CoRecursive - Software Engineering Interviews

What if your search for connection took you somewhere you never meant to go—almost costing you everything? John Walker grew up building computers and exploring early internet forums, always looking for a place to fit in. As a teenager, he hacked his school network and spent hours on IRC, but loneliness crept in. Drugs became a fun exploration and a social experiment. But soon, addiction pulled him into homelessness and jail. Even at his lowest, John turned to online communities. He ran IRC bots to keep recovery chatrooms safe from trolls and built scrapers to solve tough data problems at work. These technical challenges gave him a reason to keep going, even when face-to-face life felt impossible.  But the real turning point came when John stopped trying to hide his differences.   How do you rebuild when you feel like an outsider? Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where learning felt like an uphill battle? Like no matter how hard you tried, the pieces just wouldn't fall into place?   Steve Krouse's story shows the power of the right learning environment. As a child, Steve felt he wasn't good at math. But everything changed with an afterschool program called IMACS. Initially skeptical, he soon embraced its creative approach, which encouraged self-paced learning.  At IMACS, Steve learned to think on paper, grasping math concepts through programming languages like Logo and Scheme. This confidence moved him from remedial to advanced math, sparking a love for programming and education.  Frustrated with traditional schooling, Steve dropped out of college to create engaging learning experiences for kids. His efforts led to tools like woof.js and the founding of Val Town, making programming accessible and collaborative.  Join us as we explore Steve's journey, revealing how innovative educational environments can unlock potential and transform identities. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

  Can a single line of code change the way we see science, policy, and trust?   In this episode we explore the "Climategate" scandal that erupted from leaked emails and code snippets, fueling doubts about climate science. What starts as an investigation into accusations of fraud leads to an unexpected journey through the messy reality of data science, legacy code struggles, and the complex pressures scientists face every day.   Along the way, we uncover stories of hidden errors and misunderstood phrases taken out of context, revealing a world where science, software engineering, and human complexity intertwine. This story doesn't just challenge assumptions—it shows the power and importance of transparency in science and technology.   Join Adam as he digs deep into Climategate, uncovering what really happened when code got thrust into the spotlight, and what it means for trust, truth, and open science. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if a simple game became a gateway to computational breakthroughs? David Freiberg and Felipe set out on a journey to conquer Hatetris, a notoriously difficult JavaScript game. Their interest ignited when a new world record was set, showing that surpassing the game's high score was possible. Their journey was full of challenges, from building an emulator in different programming languages to tackling complex algorithms. They pushed the boundaries of what's possible but the story didn't end there. Collaborating with fellow enthusiasts, including a Japanese Tetris expert, led to further breakthroughs. By sharing insights and building on each other's work, they set a records after records. Their story highlights the power of curiosity, collaboration, and the joy of discovery. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if internet trolls could become your greatest collaborators? Nolen Royalty discovered this unexpected truth when his simple checkbox game went viral. It began with a school email prank that crashed servers but sparked a philosophy: creative constraints breed innovation. From "Flappy Dird" to "One Million Checkboxes," Nolen built games that turned limitations into playgrounds. But when his checkbox project became a battleground of organized chaos, Nolen faced a choice: suppress the chaos or lean into it. Discover how systematic constraints can channel creative anarchy - and why one developer now believes the best user experiences emerge when you code for controlled chaos of strangers meeting on the internet. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if leaving your dream job was the way to discover your true self?    Jon de la Motte failed his first Stripe interview, but he didn't give up. It was his dream job, a company that connected with his father's work in finance with his software ambitions.   At Stripe, Jon faced challenges. He joined a risky JavaScript infrastructure team and struggled to find his footing. Eventually he found his way, built a great team and then it all started to fall apart again.   Discover how Jon's journey reshaped his life and what it means to balance personal and professional priorities. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if you had to break life-changing news to your team—could you handle the weight of their futures? Allison's journey from software engineer to compassionate leader at Shopify is filled with challenges and growth. It all started when her mentor was suddenly laid off, leaving her with uncertainty and guilt. This turning point taught her the importance of adaptability in the tech industry's ups and downs. When Allison faced her own layoff, she found the strength to move on to new roles, including a position at Shopify. There, she had to announce layoffs to her team, learning to lead with empathy and prioritize their well-being. Her story highlights the power of empathy and resilience in leadership. She shares how to end employment on good terms and create a supportive environment for those affected. While layoffs are tough, they can also be a place to show strength. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Have you ever known someone who's technical brilliance was overshadowed by personal failings? This is the story of Hans Reiser, a software developer driven to create a superior Linux filesystem, but whose difficult personality got in the way.   Then came the disappearance of his wife, Nina, in 2006. The investigation pointed to Reiser, ending with a murder conviction that shocked the tech world.   Reiser's story is a reminder of how technical skills and personal integrity need to go hand in hand. From prison, he reflects on his mistakes, realizing the need for empathy and collaboration. His legacy, once about innovation, now serves as a cautionary tale. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

How do you know what matters? What if training to climb Everest left you certain you were on the wrong career path? Join us as we explore Yoshio's incredible journey from the heights of Everest, to coding bootcamps, to finding his true calling in start-ups and communication skills training. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

 What if your corporate job left you feeling empty, and you decided to leap into venture capital? Tim Chen, a software engineer, was disillusioned with corporate life at Microsoft. The 2008 market crash and layoffs deepened his dissatisfaction. Seeking more impactful work, Tim joined startups and contributed to open-source projects, like Kafka and Docker. Then after his own start-up, Tim found a niche bridging the gap between technical founders and venture capital. But could get into Venture Capital himself? Join me and Tim to hear his journey from a disillusioned software engineer to a successful venture capitalist, exploring the highs and lows of his unusual career move. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Today the tables have turned and you're going to hear someone interview me.  Ronak and Guang from the Software Misadventures podcast are going to interview me  about podcasting. My history as a software developer and I guess this big idea. That I don't think I've shared too much about the importance of communication. More details including a video version of the interview here: https://softwaremisadventures.com/p/adam-gordon-bell-story-telling

What if you had to fight against your company's culture to bring a revolutionary tool to life? Meet Jeffrey Snover, the Microsoft architect behind PowerShell, a command tool that transformed Windows system administration. Initially met with skepticism, Snover's idea faced resistance from a company that favored graphical interfaces.  Snover's journey began with a simple mission: to make Windows as command-line managable as UNIX systems. Despite facing pushback and navigating through company restructures, his persistence paid off.  This episode explores how Snover's relentless drive and clear vision overcame numerous obstacles, leading to a tool that is now fundamental in modern enterprise environments. Listen to how one person's determination can challenge the status quo.   Help Adam Find His Next Role I'm on the hunt for a new developer relations role.  If you know of any companies where they need someone who can speak engineer, who can communicate to developers, that's me. I'm your guy for explaining complex stuff in a way that's catchy and fun and makes sense to software developers. If you know of any roles like this, let me know. Who should I be talking to? Reach out: Adam@CoRecursive.com, @adamgordonbell, Linkedin, My Calendar. Links: Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Can you imagine risking your career to making coding easier to learn? Meet Felienne Hermans, a professor who did just that by stepping beyond academia to redefine coding education. Disillusioned by her research's limited impact, Felienne discovered a new calling in teaching coding to underserved students. Her journey led to the creation of Hedy, a programming language designed to dismantle language and learning barriers in coding. Confronting skepticism from her peers, Felienne's dedication to accessible coding challenged traditional academic priorities. Felienne's story is a powerful reminder of the impact one person can have by following their passion against the odds. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if the tools you trust were actually betraying you? Join us for a riveting story where a team of software developers discovers that their compiler is compromised. What starts as suspicion of a simple bug quickly escalates into the alarming realization.   In this 100th episode celebration past show regulars Don and Krystal join Adam lend their voice to this work of fiction about the limits of trust in computing from Lawrence Kesteloot.   Join us in as we peel back the layers of trust in the software we rely on daily and celebrate our 100th episode. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Meet Mick West, whose career began in an unusual office setup — sandwiched between a kebab shop and a phone sex hotline. From there he worked all over Manchester, making computer games for Tiertex and Ocean.    Career opportunies brought him to California and to his own game dev company, Neversoft. At Neversoft, navigating team growth and tight deadlines, Mick played a key role in creating "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater." This wasn't just another game; it was a huge hit and secured Mick's legacy in the gaming world.   Join us as we explore Mick West's journey from a quirky start to the heights of video game innovation and beyond. Discover the resilience, adaptability, and teamwork that fueled his success and how he continues to explore new horizons. How did he tackle the technical challenges that came his way, and what can we learn from his relentless pursuit of the next big thing? Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if your dedication to doing things right clashed with your company's fast pace? Chris Krycho faced this very question at LinkedIn. His journey was marked by challenges: from the nuances of remote work to the struggle of influencing company culture, and a critical incident that put his principles to the test against the company's push for speed. Chris's story highlights the tension between the need for innovation and the importance of project health. This all led Chris to a pivotal decision: to stay and compromise his beliefs or to leave in pursuit of work that aligned with his principles. He chose the latter. Join us as we dive into Chris's compelling story, exploring the challenges of advocating for principled engineering in a world that often prioritizes quick wins over long-term value. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter Chris's Personal Website  

Greg Wilson has been on a decades-long quest to transform how we teach and talk about software design. From getting rejections for using the term “beautiful code,” to empowering scientists through workshops on Python and Unix, Greg has pushed to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Join us as Greg shares his failures and epiphanies along the way. You'll hear how he revolutionized research computing by showing physicists the power of profilers. How he taught grad students the elegance of shell scripts. And how he's crusaded to create a shared language to discuss software architecture with the nuance of true craftsmanship. Greg's captivating journey reveals that with perseverance and the right examples, we can elevate software design discussion to an art form. But that we've got a long way to go. You'll come away enlightened and eager to level up your own understanding of software design. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

What if your dreams were suddenly ripped away? What if your talents vanished, your passions erased? That's what happened to Jason McDonald when a traumatic brain injury at 16 ravaged his planned destiny of becoming a doctor. Jason painfully rebuilt his ind and body from scratch - relearning to read, write, even speak.   A serendipitous discovery of coding ignited a new passion within Jason. He dove into the world of Python, even writing a popular programming book. His is a story of the incredible resilience of the human spirit when faced with life-altering challenges. One that calls us to embrace our own vulnerabilities as gateways to growth. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

From the early days of exploring creative possibilities on a 486 computer in his childhood to developing one of today's most popular web frameworks, Evan You's journey is a tale of passion and innovation.    Evan started Vue.js while working at Google, just wanting to scratch his own itch for a lightweight JavaScript framework. But soon Vue started to gain a huge following.  Eventually Evan then faced a tough dilemma - should he take a leap of faith and devote himself fully to his fledgling open source project? Hear Evan's firsthand story of that key career transition. How the explosive user feedback at Vue conferences gave him confidence. But also the challenges he faced by putting himself directly in the line of fire from unhappy users. It's an inspiring journey - from a developer just trying to solve his own problems to the leader of one of today's most popular web frameworks. Hear the very human story behind Vue.js. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

How did Spotify scale from 10 engineers to 100s to 1000s ...without slowing down? Without becoming corporate?  Facing an IPO deadline, Pia Nilsson worked with 300 teams to transform how Spotify built software. She spearheaded a movement that led them from working in silos to a unified developer platform.  Hear the inside story of how Spotify's Platform teams embraced transparency and customer focus to create Backstage — now used by companies worldwide.  It's an amazing tale of ingenuity and perseverance. Hear Spotify's secret to scaling engineering without losing speed and independence. Don't miss it! Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Lost treasure. Conspiracy theories. Impossible tech demos.  Jan Sloot claimed to have invented revolutionary data compression that could fit a full movie into a tiny smart card chip. Top executives and investors witnessed his demos and became true believers, ready to bankroll this company into the stratosphere.  But was it all an elaborate illusion?  Join me as I unravel the perplexing story of Jan Sloot, the eccentric Dutch TV repairman who dazzled the tech world with his compression claims.  Discover the shady details and follow the bizarre twists and turns, as we try to separate fact from fiction in the puzzling case of the Sloot Digital Coding System.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Today, we go behind the scenes at Chef - the game changing infrastructure automation tool. Adam Jacob created Chef, and it became a massively popular DevOps tool. But despite Chef's success, Adam constantly battled self-doubt and finding his footing as a leader.  In this raw episode, Adam shares how the pressure of going from sysadmin to startup CEO caused an identity crisis. He opens up about the motivational speech that left him in tears, realizing his self-worth was too tied to Chef's outcomes.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Learning to code can feel impossible. Like facing a sheer rock wall with no ropes or harnesses. But what if there was a path up the mountain? A trail blazed smooth by master coders who went before?  In this episode, we'll follow that path. We'll hear the stories of legends like Seymour Papert, who championed active, project-based learning. Of Fred Brooks, who discovered that pairing accelerates learning. And more.  The research shows that with the right methods, motivation, and support, anyone can master learning curves and summit. So join me as we uncover the science behind learning to code. You'll walk away fired up, equipped with proven techniques to unlock your potential and conquer new technical skills.     The climb is on!   Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

 Have you ever been frustrated with your job? Maybe not burnt out, but getting close to there? You used to love what you did, and it felt so creative and empowering, but then it starts to feel a bit more cookie cutter. Have you ever been frustrated with your whole life? The daily grind has taken what you love and it just doesn't feel the same anymore. Some of the magic just has slowly faded away. You don't know when it started, but it did.  Today's guest is Amir Rajan. He's hard to describe.     Is he a developer? Yes. An artist who sold everything that he owned for indie game development. Yes. The subject of a New Yorker profile? Yes, all of that. And also, somebody who got frustrated with his life and left everything behind. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Today, we meet Ben Dumke-von der Ehe, one of the early developers on the Stack Overflow team.  He was on the front lines as the platform transformed how programmers worked. And he embodies the spirit of Stack Overflow:  Its transparency, playfulness, and even some of its struggles to be as welcoming and friendly as it should be.    But you'll see what I mean.    So stick around as Ben takes us on a journey through the building of Stack Overflow. Get ready for a candid inside look at the creation of a platform that would become an essential part of the developer community and the internet as we know it.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

How do you accomplish something massive over time? I've had the chance to meet with a number of exceptional software developers and it's something I always wonder about.  Today, I might have an answer with the incredible story of Yann Collet. Yann was a project manager who went from being burnt out on corporate life to becoming one of the most sought-after developers in the world. What happens when you build something so impressive and valuable that it essentially becomes invisible? And how do you do that when your day job is mainly organizing spreadsheets and keeping timelines on track? Yann built LZ4 and ZStandard - two of the world's fastest compression algorithms that have transformed databases, operating systems, file systems, and much more. We'll go back in time to Yann's initial steps with programming, his game-changing discoveries along the way and how his devotion to data compression hobby led him to create something that saves billions of dollars worldwide. Episode Links Episode Page Bonus 17 - Accomplishing Hard Things Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Today's guest is Douglas Crockford. He's sharing the story of JSON, his discovery of JavaScript's good parts, and his approach to finding a simple way to build software. Also, his battles against XML, against complexity, his battles to say that there's a better way to build software.    This is foundational stuff for the web, and Doug is an iconoclast Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter  

Shai Almog worked at Sun on Mobile JVMs just as phones started to turn from phones into something else.     Sun had deep expertise in mobile development, and amazing engineering driven culture and relationships with manufacturers and operators. And yet interal politics and the collapse of its server market made it hard to get things done.    At Sun, as the mobile market changed, Shai and his friend Chen Fishbein launched a popular UI toolkit.       Today Shai shares their struggles at Sun and after it to shape mobile UI development.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

I've been on many projects that get canceled. We're building cool stuff. We're going above and beyond, and we're excited. But the project encounters reality, shifting priorities, or budgeting constraints, and the work never goes anywhere. It always feels tragic, but then I move on.   But what if I didn't let a project get canceled? What if I couldn't accept that? That is what Ron Avitzur's story is all about. He is the creator of "Graphing Calculator," and he would not let it be canceled. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Nothing good comes from being insecure about your worth, especially at your job. That's what today's episode is about. That's what today's guest is here to discuss.  It's a slow burn, but if you listen to the end, I think you will value yourself more professionally. My Guest is Don Mckay. Someone longtime listeners will undoubtedly know. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Today Rebecca Burger Becky Heineman shares the tale of porting Doom to the 3DO console under extreme conditions. There is an engine to tweak, deadlines to hit, hardware acceleration to get working, and dramatic rock anthems to record. We also learn about how game piracy led her to game development and what it was like to do game development in the mania of the mid-nineties. Finally, we close with Becky's advice on learning bare metal development skills.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Today story is from Son Luong Ngoc who shares what's it was like for him to work and live in many different countries around the world, including working for AliBaba at the Xixi campus in Hangzhou, China. It's a story of a software developer finding a place that fits them, a place that suits them. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

What could you accomplish if your teammates were all excited and determined to hit some project timelines? What is it like for a group of people to give it all they have? That's what today is about.     Chet Haase from the Android team is here to share the story of the early days of Android, the mobile operating system that powers the majority of phones worldwide. We'll cover the years from 2005 to around 2011.    It's a wild story. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter Android's Book

 I believe that getting underrepresented groups into software development is a good thing. This is not a controversial opinion until you start talking about felons.    Today's guest is Rick Wolter. He's an iOS developer who served 18 years in prison for second degree murder.  Rick killed somebody and for some that's all they need to know about Rick. But today's episode is about Rick's path to redemption him, teaching himself to code in prison, smuggling in a Python interpreter, and then getting out and trying to get a job as a dev when you're a felon. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter UnderDog Devs

CPAN was the first open-source software module repository. And on this day, Aug 1st, in 1995, CPAN was first announced to a private group of PERL users. If you are building things today by pulling in various packages from various open source places – and really, who isn't – then the history of how this world came to be is essential. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

I recently got an email from Jeff Shrager, who said he'd been working hard to solve a mystery about some famous code. Eliza, the chatbot, was built in 1964, and she didn't answer questions like Alexa or Siri. She asked questions. She was a therapist chatbot and quickly became famous after being described in a 1964 paper.  But here is the mystery. We're not sure how the original version worked. Joseph Weizenbaum never released the code. But Jeff tracked it down, and some of the things we thought we knew about Eliza turned out to be wrong.   Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

On June 1st, 2014, the following question showed up on hacker news:  "Why is 80 characters, the standard limit for code width." You probably know what happens next. People started to post their opinions and the comments and other people started to disagree. The posts spread around the internet.  So that is going to be today's show: Let's answer this question.   It's a question about traditions and teamwork, and how preexisting idioms shape us and help us, but sometimes restrict us.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Have you ever had a unique approach to a problem and been excited to use it, but you're met with skepticism?   Today's story: what happens if you take someone who's passionate about LISP and put them in an organization where that's just not how they write software.   Today's story is about getting LISP into space. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

On this day in 2014 "lame april fools' jokes" were banned from hacker news.    Today in our first This-Day-in-History segment, I want to share some of history not just of April Fools', but of tech pranks in general, all leading up to 2014.  Why were pranks and April Fools' jokes traditionally celebrated in tech? Why are they now considered as dang said, "lame?"? And is there anything we can do to save them? Those are today's questions. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Whenever I work on a side project, I can't help but daydream of it taking off in a big way. For today's guests, something like that did happen.    When Nadia started building her side project, she didn't know that it would end up spreading virally. She didn't know that it would end up competing with an Amazon product. She didn't know that keeping it up would be something that would drive her close to tears. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

 How would you build an operating system?     My answer is I wouldn't. First off, I don't know how. And the second thing is it seems like to large of a task. It took thousands of developers to build Windows XP.  But actually, it is possible to build an operating system from scratch. My guest is doing it. Andreas Kling created SerenityOS starting from an empty Git repository. So today, I find out how he did it, how this is possible. But mainly today, I find out why. Why build an operating system from scratch? And it all started in the 2010s when Andreas worked at Apple.  Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Today, I have two of my favorite guests together: Krystal Maughan and Don McKay. We are going to be sharing strange and interesting facts about computing. I'm super pumped about this because, sometimes, I learn something new, and I'm excited about it. And I want to tell people about it. And so today is a chance for Don and Krystal and I to share some of these "Oh, my God. Did you guys see this?" stories. Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

The last episode, I said I wasn't sure there was such a thing as culture, but that's not the case. Every place I've worked has been a bit different, and often those differences had huge impacts on the software we built. The team where people roll their eyes at UX feedback will not have as simple of a product as a team where the user experience is highly valued. If software performance isn't valued, the end result won't be performant. Today, I found an expert on observing developer cultures. Hansen Hsu worked on the AppKit team at Apple, and he's here to talk about this mushy concept called culture. How does it manifest? How does it affect what people build? And how can it lead to beautiful software? Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Today's story is an insider view of Debian. One of the oldest Linux distributions and probably one of the longest-running volunteer-based open-source projects. Joey Hess is my guest, and he dedicated significant parts of his adult life to working on Debian. He's going to share what that was like. The good and the bad, and it's almost all good. It's a story about open source software, but it's also about community and teamwork Links: Episode Page Support The Show Subscribe To The Podcast Join The Newsletter

Today's episode is about remote work. Well, sort of. I found someone with a different perspective on remote work and a fantastic story to share, Paul Lutus. I think that he might be the original remote software developer. He left California behind for a lower cost of living in Oregon. And from Oregon, he developed software for Apple. But the kind of surprising thing is he did this in the 1970s! And he did it so well he became rich and even briefly quite famous. Episode Page Subscribe To Podcast Newsletter You can support the podcast and encourage me to keep making it on patreon.

Today, previous guest and my neighbor Don Mckay and I will discuss items from the endless fascinating Cursed Computer Iceberg Meme. The Iceberg is a giant list of "the peculiarities and weirdness of computers." We each a few items from the list and alternate explaining it to each other. Don's choices are varied, and mine focus on quines and esoteric coding problems. We also share some coding horror stories from our past. You can support the podcast and encourage me to keep making it on patreon. Episode Page Subscribe To Podcast Newsletter

Today's show: How to Quit Your Job and Work on Open Source Full Time. This story has it all, balancing open source work and full-time employment, building up enough supporters and enough savings to leave your job. The hardest part to me which is explaining leaving your job to your significant other and to your family and friends. And also what do you do if your project succeeds, and then someone forks it and builds a commercial business around it? There's a lot more as well dealing: with hacker news feedback, how to improve upon the C programming language and how to be super ambitious without seeming arrogant. Sponsor the podcast: If you go to patreon.com/adamgordonbell, you can find the Patreon page for the podcast, and if you are enjoying these episodes and want me to keep putting more time into them, think about setting up a recurring donation. Links: Andrew's personal website Zig

On today's show, I'm talking to Richard Hipp about surviving becoming core infrastructure for the world. SQLite is everywhere. It's in your web browser, it's in your phone, it's probably in your car, and it's definitely in commercial planes. It's where your iMessages and WhatsApp messages are stored, and if you do a find on your computer for *.db, you'll be amazed at how many SQLite databases you find. Today, Richard is going to share his story. It's the story of creating a small open source project and having it grow beyond your wildest ambitions. It's the story of following that success wherever it leads: From relationships with tech-giants to interesting testing procedures and more. Episode Page Subscribe To Podcast Newsletter  

Today on the show, we have solving algorithmic programming problems. You know when you interview for a job to write CSS and they ask you to reverse a binary tree on the whiteboard using C and in constant memory space? It's that kind of thing. These problems have their roots in algorithmic programming contests. And our guest, Conor Hoekstra, is a former competitor. Episode Page

Today I talk to Dan Robinson about trying to get someone their money back on Ethereum. He's going to be battling this murky world of blockchain high-frequency bots. Along the way, we'll learn how trades are executed on Ethereum and a bit of game theory and political philosophy. It's an entertaining peek into a world that seems like pure science fiction to me, a world where nobody's in charge, where there's no regulation, and where these forces of greed and idealism are in direct conflict with each other Episode Page / Transcript

David Shayer worked at Apple for 14 years, and he has a wild experience to share. Apple has a unique culture, and David will give us an insider view of what it was like for him at Apple during the 2000s, roughly between 2001 to 2015 when Apple transformed into the powerhouse that it is today. David worked as a Software Engineer but for the hardware organization with Apple. He worked on a few special projects at Apple: at least one of them was top secret. But he is also going to share the struggles of building file systems and working on really short timelines and having development plans upended by Steve jobs. Episode Page