Shiny object syndrome

A possible future of software engineering

AI coding tools are changing software engineering, but not in the simple “everyone gets replaced” way the headlines suggest. The real story is messier: more productive senior engineers, fewer easy entry-level paths, shifting salaries, more software getting built, and a profession trying to figure out where its next generation will come from. This week’s Wednesday Wisdom looks at what AI coding tools actually mean for software engineers — and why the future is neither doom nor hype. https://josvisser.substack.com/p/a-possible-future-of-software-engineering

A tiny history of software engineering

NOTE: Because of a mistake, this episode has been posted out of order and was supposed to be published on 5/20/2026. It should be listened to before the episode on 5/27/2026 called: Coding with AI tools is still hard. Apologies for the confusion. https://josvisser.substack.com/p/a-tiny-history-of-software-engineering

Coding with AI tools is still hard

AI coding tools excel at the part of software development that was never really a problem to begin with: Typing in the statements. Because of this, coding with AI tools is still hard. https://josvisser.substack.com/p/coding-with-ai-tools-is-still-hard

The whooshing sound of deadlines

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Wisdom, in which we cover a reader question on how to deal with managers who insist on "accurate ETAs" for software development projects. Obviously, no software project in the history of time has ever been delivered according to a pre-established immutable plan and there is no more common sound in software than the sound of a deadline, whooshing by. But how to convince your manager of that?

The anxiety factory

Many startups are anxiety factories. But why? There are the obvious reasons, but there is one that is often overlooked. Find out how that works in this week's Wednesday Wisdom article. https://josvisser.substack.com/p/the-anxiety-factory