Vercel’s Big AI Bet. Ft. Malte Ubl | S02 E09 Backend Banter podcast

1:08:12

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm YK’s X: https://x.com/ykdojo YK's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ykdojo/ Sourcegraph's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Sourcegraph/featured Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro and Meeting YK 03:05 - Starting Out with CSS Dojo 05:36 - DevRel Burnout and Market Whiplash 11:40 - Building Agent Chat at Sourcegraph 13:52 - Claude, Cursor, and AI Tool Comparisons 21:52 - AI Use: Juniors vs. Seniors 26:22 - Designing Dev Tools That Think 37:56 - Will AI Consolidate the Tooling Ecosystem? 44:21 - Should Codebases Change for AI? 50:52 - Advice for Learners, DevRels, and Job Seekers 01:07:02 - Outro and Where to find YK's work Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!…

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How to Win at Learning ft. Quincy Larson | S02 E11 1:13:54

8 weeks ago1:13:54

1:13:54

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=PLWKjhJtqVAbm04DK8TSUCRheRjW2P9TR7 Learn back-end development: boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: backendbanter.fm Follow Quincy on X/Twitter: @ossia Free Code Camp: freecodecamp.org Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro and Meeting Quincy 01:05 - Running a charity 03:58 - Getting deep into podcasts 11:58 - Quincy's lifestyle 17:47 - The Birth of Free Code Camp 25:47 - What has freecodecamp been working on 27:40 - Building Skills vs. Chasing Shortcuts 30:20 - How to Stand Out in Today's Tech Job Market 50:44 - What changed since Quincy wrote his book 54:06 - Obligatory AI talk 1:12:01 - Where to find Quincy Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the episode!…

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Mitchell Hashimoto: From Terraform to Ghostty | S02 E10 1:04:29

9 weeks ago1:04:29

1:04:29

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm Mitchell's X/Twitter: https://x.com/mitchellh Ghostty: https://ghostty.org/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro and Meeting Mitchell 01:06 - Mitchell’s Journey at HashiCorp 03:13 - What is Ghostty and Why Build It? 08:35 - Native Performance and Zig’s Advantage 15:25 - Why Mitchell Chose Zig Over Rust 31:15 - Ghostty’s Road to Package Repositories 52:00 - Future Plans for Ghostty 1:04:02 - Where to Find Mitchell and Ghostty Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!…

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Vercel’s Big AI Bet. ft. Malte Ubl | S02 E09 47:58

10 weeks ago47:58

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Malte's X: https://x.com/cramforce Vercel: https://vercel.com/ V0: https://v0.dev/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro and Meeting Malte 01:23 - What is V0 and Why Did Vercel Build It? 04:00 - The Technical Challenges Behind V0 10:34 - How V0 Leverages Tailwind and TypeScript 19:15 - AI's Impact on Frontend Development 23:20 - Verticalization of Engineering Roles 32:01 - How AI is Changing Development Workflows 37:09 - The Future of Full-Stack Engineering 44:08 - How Vercel Balances Product Innovation with Core Infrastructure 46:06 - Final Thoughts and Where to Find Malte Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!…

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Build skills, not degrees. ft. Madison Kanna | S02 E08 54:02

11 weeks ago54:02

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Madison's X: https://x.com/Madisonkanna Website: https://madisonkanna.com/ Learn out loud: learn0utloud.com Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Where did it all start? 01:40 - Dropping out 08:42 - How Madison started learning code 22:00 - Team leading 30:30 - Code Book Club 38:50 - Learn out loud 46:20 - AI talk 54:18 - Book recommendations 56:05 - Outro Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!…

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Roll your own auth or you’re ngmi. ft. Dreams of Code | S02 E07 1:13:59

12 weeks ago1:13:59

1:13:59

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.fm Elliott's Youtube: @dreamsofcode Elliott's Course: https://dreamsofcode.io/ Elliott's X: https://x.com/dreamsofcode_io Timestamps 00:00 - Intro and Meeting Elliot 02:36 - Why Build a Custom Course Platform? 08:13 - The Challenges of Serving Video Content 20:16 - The Build vs. Buy Debate 28:20 - What Was Bought vs. Built? 33:28 - How AI Is Changing Development 45:12 - GDPR, Privacy, and Analytics 54:19 - Tech Stack Behind the Platform 1:06:33 - AI’s Real Impact on Developer Jobs 1:13:16 - Where to Find Elliot and His Work Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!…

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Programming Music with Sonic Pi feat. Sam Aaron | S02 E06 1:05:09

13 weeks ago1:05:09

1:05:09

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Sonic Pi - https://sonic-pi.net/ Sam's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/samaaron Sam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaaron/ Sam's X/Twitter: https://x.com/samaaron DJ Dave: https://www.youtube.com/@dj_dave____ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:11 - Sonic Pi Origin Story 03:03 - Connection To Raspberry Pi 04:23 - But What Is Sonic Pi? 06:25 - Is Ruby The Primary Language Used In Sonic Pi? 10:25 - A Small Sonic Pi Showcase 17:53 - Collaboration through Git 23:12 - How Did Sam Get Involved In All Of This? 25:14 - The Feedback Loop of Sonic Pi 26:56 - How Does The Live Coding Experience Work In Sonic Pi? 32:01 - The Two Different Working Modes Of Sonic Pi 33:42 - How Does Debugging Work In Sonic Pi 38:55 - How Do The Different Components Fit Into The Architecture Of The Project 51:33 - 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?…

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KRAZAM Unfiltered feat. Ben Burke | S2 E05 1:06:39

14 weeks ago1:06:39

1:06:39

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.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm KRAZAM'S Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KRAZAM/videos KRAZAM's X/Twitter: https://x.com/krazamtv KRAZAM'S Website: https://www.krazam.tv/ Krazam's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/KRAZAM Ben's X/Twitter: https://x.com/bb_fresh Ben's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnjmnbrk/ Shiva's X/Twitter: https://x.com/shivakilaru Shiva's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivakilaru/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:58 - KRAZAM Origin Story 03:59 - 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 KRAZAM 10:49 - Microservices 14:04 - Sending Birthday Messages Is HARD 19:06 - On Shiva Not Being in the Microservices Video 20:48 - Favorite KRAZAM Videos 22:22 - Most Underrated KRAZAM Video 32:00 - KRAZAM's Viewers Are Very Loyal 36:03 - Ambitions for the KRAZAM Channel 39:04 - How Did You Know KRAZAM Had Product-Market Fit? 40:59 - Ben's Comedic Inspirations 43:08 - KRAZAM Does Not Aim for Virality 46:47 - Was It Stressful to Do a Live Talk? 49:40 - KRAZAM's Video Release Frequency 51:46 - Competitive Excel 55:34 - Site Reliability Engineer Video 57:50 - AI Bots on Spotify 01:00:27 - Self-Hosting and The Good Old Days 01:02:31 - What's the Churn in the Industry? 01:05:21 - Where to Find Ben and KRAZAM…

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Does ADHD really make programming harder? ft. Chris Ferdinandi | S2 E04 1:20:12

15 weeks ago1:20:12

1:20:12

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!…

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Why You Need To Stop Worrying About AI feat. Danny Thompson | S2 E03 1:09:43

16 weeks ago1:09:43

1:09:43

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…

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Everyone is doing memory management wrong. feat. Ryan Fleury | S2 E02 1:11:49

17 weeks ago1:11:49

1:11:49

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…

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Is Elixir the Future? feat. José Valim | S2 E01 1:23:25

18 weeks ago1:23:25

1:23:25

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…

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#069 - Season Finale: The Boot.dev Origin Story w/ Allan 1:14:49

37 weeks ago1:14:49

1:14:49

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…

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#068 - Should you trust tech influencers? feat. Charles The III 1:12:50

38 weeks ago1:12:50

1:12:50

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…

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#067 - How to Be Better than 96.487% of Developers 58:31

39 weeks ago58:31