HTML All The Things - Web Development, AI, and Developer Careers

AI is easy to start using, but getting good at it takes practice. In this episode, Matt and Mike break down the AI basics everyone should learn first, from improving your prompts and knowing when AI needs to search the web to verifying important answers and avoiding AI overload. Whether you're using ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or another AI tool, these tips will help you build better habits and get more useful results.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/ai-basics-learn-these-tips-first

Is AI coding making technical debt worse, or could it help us finally clean it up? In this edition of the Web News, Matt and Mike debate how tighter deadlines, unchecked code, and AI’s context limits affect maintainability - and whether clean code still matters when AI can navigate the mess.

Inspired by this r/webdev discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1wi3mi5/is_vibe_coding_creating_a_hidden_technical_debt/

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/is-ai-coding-making-technical-debt-worse

Every once in a while, a new app actually sticks and changes how you work. In this episode, Mike shares the developer and productivity apps that have earned a permanent spot in his workflow, including the Aside AI Browser, Orca Agent IDE, OrbStack, Aerospace, Raycast, and Niagara Launcher. We dig into AI-powered browser automation, managing multiple coding agents, remote development from your phone, lightweight Docker alternatives, keyboard-first macOS workflows, and minimalist Android setups.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/my-favorite-developer-and-productivity-apps-right-now

Use our Scrimba affiliate link (https://scrimba.com/?via=htmlallthethings) for a 20% discount!! Full details in show notes.

Can AI actually plan a good vacation? Matt recently used ChatGPT and Gemini to help plan a trip to the UK, from sightseeing and transportation to fitting everything into a packed itinerary. We break down what AI got right, where it completely missed the mark, and why the best travel planning still combines AI with Google Maps, social media, and advice from real people.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/i-let-ai-help-plan-my-vacation-heres-how-it-went

AI coding tools can generate huge amounts of functional code in seconds, but does that mean developers no longer need to learn how to code? In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss how aspiring and junior developers can use AI coding agents as both builders and tutors - following their curiosity, learning the concepts behind generated code, and deciding how much manual coding knowledge they actually need to retain. They also explore the growing challenge of balancing traditional programming skills with agentic coding skills, especially when preparing for developer jobs and technical interviews.

Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/dont-just-vibe-code-learn-while-you-code

Use our Scrimba affiliate link (https://scrimba.com/?via=htmlallthethings) for a 20% discount!! Full details in show notes.