AI copilots promise efficiency but risk eroding core developer skills. What happens when we blindly trust black boxes and sacrifice algorithmic thinking, debugging, and code quality? This episode explores the potential downsides of over-reliance and advocates for augmenting, not replacing, human expertise.
What makes software magical? Why do large engineering organizations feel slow? Explore how deep understanding, not just black boxes, drives both individual brilliance and organizational innovation in software development. Discover the intertwined relationship between vision and engineering.
Ever feel compelled to rebuild every flawed system you encounter? We explore the developer’s burden: seeing every bug as a personal indictment, every clunky tool a mandate for refactoring. Discover why technical capability can become a moral weight, leading to burnout, and the unexpected skill of knowing when to walk away.
Is fun a viable metric for job satisfaction? Our guest argues yes, breaking down why the product engineer role hits the sweet spot. Explore the key ingredients—challenges, support, autonomy, and transparency—and see how they stack up against traditional PM and SWE roles.
A common notion suggests senior developers should program in any language. But is language breadth truly essential, or does it add needless complexity? Join us as we explore how stepping beyond your primary stack can sharpen skills, reveal new approaches, and make you a better engineer.
Are you building an infinite garden or shipping bullet points? Discover the subtle yet critical difference between perpetual activity and genuine accomplishment in large tech companies. You’ll learn how to make your impact visible and declare victory on your projects, ensuring your work truly lands with leadership.
Software development’s true fun-killer? Complexity. Unpack the core principles of cohesion and coupling, discover why high cohesion begets loose coupling, and learn how domain-driven design corrals your code into simpler, more maintainable systems.
As a veteran data scientist, you might think LLMs are part of my daily workflow. Turns out, my usage might surprise you. Discover which tasks LLMs actually nail, how to sidestep common pitfalls like hallucination, and why prompt engineering is your secret weapon for unlocking their power.
Dive into the counterintuitive wisdom of software engineering’s unwritten rules. From why adding engineers can slow you down to the bizarre logic of internet corrections and feature creep, Chris and Amy unpick 13 “laws” that shape the tech world—and your daily grind. Learn how these paradoxes silently dictate project timelines and team dynamics.
Are you letting AI write for you? Discover why relying on large language models might hinder your creative output and muddy your authentic voice, especially in tech. We unpack the subtle signs of AI-generated text and challenge you to value your unique perspective.