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How-to guides, tooling tips and real-world advice for developers and product managers tired of broken software. Let’s fix this mess together.

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Line drawing of a rocky mountain peak with a base camp and people building structures

Quality you can’t generate: AI is only as good as your constraints

AI changed the cost structure of software. It didn't change the value structure. The value is no longer the code you write. It's the taste, judgment, and constraints you encode into the system that shapes what AI produces.

Dave Mosher

A figure looks off towards the horizon. On the left is a giant robot, on the right a splash of vibrant color, connected nodes and a city unfurl.

Why we're not chasing the AI hype (And what we're doing instead)

Todd Kaufman

Speed is a side effect of making the system work

Doc Norton

Maximize software investment

Rubber duck in fedora and trench coat stands next to a vintage microphone

IndyPy Talk: Pydantically perfect in every way

Kyle Adams

Software tooling & tips

Double Takes

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Double Takes

TDDing with Claude is like having a pair that removes all the failing assertions every time you go to the bathroom.

Steve Jackson

State machines are the answer for those seeking determinism in the era of AI agents.

Dave Mosher

A Slack conversation left Doc reflecting on what bug bashes say about the systems we work in.

Doc Norton

Test-driven development is to programming what double-entry bookkeeping is to accounting.

Neal Lindsay

The fundamental character flaw of the software creator is not the misguided belief that they can solve any problem with software. Instead, it is the belief they can understand how their own software works before they create it.

Steve Jackson

We may need a SaaS appendix for Zawinski's law:

Any SaaS platform attempts to expand until it is a social network.

Matt Jones

How test_data speeds up Rails tests

Discover how the test_data gem can make your Rails test suites dramatically faster and more efficient. Learn about its benefits and how to get started.

Justin Searls

testing

rails

postgres

open-source

Hockey stick

Boost project velocity and avoid the hockey stick problem

Discover practical strategies to prevent the hockey stick problem in your projects. Learn about effective communication, early feedback, and setting regular deliverables.

Italo Di Renzo

Accelerate quality software

consulting

communication

teams

How to speed up Docker builds for cloud deployments

Docker builds are often painfully slow. Isolating where layer caching delays occur can help you optimize build times.

Mavrick Laakso

DevOps & security

docker

aws

cloud

node.js

Why did Lineman.js fail and what can we learn from it?

Dive into the story of Lineman.js. From pioneering features to untimely challenges, discover how it shaped modern web development.

Justin Searls

Software tooling & tips

javascript

open-source

testing

The nine best recommendations in the new React docs

Learn the top React code style recommendations from the latest React docs to write cleaner, more maintainable code. Perfect for improving team discussions.

Josh Justice

Accelerate quality software

react

javascript

Why TLDR is the Ruby testing framework you need for faster feedback

Explore how TLDR brings efficiency to your Ruby test suites with its 1.8-second time limit, enabling faster and more frequent test runs. Perfect for developers seeking quick feedback.

Justin Searls

ruby

testing

open-source

Creating your own virtual machine for fun and profit

Explore how virtual machines can enhance the portability, sustainability, and flexibility of your software. Inspired by Devine Lu Linvega's talk at Strange Loop 2023, this post dives into examples from past and present.

Josh Justice

Software tooling & tips

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Migrating legacy APIs to serverless with AWS

Learn how we transformed legacy APIs into a serverless architecture using AWS, enhancing performance and reducing operational overhead.

Mavrick Laakso

DevOps & security

aws

cloud

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