The only podcast dedicated to backend development, technologies, and careers. Lane Wagner, the founder of Boot.dev, interviews successful backend engineers to get their takes on various trends, technologies, and career tips for new backend developers. Golang, Python, JavaScript, and Rust are the programming languages most commonly discussed, but speakers dabble in all sorts.
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The Tools Are Smarter. Are You? ft. YK Sugi | S02 E12 (01:08:12)
Today we welcome YK Sugi—engineer, educator, and the mind behind CSS Dojo—for the final episode of season two.We talk about his journey from YouTube dev tutorials to building one of Sourcegraph’s most-used AI tools, and how the role of DevRel has changed (and in some cases, disappeared). YK also breaks down how senior engineers are actually using AI, why fundamentals still matter, and how Agent Chat was born during a company hackathon.If you’re curious about AI devtools, the future of DevRel, or just want to hear how a former YouTuber accidentally shipped a flagship feature—this one's for you.Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fmYK’s X: https://x.com/ykdojoYK's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykdojo/Sourcegraph's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Sourcegraph/featuredTimestamps:00:00 - Intro and Meeting YK03:05 - Starting Out with CSS Dojo05:36 - DevRel Burnout and Market Whiplash11:40 - Building Agent Chat at Sourcegraph13:52 - Claude, Cursor, and AI Tool Comparisons21:52 - AI Use: Juniors vs. Seniors26:22 - Designing Dev Tools That Think37:56 - Will AI Consolidate the Tooling Ecosystem?44:21 - Should Codebases Change for AI?50:52 - Advice for Learners, DevRels, and Job Seekers01:07:02 - Outro and Where to find YK's workLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
How to Win at Learning ft. Quincy Larson | S02 E11 (01:13:54)
In this episode, we sit down with Quincy Larson, founder of Free Code Camp, to explore his incredible path from high school dropout to influential tech educator. Quincy shares his unconventional journey — from living in his car and working fast food jobs to building one of the most impactful coding education platforms in the world.We discuss the power of self-learning, the evolution of coding education, and the philosophy behind building meaningful skills. Quincy also dives into his productivity habits, structured routines, and why he prioritizes lifelong learning over traditional memories.Lane's interview on Free Code Camp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/getting-a-developer-job-lane-wagner-podcast-157/Free Code Camp podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDLDCm3bPfU&list=PLWKjhJtqVAbm04DK8TSUCRheRjW2P9TR7Learn back-end development: boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: backendbanter.fmFollow Quincy on X/Twitter: @ossiaFree Code Camp: freecodecamp.orgTimestamps:00:00 - Intro and Meeting Quincy01:05 - Running a charity03:58 - Getting deep into podcasts11:58 - Quincy's lifestyle17:47 - The Birth of Free Code Camp25:47 - What has freecodecamp been working on27:40 - Building Skills vs. Chasing Shortcuts30:20 - How to Stand Out in Today's Tech Job Market50:44 - What changed since Quincy wrote his book54:06 - Obligatory AI talk1:12:01 - Where to find QuincyLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the episode!
Mitchell Hashimoto: From Terraform to Ghostty | S02 E10 (01:04:29)
Today we welcome Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp and creator of Ghostty, a new terminal emulator built in Zig. In this episode, Mitchell shares the story behind Ghostty, how his curiosity about terminals evolved into a full-fledged project, and why Zig became his language of choice.We also dive into Ghostty’s unique features, the role of libghostty, and why Mitchell believes native-feeling apps are essential for developer experience. Plus, we explore his insights on computer science education, dynamic linking, and what really matters when learning to code.If you’re into terminals, low-level programming, or just love hearing how great software gets built, this one’s for you!Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fmMitchell's X/Twitter: https://x.com/mitchellhGhostty: https://ghostty.org/Timestamps:00:00 - Intro and Meeting Mitchell01:06 - Mitchell’s Journey at HashiCorp03:13 - What is Ghostty and Why Build It?08:35 - Native Performance and Zig’s Advantage15:25 - Why Mitchell Chose Zig Over Rust31:15 - Ghostty’s Road to Package Repositories52:00 - Future Plans for Ghostty1:04:02 - Where to Find Mitchell and GhosttyLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
Vercel’s Big AI Bet. ft. Malte Ubl | S02 E09 (00:47:58)
Today we welcome Malte Ubl, CTO of Vercel, to discuss the evolution of frontend development and the role of AI in shaping modern engineering workflows. Malte dives into V0, Vercel's innovative tool for generating frontend code using AI, and explains how it empowers developers—especially backend engineers—to build full-stack applications. We also explore the concept of verticalization in engineering roles, the challenges of balancing innovation with infrastructure, and how AI is redefining productivity in tech.Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fmMalte's X: https://x.com/cramforceVercel: https://vercel.com/V0: https://v0.dev/Timestamps:00:00 - Intro and Meeting Malte01:23 - What is V0 and Why Did Vercel Build It?04:00 - The Technical Challenges Behind V010:34 - How V0 Leverages Tailwind and TypeScript19:15 - AI's Impact on Frontend Development23:20 - Verticalization of Engineering Roles32:01 - How AI is Changing Development Workflows37:09 - The Future of Full-Stack Engineering44:08 - How Vercel Balances Product Innovation with Core Infrastructure46:06 - Final Thoughts and Where to Find MalteLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
Build skills, not degrees. ft. Madison Kanna | S02 E08 (00:54:02)
Today we welcome Madison Kana—a self-taught dev who defied the traditional path. From dropping out and navigating a world of homeschooling to launching the Code Book Club, Madison transformed her unconventional journey into a thriving community of coders. In this episode, she shares how bypassing the typical education route fueled her passion, the real challenges of learning on your own, and the power of mentorship in building a dynamic tech career. If you’re ready to break the mold and carve your own path in software development.Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fmMadison's X: https://x.com/MadisonkannaWebsite: https://madisonkanna.com/Learn out loud: learn0utloud.comTimestamps:00:00 - Intro00:30 - Where did it all start?01:40 - Dropping out08:42 - How Madison started learning code22:00 - Team leading30:30 - Code Book Club38:50 - Learn out loud46:20 - AI talk54:18 - Book recommendations56:05 - OutroLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
Roll your own auth or you’re ngmi. ft. Dreams of Code | S02 E07 (01:13:59)
This time Elliot from @dreamsofcode joins us to talk about building his own course platform we dive into why he chose to go custom, the tech stack behind his platform, and the philosophy of building vs. buying in software. We also discuss the challenges of teaching programming, the role of AI in development, and what it really takes to create a great online course. If you're into coding, education, or the intersection of both, this one's for you!Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fmElliott's Youtube: @dreamsofcode Elliott's Course: https://dreamsofcode.io/Elliott's X: https://x.com/dreamsofcode_ioTimestamps00:00 - Intro and Meeting Elliot02:36 - Why Build a Custom Course Platform?08:13 - The Challenges of Serving Video Content20:16 - The Build vs. Buy Debate28:20 - What Was Bought vs. Built?33:28 - How AI Is Changing Development45:12 - GDPR, Privacy, and Analytics54:19 - Tech Stack Behind the Platform1:06:33 - AI’s Real Impact on Developer Jobs1:13:16 - Where to Find Elliot and His WorkLike & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
Programming Music with Sonic Pi feat. Sam Aaron | S02 E06 (01:05:09)
Today we bring Sam Aaron, the creator of Sonic Pi, a free code-based music creation and performance tool that lets you use simple code to turn your computer into a fully networked live coding music studio! It is also used to engage students in computer science and programming through music creation!In this episode, we explore the origins of Sonic Pi, its deep connection with Raspberry Pi, and how it enables live coding for music creation, starting from it's Ruby-based language features, we discuss how Sonic Pi has evolved, the challenges of maintaining it as a sustainable open-source project and if you’re curious about coding, music, or both—this one’s for you!Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fmSonic Pi - https://sonic-pi.net/Sam's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/samaaronSam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaaron/Sam's X/Twitter: https://x.com/samaaronDJ Dave: https://www.youtube.com/@dj_dave____Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:11 - Sonic Pi Origin Story03:03 - Connection To Raspberry Pi04:23 - But What Is Sonic Pi?06:25 - Is Ruby The Primary Language Used In Sonic Pi?10:25 - A Small Sonic Pi Showcase17:53 - Collaboration through Git23:12 - How Did Sam Get Involved In All Of This?25:14 - The Feedback Loop of Sonic Pi26:56 - How Does The Live Coding Experience Work In Sonic Pi?32:01 - The Two Different Working Modes Of Sonic Pi33:42 - How Does Debugging Work In Sonic Pi38:55 - How Do The Different Components Fit Into The Architecture Of The Project51:33 - Has Sam Been Full-Time On Sonic Pi Since Its Inception?53:25 - Does Sam Want To Try Something Different?56:25 - How Is Sam Finding More Sustainable Revenue?
KRAZAM Unfiltered feat. Ben Burke | S2 E05 (01:06:39)
Today, we bring a very special guest, one whose face you might recognise, one that appears on your homepages with a sporadic video and seemingly disappears. His name is Benjamin Burke, or simply Ben, he’s the co-creator of KRAZAM, a channel that consists of sketches that combine grotesque and absurdist humor with technological anxiety, satirizing the tech industry and the modern alienation of the corporate life in general.In this episode, which admittedly is a bit different from the usual, we’ll focus on KRAZAM and its origins, creative process, and what future plans and ambitions the duo has. Both Ben and Shiva started in software engineering, met in college and started doing sketches just for fun, not expecting this project to explode in popularity in the way it did. Ben will also share their unique approach to content and why KRAZAM prioritizes loyal viewers over virality, comedic inspirations. Stay tuned!Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.devListen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fmKRAZAM'S Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KRAZAM/videosKRAZAM's X/Twitter: https://x.com/krazamtvKRAZAM'S Website: https://www.krazam.tv/Krazam's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/KRAZAMBen's X/Twitter: https://x.com/bb_freshBen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnjmnbrk/Shiva's X/Twitter: https://x.com/shivakilaruShiva's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivakilaru/Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:58 - KRAZAM Origin Story03:59 - How Much More Footage Is Left After the Recordings?05:12 - Are Both Ben and Shiva Programmers?06:46 - Inspiration Behind "The Hustle"08:47 - Has Ben Read Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations"?09:25 - The Actual Introduction to KRAZAM10:49 - Microservices14:04 - Sending Birthday Messages Is HARD19:06 - On Shiva Not Being in the Microservices Video20:48 - Favorite KRAZAM Videos22:22 - Most Underrated KRAZAM Video32:00 - KRAZAM's Viewers Are Very Loyal36:03 - Ambitions for the KRAZAM Channel39:04 - How Did You Know KRAZAM Had Product-Market Fit?40:59 - Ben's Comedic Inspirations43:08 - KRAZAM Does Not Aim for Virality46:47 - Was It Stressful to Do a Live Talk?49:40 - KRAZAM's Video Release Frequency51:46 - Competitive Excel55:34 - Site Reliability Engineer Video57:50 - AI Bots on Spotify01:00:27 - Self-Hosting and The Good Old Days01:02:31 - What's the Churn in the Industry?01:05:21 - Where to Find Ben and KRAZAM
Does ADHD really make programming harder? ft. Chris Ferdinandi | S2 E04 (01:20:12)
Lane chats with Chris Ferdinandi—creator of Go Make Things and ADHD for the Win—a frontend dev, educator, and all-around expert in making JavaScript (and learning) simpler. Chris has built a career helping devs cut through the noise, level up their skills, and embrace ADHD-friendly ways to stay focused and productive.
We dive into his journey from discovering his own ADHD to reshaping how people learn to code. We talk about why so many devs have ADHD, how gamification can actually help (when done right), and how today’s tech is messing with our attention spans. Plus, we get into the psychology of learning and what actually works when it comes to staying engaged and motivated.
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
ADHD ftw! : https://adhdftw.com/backend-banter/
Go Make Things: https://gomakethings.com/
https://bsky.app/profile/cferdinandi.bsky.social
https://mastodon.social/@cferdinandi
00:00 - Intro
01:58 - Why so many devs have ADHD
03:21 - Quick explanation of ADHD
07:10 - Is ADHD actually more common now?
17:41 - ADHD, dopamine, and why we can’t put our phones down
20:50 - Trying meds for ADHD – what’s it like?
22:34 - How ADHDftw got started
24:21 - Why finishing big projects is so damn hard
25:54 - Best content styles for ADHD brains
28:40 - Gamification: What works and what’s just hype?
34:16 - Which gamer type fits ADHD folks best?
39:27 - Is TikTok basically junk food for your brain?
41:45 - Must-read books on focus and getting stuff done
43:43 - Where to find Chris and his content
46:26 - Is ADHD a gift or a curse?
59:30 - Brutally honest feedback for Boot.dev
01:18:58 - Outro
Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!
Why You Need To Stop Worrying About AI feat. Danny Thompson | S2 E03 (01:09:43)
We’re joined by Danny Thompson, currently Director of Technology at This Dot Labs and technical leader and organizer of the Dallas Software Developers Group, where he fosters vibrant local tech ecosystem through workshops, cohorts, and meetups.
With a passion to help others learn and find jobs, Danny shares his stories and insights that he gained throughout his extensive and fascinating career! From working as a cashier to now giving talks and organizing meetups for which people fly out to attend, Danny talks about how he got into coding in the first place and his progression, his advice to new developers, how does AI impact jobs now and his perspective on how it will change in the future and a lot more!
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm
Danny's X/Twitter: https://x.com/DThompsonDev
Danny's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dthompsondev/
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
02:14 - How Danny Got Into Coding
05:08 - Meetups and Affordable Conferences
23:37 - Overview of This Dot Labs
29:28 - Building Apps on Top of Stripe
30:30 - Businesses Focus on Functionality Over Aesthetics
33:00 - Danny's Career Progression
38:39 - Pros and Cons of Product vs. Consulting
43:12 - This Dot Labs Regarding AI
46:46 - Interest Rates &. AI: Impact on Developer Jobs
55:31 - The Pressure to Perform at a High Level
57:51 - Why Recruiters Do Not Call You Back
01:03:41 - Getting Feedback After Interviews
01:04:49 - Danny's LinkedIn Courses and Where to Find Him
Everyone is doing memory management wrong. feat. Ryan Fleury | S2 E02 (01:11:49)
This week on Backend Banter, we’re joined by Ryan Fleury, a talented game developer currently working with Epic Games on their Rad Debugger project. Ryan shares his journey from building games to creating powerful developer tools, offering insights into arenas, memory management, and the fascinating world of programming from the ground up.
In this episode, we dive deep into memory management, exploring the differences between stack, heap, and arenas, and how they shape modern development. We discuss the trade-offs of various allocation strategies, the magic of pointer stability, and how arenas simplify managing lifetimes in both games and other applications. Along the way, Ryan shares his approach to developing tools, insights into game development workflows, and practical tips for clean and efficient programming.
Learn back-end development: https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Ryan's Socials:
Rad Debugger: https://github.com/EpicGamesExt/raddebugger
Website: https://www.rfleury.com/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanjfleury
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Ryan Fleury's Path to Game Development
02:49 - From Engines to Debugging Tools
06:51 - Arenas Explained: Memory Management Basics
16:51 - Arenas vs. Garbage Collectors
27:40 - Real-World Applications of Arenas
31:39 - Why Pointer Stability Matters
42:57 - Dynamic Allocation Made Simple
48:48 - How Arenas Streamline Development
01:01:38 - Debugging Tools and the Rad Debugger
01:09:43 - Where to find Ryan
Is Elixir the Future? feat. José Valim | S2 E01 (01:23:25)
We're back for Backend Banter Season 2, and we bring a very special guest, José Valim, the creator of the Elixir Programming Language, one of the most popular and loved functional programming languages of today. (Fun fact: it's used in production at Discord).
We cover the nitty-gritty of the language, ranging from simple topics such as the decision behind not making Elixir be statically typed, into the more complex cross-machine communication. We go over how Elixir's features compare with those of other languages, work habits of today's developers, José's own day-to-day development, and a lot more!
Today's talk encompasses a great variety of themes, so grab your coffee and tune in!
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Livebook & Elixir Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pas9WdWIBHs
Elixir Programming Language: https://elixir-lang.org/
Livebook: https://livebook.dev/
Elixir In Action Book: https://www.manning.com/books/elixir-in-action-third-edition
José's Socials:
X/Twitter: https://x.com/josevalim
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josevalim
GitHub: https://github.com/josevalim
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Embarrassing Stories with Foreign Languages
02:58 - Who is José Valim? (and Elixir's Popularity)
06:51 - Does José Use Phoenix a Lot?
08:28 - Why Isn't Elixir Statically Typed?
16:51 - External Input vs. Internal Code Logic
28:16 - Quick Overview of BEAM languages
31:23 - Elixir’s Equivalent to Golang’s Goroutines & Channels
42:43 - Cross-Machine Communication in Standard Libraries
49:15 - Do You Need RabbitMQ When Writing Elixir?
54:53 - Built-In Features in the Standard Library
01:01:52 - Why People Are Too Used To Work The Hard Way
01:04:22 - José and DHH
01:08:01 - Favorite Elixir Features & Immutability
01:17:49 - Purity in Functional Programming
01:21:35 - Where to find José
#069 - Season Finale: The Boot.dev Origin Story w/ Allan (01:14:49)
Today, we bring you the final episode of the first season of Backend Banter! It’s a wrap up for now. With 69 episodes behind us, we want to tell you the story of Boot Dev and how far we’ve come from our beginnings, and for that, we bring Allan Lires, the first official employee and the second person to work on our platform!
We’re going to cover our entire timeline, achievements, hardships, how Lane and Allan were able to go all-in on building Boot Dev and our visions and plans for the future.
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Allan's X/Twitter: https://x.com/AllanLires
Boot.Dev Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EEkFwbv
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:01 Last episode of Season 1 of Backend Banter
01:45 Boot.dev Story and what this episode will be about
02:26 How and when Allan was hired to work at Boot.dev
05:33 Timeline on Boot.dev
08:53 Guessing game
10:34 The Rebranding Process
12:43 Going Full-time
14:56 What was the curriculum in the beginning?
18:38 What was the original vision for Boot.dev
19:17 Being honest about how long it'll take you to learn to code
22:48 Setting expectations for difficulty
29:55 On learning the fundamentals
34:42 The Long Term vision of Boot.dev
41:30 Old gamification features and why we changed them
50:26 The Track is Never Complete
55:01 We cover a lot of the basics that traditional colleges don't cover
01:00:06 Why do we want to remove JavaScript from the learning course
01:06:12 Million Lessons Completed in a single month
01:08:28 You got to be comfortable being uncomfortable
01:13:25 Where to find Allan
#068 - Should you trust tech influencers? feat. Charles The III (01:12:50)
Today we welcome Chuck Carpenter aka Charles The 3rd, co-host at Whiskey Web and Whatnot.
As two content creators in the tech scene, we discuss if and how celebrity developers and tech influencers are a good thing for the community, how we should be careful when choosing technologies based on influencers’ opinions, why so many people nowadays want to speedrun their whole career and how that could be self-sabotage, and a lot more!
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Whiskey Web and Whatnot: https://whiskey.fm/
Charles' X/Twitter: https://x.com/charleswthe3rd
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:27 Does Charles listen to his own podcast episodes?
03:33 Are celebrity developers a good thing?
09:11 Podcasts are usually centered around a business
10:06 We are essentially entertainers
14:04 Tech choices being influenced by creators
17:37 Why ThePrimeagen stood out from other tech influencers
20:26 Career speedrunning
23:44 The biggest miss when starting something
24:51 What is wrong with Full-Stack application frameworks?
29:03 How Frankenstein is the Boot.dev web application stack
37:41 Rolling your own stuff vs using a provider
46:01 It's easy to screw up your architecture
50:53 What is Charles building with in 2024 and what is his preferred stack
56:39 Does it seem like people don't talk about security anymore?
01:00:30 Accessibility
01:02:02 The amount of people that are "kinda" interested in cybersecurity
01:11:03 Have some patience
01:11:37 Where to find Charles
#067 - How to Be Better than 96.487% of Developers (00:58:31)
In today’s episode, we bring back Aaron Francis. If you haven’t watched our previous episode with him, he is a software developer, fellow content creator and co-founder of Try Hard Studios. In the past he’s been an accountant at a Big 4 but now he focuses on Laravel, web development and all things business and video.
This episode will step away from the usual tech focused content and we’ll talk a bit more about the business side of things, how you have to balance entertainment and education when creating courses, Aaron’s High Performance SQLite course, building a personal brand through the discomfort of centering it around yourself, how good presentation matters and how proactiveness puts you miles ahead of the majority, so stay tuned!
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Aaron's X/Twitter: https://x.com/aarondfrancis
Aaron's Website: https://aaronfrancis.com/
High Performance SQLite: https://highperformancesqlite.com/
Screencasting: https://screencasting.com/
Mostly Technical Podcast: https://mostlytechnical.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:32 Podcast listening going up when having a kid
02:25 Podcast about earning the first million
08:54 You have to choose the entertainment vs education levels
10:37 You have to shape your material to the platforms
16:40 Long hour videos vs 2 minute ones
20:16 Are the videos in the High Performance SQLite in linear order?
24:19 Figuring out the metrics
28:06 Building courses on other domains
31:46 Building brands is difficult
35:55 quick disclaimer
36:30 Personal brand vs company
37:57 Is this sellable?
40:23 Do you need an audience?
44:26 The strategy is simple but it is also hard to execute
49:31 The presentation matters a LOT
51:54 On being proactive
57:00 Where to find Aaron
#066 - CSS Is The Hardest Programming Language (00:55:20)
In today’s episode, we bring Adam Argyle, a CSS Dev Rel at Google, content creator, co-host at CSS Podcast, Bad At CSS Podcast and host of GUI Challenges. He’s also the creator of a bunch of tools and utilities for the front-end.
We’re going to touch on a lot of hot topics, regarding the difficulty and power of CSS, how programmers most of the time underestimate and dismiss it as something trivial when in reality it’s one of the hardest things to master in the programming world. We also go over AI, the barriers between designers and developers and a bunch of other topics.
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Adam's Website: https://nerdy.dev/
Adam's X/Twitter: https://x.com/argyleink
Adam on Chrome For Developers: https://chromeextensionsdocs.appspot.com/authors/argyle/
The CSS Podcast: https://thecsspodcast.libsyn.com/
Bad at CSS Podcast: https://badatcss.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:51 CSS Wizard has entered the chat
02:37 HTML and CSS are not programming languages
07:44 There's a case for complex things using CSS
10:28 CSS is declarative by nature
17:58 Writing CSS is a pain
20:43 AI isn't a threat to CSS
21:19 Breaking barriers between designers and developers
26:33 Getting to an entry-level competency on the backend is a bit more difficult when compared to the frontend
31:37 Adam's backstory
33:40 Knowing everything
34:56 The majority of the complexity lives on the frontend a lot of the times
38:48 South Park Reality
39:49 BFF vs BOF (Backend for frontend vs Backend of the Frontend)
47:03 CSS is typed in the browser
51:28 Take on why are there so many mormons and ex-mormons in the webdev and tech influencer scene?
54:08 Where to find Adam
#065 - I Quit Voice Coaching for Typescript feat. Matt Pocock (00:55:50)
In today’s episode, we welcome Matt Pocock, an educator, content creator and engineer who used to be a voice coach. Now, he teaches Typescript on his YouTube channel and is building Total Typescript, the most comprehensive TypeScript course available out there.
We talk about his transition from a completely unrelated field into tech, the importance of great communication, TypeScript’s future, AI tooling and job hunts! A lot more else is covered in this video, so get cozy and tune in into this gem of an episode!
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Matt's X/Twitter: https://x.com/mattpocockuk
Total Typescript: https://www.totaltypescript.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:15 What did Matt do before becoming a dev?
03:15 Career Transitions from a non-math background
04:02 What makes a good programmer?
06:46 Math knowledge > great communication?
08:55 On writing elaborate PR's
09:58 OCaml my Typescript
11:00 What is Typescript's Future?
14:21 Python type hinting and JSDoc
20:36 null vs undefined
25:02 interfaces vs type aliases
32:35 Does Matt have any rules of thumb when working with types?
37:14 How do you build nice encapsulated components with no external dependencies?
43:43 AI tooling integration
46:15 Will there be fewer jobs?
52:00 How often do you use classes?
54:29 Where to find Matt
#064 - You’re doing networking wrong feat. Lawrence Lockhart (01:04:14)
In today’s episode, we welcome Lawrence Lockhart, a former hospitality manager turned full stack software developer. Apart from his tech job, he’s also a developer advocate, a teaching assistant at a coding bootcamp and a tech meetup leader, so you know he spends a lot of his time helping others build and transfer their existing skills into tech, being a powerful voice in the tech space for upcoming developers.
Today we talk briefly about how he managed to switch from hospitality to tech, and how that wasn’t as easy as a lot of people online make it out to be, the importance of local and in-person jobs as opposed to starting off remote, how learning with purpose is essential if you want to make progress and advice for people starting out!
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Code Connector: https://codeconnector.io
Lawrence's X/Twitter: https://x.com/LawrenceDCodes
Lawrence's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawrencedlockhart
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:44 When did Lawrence start to be more involved in the online tech communities?
02:23 How did Lawrence meet James Q Quick
04:42 Transition from a Blue Collar job into Tech
10:59 6 months is not the standard anymore to get in the industry
13:44 The Timeline Discussion
15:56 Kelsey Hightower
18:09 Has Lawrence worked as a dev in non-tech companies and where he works now
23:33 It's IMPORTANT to go for local market and in-person jobs first
24:27 How networking actually works
28:46 Learning with a purpose
36:43 You shouldn't be trying to minmax your career path
39:43 Advice to people that are unsure in their skills
43:51 How to approach interviews
49:31 You have to practice interviewing
54:48 Learn the thing or get out
58:33 Disagree and commit
01:01:45 Where to find Lawrence
#063 - I was fired for using HTMX (01:03:09)
In today’s episode, we bring Spiro Floropoulos, a senior developer and architect with over 20 years of experience. This episode is an unusual one, as Spiro recently got laid off due to a bizarre chain of events that involved HTMX, overworking, and technical debt.
But we’ll learn from this story, as we want to shed some light on how situations that Spiro described could be avoided, namely how the tech industry is obsessing over developer experience and why that’s detrimental, why abstractions should be teaching you the technology as opposed to just doing the work for you, why you should be able to train your junior devs and much more!
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Spiro's X/Twitter: https://x.com/spirodonfl
Spiro's Website: https://spirofloropoulos.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:35 Why are we having this conversation
01:33 How was HTMX involved in this?
03:38 Spiro's background
05:58 Why are we focusing so much on developer experience?
13:38 The Tech Industry as a whole is headed down the wrong path
16:17 Abstractions teaching you about the underlying technology rather than hiding it
18:47 What are the long-term consequences of unresolved technical debt?
26:46 There's things you can't blame frameworks for
28:27 We have to slow down
30:46 What happened after the introduction of HTMX into the project?
40:26 Hiring juniors is great, but you should have the resources to train them
47:00 The Technical Debt
50:32 The more complex the feature became, the bigger the struggle with HTMX
53:42 The reasons why Spiro was let go
57:10 Instead of Agile we should treat our programmers like adults
57:31 HTMX was instant and testing ability was better
01:01:21 Is Spiro looking for work?
01:02:00 Where to find Spiro
#062 - Declaring War Against the Frontend feat. Sam Selikoff (00:59:24)
In today’s episode, we go to war with Sam Selikoff, co-host of the Frontend First podcast, and specialist on everything Frontend related.
We have an amazing conversation where we discuss Sam’s journey, as he also did some backend work in the past, we talk about abstractions, what JavaScript is doing differently from other languages and frameworks, why the frontend should be driving the backend and not the other way around, and finish it off with a discussion about RSCs (React Server Components).
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Frontend First: https://frontendfirst.fm/
Sam's X/Twitter: https://x.com/samselikoff
Sam's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/samselikoff
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:51 Who is Sam Selikoff
02:12 Abstractions - Should you go a level deeper?
06:37 What was Sam's talk about
10:51 What is JavaScript doing differently?
19:10 Do you want the frameworks to push more features out of the box for backend work?
24:04 Strong opinions on a library level
30:29 Shipping more standardized interfaces
37:06 The frontend should be driving everything in the backend
39:12 Your types should flow from the database to the frontend, but not the product decisions
46:53 React Server Components
58:49 Where to find Sam
#061 - Forget SQL, use Typescript feat. Thomas Ballinger (01:00:28)
Today we bring Thomas Ballinger, a developer at Convex, an open-source backend for application builders. We will be discussing mainly databases, and why at Convex they use Rust and Typescript.
We'll also talk about systems scalability, infrastructure and go over different practices regarding abstractions
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Convex: https://www.convex.dev/
Thomas' X/Twitter: https://x.com/ballingt
Thomas' Website: https://ballingt.com/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:33 Thomas' background
02:29 Convex - what it is and why should you use it?
03:16 What are query planners?
06:32 SQL is a very high level language
07:43 The primary differentiator of Convex
10:49 Who are Convex's biggest competitors?
14:20 How do you build the infrastructure
17:11 What type of database is Convex?
19:18 Why is Convex written in Rust?
23:35 Cheap abstractions
25:47 Productivity suffering from compile times
29:47 The different approaches for a backend developer to build scalable systems
32:28 Backend for Frontend
37:21 You want to be close to your data
42:13 Are there plans to support other languages at Convex?
47:06 Does the schema update the autocompletion in the editor
48:31 Naming and behavior of the queries with Convex
51:06 Why sqlc is great
52:28 Why TypeScript is a great "shortcut" for Convex
59:34 Where to find Thomas
#060 - Adam Elmore: IndieHacker Extraordinaire (01:13:41)
Today we bring anothe returning guest, Adam Elmore! An AWS Hero, Teacher and fellow content creator! You might notice today's talk is a bit different, as we don't cover too much technical details but we do cover a lot of other interesting topics that permeate our everyday lives, such as kids and family time, religion and purpose in life...
But don't worry, we also share some hot takes on indie hackers, business models of education platforms and finally content creation and how it can help you propel your career!
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Adam's Twitter: https://x.com/adamdotdev
Adam's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamdotdev
ProAWS: https://www.proaws.dev/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:42 Terminal Coffee
06:42 Kids' books
09:00 How serious is the Terminal Coffee business
12:51 Indie Hackers
19:11 Books
23:42 The March of Time
25:56 Commitment to the lessons
27:21 The problem with course platforms
28:31 ProAWS
35:45 The education industry isn't as cutthroat as it seems
39:13 What's Adams plan of attack with the courses?
40:00 How does streaming affect Adam?
44:05 Who is Adam's audience?
44:44 Podcasting
47:34 Who is TomorrowFM targeted at?
49:14 Burnout in podcasts
52:01 Growing up religious
57:34 Would you say that you've distanced yourself from religion for epistemological or cultural reasons?
01:03:00 Throwing the religious labels out
01:13:03 Where to find Adam
#059 - The Internet == AWS? feat. James Q Quick (01:03:44)
In today's episode, we bring back James Q Quick. Last time we talked about his best tips to land your first ever job as a developer. Today we talk about James' new startup and how he manages all his new tech adventures with being a parent and also provides some helpful insight as to why having an audience and personal connections in the industry is beneficial - but not strictly necessary to succeed.
We also talk about AWS, abstraction and the current (healing) state of layoffs, so don't lose hope if you're demotivated in your job search.
Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
Deals for Devs: https://www.dealsfordevs.com/
James' Website: https://www.jamesqquick.com/
James' Twitter: https://x.com/jamesqquick
James' Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesQQuick
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:55 On being a parent
04:28 Idiocracy
05:47 Deals for Devs
10:09 Comparison with Dixie Direct
12:22 How do you quantify the really high quality deals
15:57 The challenge with a two-sided marketplace
22:28 Doing stuff manually is actually pretty good
25:38 Having a personal connection helps A LOT
29:12 Zeta
34:05 The Web is being modeled on AWS
36:38 You shouldn't be learning one JavaScript framework
38:30 Know how to answer a question if you don't know the technology
41:43 When you learn to code, how much layers of abstraction you should go?
43:45 Should passion be required for a job in tech?
49:02 The state of layoffs
52:29 The ease of finding a job after a layoff when you're highly talented
55:58 Do you need an audience to find a job easily?
58:40 Developers of the world - Interviews in person
01:02:12 Where to find James
#058 - Stop Making Private Variables feat. BadCop (00:54:41)
In today's episode, we bring back BadCop! Since last episode, she joined Boot.dev's team and is now writing courses with us!
Today we will be discussing the approaches to writing good educational material, Bash (of course, duh), working outside cloud solutions, SSH, NAS systems, workflows with different editors and cultural shifts in different areas of programming. Enjoy!
Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm
BadCop's Twitter: https://x.com/badcop_
BadCop's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/badcop_
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:58 BadCop Joined the Boot.dev Team!
01:15 Writing courses is harder than it looks
03:45 Lane's approach to writing courses
05:21 What's the hardest part of writing a course for BadCop?
09:01 On writing Bash
13:19 How useful is it to know how to work outside the cloud solutions?
17:28 SSHing into the home network
20:49 What is a NAS?
23:26 Using VTuber Software off the shelf
25:55 When did BadCop start using NeoVim?
29:41 IRC talk
33:20 Cultural shift in the programming space
38:05 Getter and Setter functions
42:35 People are overusing the idea of encapsulation
48:41 Dependency Inversion Principle
51:11 The VTuber Project
52:58 Where to find BadCop
#057 - AI Bros Suck.. feat. Ken Wheeler (00:59:11)
In today's episode, we welcome Ken Wheeler, a dope programmer, who creates cool projects and just gives them away for free, helping thousands of developers worldwide, a based beatmaker and just in general a cool person.
In this episode, we talk about AI, React, OCaml, why stressing over specific frameworks is not worth it, advice for new developers, HTMX, SPA's and a LOT of other stuff, so stay tuned!
Ken's X/Twitter: https://x.com/ken_wheeler
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Do you hate AI?
02:10 How diffusion works
17:47 First impressions with writing Go
18:29 Where's the line between Backend Development and DevOps
24:11 Does anyone version their REST?
24:57 urql
25:38 Offloading the data work to the other side
29:55 Wordpress is 80% of the websites
31:15 HTMX
33:12 Single Page Apps
34:02 Is React still your go-to
36:38 Is it hard to switch from React to Vue?
39:37 Picking a first language to learn
40:43 OCaml
43:12 HEX and raw Binary Data
44:42 Bluetooth powered crossbow
52:20 What got Ken into doing talks
58:45 Where to find Ken
