In this episode we cover "Why I'm skeptical of rewriting javascript tools in faster languages" by Nolan Lawson. This is an interesting intersection between tech problems and people problems. There's been a recent wave of venerable JS-based tools being re-written in Rust, Go, Zig, etc. They come out "faster", but are we better or worse off for it?

In this episode, we cover "Pair Programming" written by the inimitable Matt Hamlin. We talk about what pair programming is, why you might do it, and when you maybe shouldn't. In other news, Joe forgets how to intro the show and Evan drank too much coffee before recording.

In this episode we cover "The T Shaped Engineer" by Alex Kondov, and make a few references to Adam Savage's video How to Ask for a Job (Without Asking). As usual we go off on many tangents and eventually circle back around to the article. Have an idea for an article we should cover? Head on over to https://runtimerundown.com/suggestionshttps://runtimerundown.com/suggestions and drop us a line!

In this episode we dive into another awesome article from Abi Noda, Using AI to encourage best practices in the code review process. This article covers a recent research paper released from Google outlining the performance, pitfalls, and process of their in-house AI code review bot. We talk about the role of AI in code reviews, our personal views on what code review is all about, and get existential on AI taking our jobs (again). Despite the AI title, this one is just as much about code...

In this week's episode we cover "Using your own product is a superpower" on the PostHog engineering blog. Using your own software, AKA "dogfooding", is one of those topics thrown around by engineers all the way up to CEOS. We talk about what dogfooding looks like, why you would want to implement it (if you can), and some pitfalls of working it into your day-to-day.

In this follow-up to our Speed-running Projects episode, we talk about our ongoing effort to speed-run building a SaaS business from the ground up! We cover what we're building, how we approached it, and what we've learned along the way. We also dive into some of our technical choices and pivots.

Get ready for a knock-drown, drag-out brawl! Just kidding. Joe and I calmly debate the merits of Vim vs No Vim development and Joe nearly converts me.

In this special episode of Runtime Rundown, we tackle a bunch of listener questions from the one and only Matt H. He's been dropping wisdom-bombs all over our suggestion and episode pages and it was time we answered them all. We cover feature toggles, data-driven decisions, Shadcn (again), and working on side projects. If you want us to answer your questions, leave on our suggestions page and we will get to it!

In this episode we cover "Docs-as-code, a brief introduction" by Ezinne Anne Emilia. We talk about what "docs-as-code" means, why we love it, and how to get started. No matter how good at documentation you are, we can always use a refresher on best practices. This is it!

This week we read and discuss How to Build Anything Extremely Quickly by an author known only as dnbt777 on the Learn How to Learn blog. The premise is simple, and you probably learned it in high school: Write an outline. Write it recursively until the outline items are small enough that they can't have sub-items, then fill things in as quickly as possible starting at the smallest items. Don't perfect until done. If you liked this episode, leave a comment! If not or if you have an idea for...

In this episode, we dive into "Why data-driven product decisions are hard (sometimes impossible)" by Andrew Chen. This piece leans heavily towards Product Management and is packed with valuable insights on leveraging data at various stages of company growth. Now, if you're an engineer thinking, "Where's the tech stuff? This is about Product Management!"—I hear you. But remember, being an engineer is about more than just one dimension. Also, if you hate it and want to suggest a new topic, drop...

Do you love two guys rambling while making semi-cogent points? We've got the perfect episode for you! Today we loosely cover "I'm a Good Engineer, but I Suck at Building Stuff" by Lionel Barrow. This is a super short article asking us all to focus more on building and less on bike shedding. We make some decent points, ramble a bit, and do some classic Cooper preaching on caring more about users.

In this episode we cover "How to talk about deadlines at work" by Wes Kao. This is is a super practical guide for two sides of the same coin - missing deadlines. We cover the perspective of IC's and how we can best communicate deadline misses, and we also cover the manager perspective on setting the right culture around deadlines. We've got scripts for you to use, tactical tips, and personal advice so make sure to listen to the end!

In this episode we use "Engineers Are Not A Commodity" by the Stay SaaSy blog to jump into a range of topics including Agile (and how we disagree on estimates), what good managers look like, and why you can't just swap us out like cogs in a machine. This is a bit rant-y, but packed with good information and hot takes!

In this episode, we cover the tc39 Signals standards proposal written by a powerhouse group of influential figures in the JavaScript community and key contributors from various popular frameworks. This is a short but sweet breakdown of what Signals are, what it might mean to the industry, and what we think about the tech and the proposal itself. Links: JS Party episode 305 with Daniel Ehrenberg

In this episode, we cover Getting Things Done In A Chaotic Environment by the Stay SaaSy blog. This is a practical guide on how to move fast and get things done using Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a metaphor. We cover 4 pitfalls to avoid when trying to get things checked off your list and add a bunch of tips from our experience fighting Shredder (AKA corporate bull$%^&).

In this episode, we cover a few points from "Shipping to Production" by the excellent Pragmatic Engineer blog. This article outlines the many different ways code makes it into "production". We cover the extremes of too much and too little verifications, and everything in between. The article is long and we only cover a portion of it so give this episode a listen then read the source article for practical advice on your own deployment processes.

In this episode we cover "New GitHub Copilot Research Finds 'Downward Pressure on Code Quality'" by Visual Studio Magazine. This is a summary of a research paper put out by GitClear that looked at 153 million lines of code over 4 years to assess the impact of AI usage on code quality. The paper concluded that Copilot usage is steadily reducing code quality overall, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, our own personal feelings...

In this episode we cover "The Basics" by Thorsten Ball. This article lists out all the things we should be doing every day but aren't taught in classes, books, or courses. You want to listen to this one. These are the foundations on which your skills and expertise rest.

In this episode, we cover "Don't End The Week With Nothing" by Patrick McKenzie. We talk about three different forms of "capital" you build in your career, and how you can meaningfully speed that process up through conscious choices in your career. So many of us work for a week, collect a paycheck, and then walk away with nothing more than a bullet point on a resume. This article describes a way to flip that script and always end the week with something just for you.

We were unprepared! This episode doesn't have an article or any of the traditional trappings of a RR episode. Instead, we talk about Evan's new job and what it's like to onboard to big and small companies. We occasionally slip in some advice as well.

In this episode, we cover "How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner". An "Expert Beginner" is not a positive thing. It's defined as a "voluntarily ceasing to improve because of a belief that expert status has been reached and thus further improvement is not possible". We cover how folks end up in this state, how to know if you're in it, and how to get out. Make sure to head on over to RuntimeRundown.com/suggestions and hit us with article suggestions, ideas, and feedback!

In this episode we share our thoughts on the React 19 updates from React Labs. This blog is from the React Labs and talks about a whole bunch of big changes being worked on for the upcoming React 19 major version release. If you want to stay on top of things like a new compiler, the React team destroying your beloved form libraries, a million new hooks and more, take a listen! Episode links: 1. https://learn.cantrill.io/ for cloud courses 2. React Forget talk 3. So You Think You Know...

In this edition of Runtime Double Time™ we cover "The ideal PR is 50 lines long" by Greg Foster. This guy looked at 10 million PRs to find the perfect PR size using 4 key metrics: time-to-merge, revert rate, average number of inline comments, and total code changed over a year. We use it as a sounding board to talk about different PR scenarios, how our review styles have changed through the years, and why people are afraid of 10 line changes.