Coding Chats

Coding Chats episode 61 - John Crickett interviews Austen about his new book and the significance of behavioural interviews in the hiring process, especially in today's competitive job market. Austen shares insights on what interviewers look for, how to tailor preparation for specific companies, and the importance of storytelling in interviews. He emphasizes the impact of AI on the interview process and discusses how candidates can effectively present their experiences, particularly in conflict resolution scenarios. The conversation also covers the different expectations for candidates at various career stages and the importance of preparation and practice in mastering behavioural interviews.

Chapters
00:00 The Importance of Behavioral Interviews
02:43 What Interviewers Look For
05:32 Understanding Company Expectations
07:48 Austen's Background and Expertise
09:59 The Impact of AI on Interviews
12:10 Behavioral Interviews Beyond Big Tech
14:11 Crafting Your Introduction
18:55 Selecting Stories for Interviews
24:32 Creating Compelling Interview Stories
28:38 The Difference Between Junior and Senior Engineers
29:50 Crafting Compelling Stories for Interviews
31:28 Timing and Length of Stories in Interviews
33:34 Selecting the Right Story for the Interview
37:05 The Importance of Scope and Relevance in Storytelling
37:52 Using the Menu Technique for Story Selection
40:37 Enhancing Conflict Resolution Stories
43:48 The Drama in Conflict Resolution
48:12 Improving Conflict Resolution Narratives
55:00 The Role of Escalation in Conflict Resolution
58:11 The Big Three Questions in Behavioral Interviews
59:54 Understanding Interview Dynamics
01:03:08 The Importance of Asking Questions
01:06:56 Feedback Loops in Behavioral Interviews
01:12:04 Navigating Different Career Stages
01:17:52 Adapting Stories for Different Organizations
01:23:02 Leveraging Personal Projects in Interviews
01:24:41 Key Takeaways for Interview Success

Austen's Links:
https://thebehavioral.substack.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6CM9T87

John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways
Behavioral interviews are crucial for differentiating candidates in a competitive job market.
Understanding what interviewers are looking for can significantly improve your chances of success.
Tailoring your preparation to the specific company and role is essential.
Your past experiences and stories are likely more valuable than you think.
Practice and preparation are key to performing well in interviews.

Coding Chats episode 60 - John Crickett and Paul discuss the transformative impact of AI on software engineering, exploring topics such as spec-driven development, the importance of small batches, and the challenges of requirements gathering. They delve into the evolving role of AI tools, the need for effective communication, and the balance between productivity and code quality. The discussion also touches on the future of AI in development, the significance of ownership in coding, and the potential for specialized AI agents to enhance workflows. Paul shares valuable tips for leveraging AI in software engineering, emphasizing the importance of joy, working in small units, and maintaining humility in the face of rapid technological change.

Chapters
00:00 AI in Software Engineering: A New Era
03:36 The Revelation of Prompt-Driven Development
06:08 Spec-Driven Development vs. Waterfall
09:16 The Importance of Small Batches in AI Development
12:05 Ownership and Responsibility in AI-Generated Code
14:57 The Challenges of Outsourcing and Communication in Software Development
20:15 The Future of Programming and Communication
23:38 AI Tools and Upstream Bottlenecks
27:18 Understanding JetBrains' AI Integration
31:40 User Experience and AI Interaction
35:42 Opinionated Workflows in Software Development
37:24 Finding Joy in AI-Assisted Engineering

Paul's Links:https://buildermethods.com/agent-os

John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways
AI is revolutionizing software engineering practices.
Spec-driven development formalizes the way we instruct AI agents.
Small batches improve productivity and maintain context.
Ownership of code is crucial for long-term success.
Quality of code generated by AI is more important than quantity.
Effective communication is key in AI-assisted development.
Specialized AI agents will enhance the development process.
JetBrains is evolving its tools to integrate AI effectively.
Developers should find joy in their work, even with AI assistance.
Humility is essential as we navigate the future of AI in programming.

Coding Chats episode 59 - Josh discusses the AI agent framework Rig, its functionalities, and the benefits of using Rust for its implementation. He explains the concept of agents and embeddings, their applications, and the importance of managing context windows in AI models. Josh shares his journey of learning Rust, transitioning from a technical content writer to a co-maintainer of Rig, and the challenges faced while building a coding agent. He emphasizes effective prompting strategies and the importance of concise communication with AI models. The conversation concludes with insights on contributing to Rig and the future of AI frameworks.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Rig and AI Frameworks
02:56 Understanding Agents and Embeddings
05:24 Use Cases for Embeddings and Context Management
07:53 Benefits of Using Rig in Rust
10:10 Learning Rust and Overcoming Challenges
12:56 Transitioning to Rig and AI Focus
15:21 Building a Coding Agent: Challenges and Insights
17:45 Prompting Techniques and Best Practices
20:06 Contributing to Rig and Community Engagement
22:49 Final Thoughts and Future Directions

Josh's Links:
https://github.com/0xPlaygrounds/rig
https://www.rustnationuk.com/speaker/joshua-mo
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-mo-4146aa220/

John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways
Rig is an AI agent framework that simplifies AI integration.
Agents in AI are often misunderstood due to marketing hype.
Embeddings serve as data representations for various applications.
Retrieval augmented generation is a common use case for embeddings.
Managing the context window is crucial for effective AI performance.
Using Rust for Rig provides type safety and performance benefits.
Learning Rust can be challenging but rewarding with the right approach.
Josh transitioned from content writing to engineering at Rig.
Building a coding agent revealed the complexities of AI.
Concise prompts are essential to avoid overwhelming AI models.

In this special holiday episode of Coding Chats, John Crickett answers audience questions about software engineering careers, the impact of AI, programming languages, and the importance of leadership. He discusses how to rebuild an engineering career, the significance of meaningful projects, and the readiness of self-taught developers. The conversation also touches on insights gained from hosting the podcast and the evolving landscape of software development.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Coding Chats Holiday Special
00:22 Rebuilding an Engineering Career in 2025
01:01 The Future of Software Engineering with AI
01:27 Learning Programming: Starting Points and Languages
02:27 Breaking the No Experience Loop for Developers
04:17 Meaningful Experience: Projects and Contributions
05:02 Self-Taught Developers: Readiness and Opportunities
06:07 Qualities of a Good Software Engineering Leader
06:52 Insights from 18 Months of Coding Chats
07:43 Architecture as a Strategic Concern in Engineering

John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways
Leverage AI to find answers quicker than before.
Reading and curiosity are key habits for growth.
All parts of software engineering will survive AI advancements.
Focus on learning computer science fundamentals first.
Choose programming languages based on your interests.
Building personal projects can help you get noticed.
Self-taught developers can be just as capable as those with degrees.
Good leadership adapts to the situation and team needs.
The software development field is diverse and evolving.
Architecture should be treated as a strategic concern.

Coding Chats episode 58 - John Crickett and Melinda Fekete delve into the concept of feature ops, emphasizing the importance of managing code in production effectively. They discuss feature flags as a mechanism for safe testing and releasing of code, the challenges of managing feature flags, and the significance of user feedback in software development. The conversation also touches on deployment strategies like canary releases, learning from recent outages, and the benefits of testing in production. Additionally, they explore the role of feature flag providers and the trade-offs associated with adopting feature flags in software projects.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Feature Ops
02:46 Managing Feature Flags Effectively
07:41 Deployment Strategies: Canary Releases and Gradual Rollouts
12:23 The Importance of Dogfooding and User Feedback
15:05 Learning from Recent Outages
19:13 Testing in Production and Its Benefits
21:51 Managing Feature Flags at Scale
27:01 Feature Flag Providers and Their Benefits
30:50 Involving Product Teams in Feature Flag Management
31:45 Trade-offs and Downsides of Feature Flags
39:35 Exploring Related Content

Melinda's Links:
A guide on working with feature flags in code: https://docs.getunleash.io/guides/manage-feature-flags-in-code
Open-source repo: https://github.com/Unleash/unleash

John's Links:
John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett
John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett
John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways
Feature ops focuses on managing code in production effectively.
Feature flags allow for safe testing and releasing of code without redeployment.
Managing the lifecycle of feature flags is crucial for maintenance.
Canary releases and gradual rollouts help mitigate risks during deployment.
User feedback is essential for improving software products.
Recent outages highlight the need for better feature management practices.
Testing in production can catch issues that staging environments may miss.
Feature flag providers offer tools for managing flags at scale.
Trade-offs exist when adopting feature flags, especially for smaller projects.
Effective management of feature flags can empower teams and improve deployment speed.