Building Complex Software

In this very special 100th episode we bring in seasoned manager and old friend Mike "Critter" Crittenden and ask him - "Should Managers Still Code?". Critter is a senior manager at Github and managed both Joe and I at Way-bleep. Together we cover the changing landscape of technical teams, what makes managers really great, and where deep technical skills fit into the manager toolbox.

We get back into the swing of things with an informal chat mostly about the existential crises of no longer being frontend devs. We dive into topics like the current AI agent hype, how we don't know what articles to even read anymore (or if anyone reads articles anymore), and what to call ourselves now.

Another guest! In this episode, we cover Cap Watkins' "The Sliding Scale of Giving A F*ck" with designer Daniel Casey. This episode is all about a framework of how engineering and design can work together when everyone cares about the end product. It's a great listen for anyone wanting to learn how to have productive disagreements. Listen through to the end for some spicy AI takes...Daniel has been a principal designer at CVS, a senior director at Ticket Master, and is currently a principal designer at Proximity Lab. Check out his profile!

In this episode we cover "Locked doors, headaches, and intellectual need" by Max Kreminski. This article outlines the concept of problem-solution ordering issues and how they are the reason no one understands monads. We soon realize these problem-solution ordering issues are everywhere, and figuring them out is the key to true teaching.Here's the article Joe mentioned that does a way better job of explaining monads than he did: Functors, Applicatives, and Monads in Pictures.We decided to cover this article based on a wonderful user comment by @cebamps (gently) calling us out for our flippant take on functional programmers. Thank you so much for writing in!

We have another guest! This time it's Shea Belsky - host of Autistic Techie, former CTO of Mentra, and long time friend of the show. We dive into how TypeScript can empower neurodivergent engineers and explore ways we can all work together more effectively. Join us for a conversation that combines practical insights with heartfelt discussions about creating a more inclusive tech community.

In this special guest episode, we bring on the definitive best Bieber in the world. Aaron Bieber is a both seasoned technologist and excellent career coach. We talk about the art of listening, how we can apply coaching principles to every work life, and more. Also, Aaron does some live coaching magic and makes Evan break out in a cold sweat. If you want more of Aaron, or to book him as a coach (Evan did!) check him out here:Book coaching with AaronRead Aaron's blogListen to Aaron's podcast

In this episode we cover "Software development topics I've changed my mind on after 10 years in the industry" by Chris Kiehl. This is a fun one where we riff on things we still believe to be true, things we've changed our mind on, and opinions we've picked up over the years.

In this episode we cover "How To Write Complex Software" by Grant Slatton. If you've ever struggled wondering how to approach a big problem, this one's for you. We go over a mental framework of "top to bottom" engineering, how to maximize parallel efforts, and more. This is a spiritual successor to our "Speedrunning Projects" episode where we covered a much looser approach. Try them both out and get back to us!

We're back! After almost 3 months of paternity leave, Runtime Rundown is kicking off our 4th season with everyone's favorite topic - performance reviews. We're just getting back in the saddle, so this is a free-form episode without an article. We cover the pros and cons of peer reviews, tech incentive structures and more.

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?