extension that verifies if open source libraries meet company security policies

• Microsoft and IBM Release MS-DOS 4.0’s Source Code under the MIT License

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