Also: the Humane AI pin flop and how it relates to the “AI goldrush,” and a look at whether developers will move from Redis to Valkey after a license change, or stay. | Continue reading
Bluesky is built by around 10 engineers, and has amassed 5 million users since publicly launching in February this year. A deep dive into novel design decisions, moving off AWS, and more. | Continue reading
The “world’s first AI developer” tones down expectations and has been outperformed by an open source tool. Also: hiring upticks at Big Tech; a very realistic AI video generator by Microsoft, and more. | Continue reading
A deep dive into the ever-changing field of security engineering; a domain that can feel intimidating to some software engineers. With Nielet D'Mello, security engineer at Datadog. | Continue reading
In only 5 years, Hopin went from zero to a $7.7B valuation, and back to zero again. Also: Bending Spoons’ startup acquisition model, hiring upticks at Meta, Netflix and Amazon, and more | Continue reading
How has the classic book on software engineering, ‘The Mythical Man-Month,’ aged with time, and how have architecture approaches and tech org structures changed in half a century? | Continue reading
Several signs are pointing that we’ve hit the peak of this AI hype cycle: that things could cool down soon enough. Also: the sudden license change at Redis; HashiCorp looking for a buyer, and more. | Continue reading
Responses to a survey about GenZ suggest this new generation possesses standout differences. We explore what makes GenZ distinctive, and check out ideas for ways to work fruitfully together. | Continue reading
The Fintech giant spends more on running test suites than Agoda does for all its infra. Plus, why taking out a loan for equity can backfire, and why did Donald Trump’s social media company use a SPAC? | Continue reading
Being a founding engineer at an early-stage startup is a vastly different, broader role than many people think. Lessons from “serial” early-stage and founding engineer Apurva Chitnis. | Continue reading
The e-commerce giant is taking a new and different approach to career growth and promotions. Also: more evidence the tech job market is tougher, and AI consolidation is already underway | Continue reading
How well does tech pay, really? A deep look into almost 1,000 data points sent in by engineering managers, senior+ engineers, VP, and C-level folks in tech, mostly working in software engineering | Continue reading
One startup released “the first AI software engineer,” while another aims to build a “superhuman software engineer.” As intimidating as these sound: what if it’s more marketing than reality? | Continue reading
How has the classic book on software engineering, ‘The Mythical Man Month,’ aged with time, and is it still relevant half a century on – or does it belong in a museum, alongside floppy discs? | Continue reading
In the 1990s, Microsoft was the company most developers hated with a passion. Today, Apple is working harder than any other organization to earn a similar reputation. | Continue reading
Hackathons are fun for engineers, beneficial for businesses, and a good way to shake things up. This article suggests approaches for running successful hackathons – and whether you should hold one. | Continue reading
29 February is causing problems in software systems across the globe. It’s a good reminder on how few assumptions we should make about dates – and why to use a date library when you can. | Continue reading
Could we see monoliths favored over microservices, full-stack tools over platform specific ones and pragmatic, simpler architecture as a response to 10+ years of 0% interest rates ending? | Continue reading
Understanding the architecture of ChatGPT we can better pinpoint what exactly might have gone wrong. Also: Twilio’s cofounder CEO stepped down – could we see more cofounders follow suit? | Continue reading
Just one year after its launch, ChatGPT had more than 100M weekly users. In order to meet this explosive demand, the team at OpenAI had to overcome several scaling challenges. An exclusive deepdive. | Continue reading
Developers as power users should be an obvious target group for the Vision Pro. But the technology doesn’t seem to be there just yet. Also: NVIDIA became the world’s 3rd most valuable tech company. | Continue reading
We’re likely to see a preference for flatter organizations, fewer managers, and a preference for the “player coach” leadership model. Some changes present new opportunities to shine as leaders. | Continue reading
15 months ago, Meta was valued at a 7-year low, and embarked on laying off 25% of staff. Today, the company is valued more than it’s ever been before, and will hand out higher bonuses than ever. | Continue reading
An overview of Quality Assurance (QA) approaches at various companies, and a look at tech segments where QA is on the decline, and where it is holding strong. | Continue reading
Big Tech companies are enjoying record profits, but still doing mass layoffs. In the US, this is fair game, but in some EU countries, companies can’t let staff go without more justification. | Continue reading
The end of 10+ years of 0% interest rates is set to change the tech industry. What do higher rates mean for software engineering jobs, developers, and careers; and how can you prepare for this shift? | Continue reading
When Google went public, its founders stated “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” More signs point that it’s turning into this organization it wanted to avoid. | Continue reading
Stripe is one of the world’s largest online payment companies. This article is a deep dive into its engineering culture: operational excellence, API review, internal tools, and more. | Continue reading
Also: Instagram practically eliminated the TPM role. With so much overlap between EMs and PMs, will other companies follow? Also: a small win for app developers in the Epic vs Apple battle. | Continue reading
A deepdive into developer productivity metrics used by Google, LinkedIn, Peloton, Amplitude, Intercom, Notion, Postman, and 10 other tech companies | Continue reading
Also: why Salesforce seems to be hiring and firing based on their quarterly results; it’s a tough time to be a developer platform; and whether the Rabbit AI companion could be a smartphone replacement | Continue reading
The past 15 years saw the lowest interest rates in modern history, and this “zero interest-rate period” (ZIRP) meant growing tech companies was easy. With this period over, what changes for startups? | Continue reading
It’s rare that a tax change causes panic across the tech industry, but it’s happening in the US. If Section 174 tax changes stay, the US will be one of the least desirable countries to launch startups | Continue reading
The articles you enjoyed most this year, my personal favorites, and a recap of an unusually turubulent year in tech. | Continue reading
Regulators were always unlikely to allow Adobe’s $20B acquisition of Figma, and this intervention will have a ripple effect.Even fewer Big Tech companies buying startups. We analyze what it all means. | Continue reading
A deepdive into software engineer compensation ranges at the buy-now-pay-later tech company. Also: senior engineering leadership roles are hard to get and Europe close to passing AI regulation. | Continue reading
Three full chapters from the book Tidy First? by Kent Beck. The book offers book 33 practical - and increasingly sophisticated - approaches to make your code and systems more tidy. | Continue reading
Stripe is one of the largest online payment companies and operates one of the world’s largest Ruby codebases. But there’s more to Stripe than payments and Ruby. A deep dive with CTO, David Singleton. | Continue reading
Despite its stock more than doubling in value in a year, the streaming giant is cutting 17% of its staff. But why? Also: Twitch shuts down in Korea and OpenSea’s revenue plummets 99% in 18 months. | Continue reading
It’s December, the month when many mid-size and large companies put code freeze policies in place. This article provides a wide ranging overview of this practice, based on responses from 185 readers | Continue reading
Also: a startup bragging how it “tricked” Google search found Google respond in record time; Sam Altman back at OpenAI; OpenSea revenue down 99% from 18 months ago; and the DevTernity scandal | Continue reading
From books, gadgets, and office accessories, to decor, wellness, and non-tech gifts. If you’re unsure what to buy friends and relations who work in tech, this article offers some inspiration | Continue reading
It’s been five incredibly turbulent days at the leading AI tech company, with the exit and then return of CEO Sam Altman. As we dig into what went wrong, an even bigger question looms: what is OpenAI? | Continue reading
From monoliths to microservices and beyond with Joshua Burgin; tech industry veteran and one of Amazon’s first 100 employees | Continue reading
Also: the surprise collapse of Convoy, a well-funded freight tech company, and advice on standing out in a crowd of inbound applications from former Substack EM, Kamil Tuszino | Continue reading
Since it arrived a year ago, ChatGPT has been shipping at breakneck speed. Evan Morikawa, the first engineering manager for this group shares what ChatGPT – and OpenAI – do differently. | Continue reading
T2 wanted to take on Twitter, but has shut down one year later – not before sharing learnings. Also: Replit organizes a tender offer for employees, and the outstanding launch of my book. | Continue reading
The Software Engineer’s Guidebook has taken more than four years to write – and it’s finally ready! I hope you find it a useful resource which serves your career well | Continue reading