61
Mistakes I see engineers making in their code reviews
In the last two years, code review has gotten much more important. Code is now easy to generate using LLMs, but it’s still just as hard to review. Many software…
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 311 posts.
62
Advice for new principal tech ICs (i.e., notes to myself)
Based on what I've learned from role models and mentors in Amazon
63
Why I code as a CTO
Assembled CTO John Wang on why coding makes him a better leader—and how AI tools are redefining what it means to build at scale.
64
Code like a surgeon
A lot of people say AI will make us all “managers” or “editors”…but I think this is a dangerously incomplete view!
65
When is it better to think without words?
Non-verbal, blurry thinking is faster and can search in a broader way, but it is more error-prone than verbal thought.
66
Casey Muratori: I can always tell a good programmer in an interview
How to reliably understand if a candidate is a good programmer, inspired by Casey Muratori
67
The Programmer Identity Crisis
On AI, Creativity, and Craft
68
The Accountability Problem
This is a transcript of my keynote presentation at the Agile Cambridge conference in England on October 2nd, 2025. The topic was “The Accountability Problem.” How do we define software department accountability so our business partners don’t do it for us?
69
Talent
“It is generally ill-advised to say 'never' and I'm pleased for you that your grafting has got you to where you wanted to be.”
70
Things I've learned in my 7 years implementing AI
Even though the impacts of LLMs have never been seen before, they feel familiar to earlier assumptions.
71
I almost got hacked by a 'job interview'
I was 30 seconds away from running malware, Here's how a sophisticated scam operation almost got me, and why every developer needs to read this.
72
I am a programmer, not a rubber-stamp that approves Copilot generated code
Today morning, I came across this reddit post titled Completely losing interest in the career due to AI and AI-pilled people. They describe how in a span of ...
73
Root cause analysis? You're doing it wrong
If you have arrived here, you should know this is an early draft containing mostly unedited stream-of-consciousness crap because I have found it difficult to structure this topic. My latest attempt is to split this information up into multiple separate articles.
74
The illegible nature of software development talent
Here’s another blog post on gathering some common threads from reading recent posts. Today’s topic is about the unassuming nature of talented software engineers. The first thread was a …
75
Regarding the Compact
The U.S. Department of Education recently sent MIT and eight other institutions a proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," along with a letter asking that MIT review the document.
76
My approach to building large technical projects (2023)
Whether it's building a new project from scratch, implementing a big feature, or beginning a large refactor, it can be difficult to stay motivated and complete large technical projects. A method that works really well for me is to continuously see real results and to order my work based on that.
77
How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
Many software engineers are fatalistic about company politics. They believe that it’s pointless to get involved, because: Technical decisions are often made for…
78
The collapse of the econ PhD job market
What is an Economics PhD worth in 2025?
79
Why most product planning is bad and what to do about it
OKRs created more ceremony than clarity, so we built Problem Driven Development: a 4-day quarterly process focused on problems, not solutions.
80
Work is not school: Surviving institutional stupidity
For 16+ years, we master the rules of school. Study hard, get good grades, follow the formula and ultimately merit wins. Then we enter the workforce and none of it works quite like we thought. This becomes painfully obvious as you rise higher in the org. Even seasoned veterans forget
81
Asked to do something illegal at work? Here's what these software engineers did
At FTX, Frank, and Pollen, software engineers were asked to do something potentially illegal, or to go along with what looked like fraud. They obliged in two out of three cases, landed in hot water, and now face jail time. A reminder why it’s never a good idea to go along with such requests.
82
Don't avoid workplace politics
Most engineers think workplace politics is dirty. They’re wrong. Refusing to play politics doesn’t make you noble; it makes you ineffective.
83
Five years as a startup CTO: How, why, and was it worth it? (2024)
CTO as a Service / Fractional CTO by Sergey Khaladzinski2025155 points114 commentsCareer & Management details
I can't believe it's been five years since my last post… Five years since I decided to join an early stage startup as the CTO / "the tech guy". Five years since I took my last train
84
Organize your Slack channels by "How Often", not "What"
A few weeks ago, I changed my Slack channel sections. I’m now more responsive and engaged, while also feeling less stressed. How? By sorting my Slack channels by urgency, or how often I want to read them. Versus Sorting by “how often” lets me read my most urgent messages first, focusing my energy on what
85
There is a huge pool of exceptional junior engineers
In the last 3 months, I've interviewed 134 engineers - students, mid-level, seniors and even CTOs.
86
Don't Become a Scientist (1999)
Don't Become a Scientist!
87
Write the damn code
You are a software engineer. Don't become a prompt refiner.
88
Go ahead, write the “stupid” code
When I finished school in 2010 (yep, along time ago now), I wanted to go try and make it as a musician. I figured if punk bands could just learn on the job, I could too. But my mum insisted that I needed to do something, just in case. So I went down to the local TAFE (this is like a trade school in Australia, though…
89
Why I'm not rushing to take sides in the RubyGems fiasco
We are in the midst of a Ruby drama for the ages. I'm sure a bunch of people figured we were all too old for this shit, but apparently we are not. This debate…
90
The Theatre of Pull Requests and Code Review
I recently attended the Goatmire Elixir Conf and one of the standout talks for me was Saša Jurić’s “Tell Me a Story” . It was an incredible presentation that combined theatrical storytelling with practical technical advice. Saša performed parts of his talk in character, turning technical topics into a compelling…