Shiny object syndrome

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

Does code review still matter?

Does it? Because let's be honest, most code reviews are terrible. Also, what about AI generated code? Warning: This episode contains more questions than answers! https://josvisser.substack.com/p/does-code-review-still-matter