Coder Radio

A weekly talk show taking a pragmatic look at the art and business of software development and related technologies.

When you look back at the year, a few really big things jump out for developers. Mike & Chris discuss the trends that seem to have really mattered, then debate about how things might change in 2016.

Can Web standards make mobile apps obsolete? The new generation of hybrid apps aren't your grandparents solution to code once, run everywhere. Plus why Swift is going to be big on Linux in 2016, Google has a thing with openJDK & much more!

Is the age of Apps finally coming to an end? Data points to yes & we discuss how platforms like Slack might offer more potential. Then, more web developers are switching to Linux, is this the start of a trend? Plus what caught our attention in the new iOS release, and interesting projects Google has in store for 2016.

Ang and Mike discuss business operational tools, practices & common issues, how Ang got her kids started on computers, good languages to get started with & she makes a pretty poignant comment about Linux. Mike discusses TarDisk & whether or not he recommends it & more!

We discuss a compelling case against Object-Oriented programming, is it truly all bad? Plus the cold chills the new Rails Doctrine gives us, the worrying long-term ramifications of progress over stability & convention vs configuration strategy. Plus a chat about the market position of Jetbrains’ AppCode, blaming Java & unplanning your work and travels.

A brutally honest episode. Mike and Chris air some hard learned lessons, toss out the episode playbook & tell it like it is!

Something is rotten at GitHub. We discuss the big problem they’re facing & why for most of us, we already have a backup plan. Plus why Project Rider might get you excited & how the Parse shutdown is hitting Mike.

Mike and Chris talk about bombing job interviews, picking the right Android device for development, writing code that’s easy to delete & Mike shares an Ubuntu update! Plus… Has the show forgotten about VR? A new device from Mattel might change our tune, some feedback & much more!

Mike shares his adventures in Ubuntu land this week, after a MacBook disaster. Then we discuss the implications of IBM backing Swift on their cloud. Plus some feedback, code as speech, and more!

Mike couldn’t make it this week, so we decided that with Microsoft purchasing Xamarin that this would be the perfect time to take a glance back on our coverage of Xamarin & look at how they have come to their current situation.

We break down what we see as the top motivations, the big competitive move & what Microsoft is really saying about Android with their Xamarin acquisition. Plus during the show Microsoft releases SQL server for Linux & we discuss how it all fits together in a larger plan.

Whenever we discuss Hybrid development, a big elephant is sitting in the room. This week, we give this elephant the mic. Then, reflecting on a recent Android development project, the guys discuss the sticky side of Frames. Plus an update on Mike’s Ubuntu experiment & more!

We discuss Mike’s general thoughts on ReactJS, the NY bill that would provide a tax credit for open source contributions & the interesting details in developer data. Plus some real talk about your real value, what no indie developer wants to hear about the App Store & more!

Is Google dumping to compete with Nuance as they prepare to unleash their voice API to developers for free? Mike updates us on his Linux switch adventure, his new toy & a couple of important PSAs. Plus feedback & more!

Fresh off Build 2016, we talk about everything from free Xamarian, Bash on Windows & the changing case for .NET. Plus Mike shares some assumption smashing news & much more!

Has the whole world gotten hot for bots? Slack’s recent $3.8B & Microsoft’s new Bot SDK suggests there is serious interest there. Mike and Chris share their thoughts & ask what makes a bot…. A bot? Plus the surprising math that makes us shed a tear, feedback & more!

In this episode, Noah joins Chris to talk about the whole hiring process & experiences they’ve had while also taking a look back into the past of the show to some of the more interesting topics on the matter.

Could Google be about to make a major shake up in future development for Android? We discuss the scuttlebut about Swift on Android. Plus Mike’s new mobile rig & Noah from the Linux Action Show joins for Mike’s update on his Linux Adventure & Mike gets the hard sell.

A little reflective & contemplative after a successful human forking, our hosts reflect on a well stated OO vs Functional rant, the bot frameworks that impress & the surprisingly great use case for Go. Plus the 800 pound snake in the room, a quick Linux switch update for Mike & more!

In a podcast far far away, you asked for it & this week we delivered. It’s code review time, with a twist! Plus the FUD seems strong with the second Oracle v Google trial, we attempting to do some busting, Dropbox falling back to reality & 30 years later why we still love QBasic.

Github’s new pricing has a bit of a catch, Rob Robinson says Rails is yesterday’s software in light of Swift & GO. Which we simply have to talk about. Then we jump in our time machine and dazzle you with our new term predictions & more!

We dig through the relevant bits of Google I/O, the possible anti-web move Instant Apps represent, no Kotlin & big improvements we’re excited about. Plus Mike’s take on Android Studio 2.2 & Chris’ take on what we’re all calling “services”.

Mike shares a humbling war story, then we dig into the great “Android Instant App Conspiracy”, the announcement that destroyed the .Net ecosystem & the poverty trap of software development. Plus some closing thoughts on Google vs Oracle, a neat tool of the week & a special holiday bonus extended laid back chat!

Mike & Chris have very different opinions on how interview tests should be conducted & this week they try to come to some common ground. Plus the real reasons to develop software on Linux are not the ones often cited, bit more on Google’s fair use & the master plan to get Mike to move to the west coast.

We start with some developer news of the week, then dig into the best bits from WWDC. Plus Mike shares his thoughts on some new hardware & the guys discuss the mystery of differential privacy.

It’s death by a thousand scrums this week & then admit there may be some value in frequent project communication. Then we start the machine learning discussion, talk a little Android N & more!

What is Machine Learning? How are companies & developers using it? We discuss that, the major approaches in the market & Apple’s use of Differential Privacy. Plus Mike’s new Linux desktop, some feedback & a lot more!

This week Noah steps in to host while Chris is out and cover Rails 5, Oracle’s suspicious silence around Java EE, talk about mike’s latest linux adventure, give some freelancing advice & more!

Nintendo has a hit on their hands, is this a game changer for the company? Mike & Chris discuss the big picture ramifications of Pokémon GO. Plus beer brewed by bots, our thoughts on Java EE, Spring Boot & getting PHP to really do what you want.

Mike reflects on some critical feedback, shares impressions of his new Linux PC, we announce the new Coding Challenge & more!

Mike shares his recent Linux switch experience & why he thinks it might stick this time. We chew on Verizon buying Yahoo & the grief Marissa Mayer is getting. Plus we congratulate the winner of last week’s challenge & announce the next one!

Mike & Chris rip up the thinking behind iPad-only is the new desktop Linux mantra, discuss the date of LaunchKit, announce a new coding challenge & much more!

Special guest Ryan Sipes from Mycroft joins us to discuss his ambitious projects & fulfilling the mission of an open source project. Plus our thoughts on the impending Bot revolution, the “Internet of APIs” it all depends on & the massive shift that bots could cause in the industry. We start it all off with a new Coding Challenge!

Fresh off new Agile courses Mike shares what he feels might be his core problems with Agile software development. Our thoughts on software quality in general, the big slack problem & more!

Mike and Chris share their experiences with selling yourself just enough to get your foot in the door. Is productizing yourself and your work is worth feeling a little slimy? Plus Microsoft’s move in open sourcing PowerShell, the fixed bid scam & more!

Docker quality appears to be getting worse, Mike & Chris analyze the mystery of Docker’s decline & likely causes. Plus we discuss the possibility of an AI monopoly, moving fasting & looking for a web-framework matchmaker.

The guys daydream about making the perfect developer platform, follow up a bit on Android N & grouse about Mike’s new Note getting recalled. Plus some of our speculation about the September 7th Apple event, what old unmaintained code says about you & clearing the air on Angular v2.

The world’s most egregious gadget sin is committed, why Mike still wants Star Trek gadgets, a Rust divorce, learning the fragile state of state & more!

Mike & Chris travel interdimensionally to discuss the pressure to get Swifty, marvel at Vapor.codes, witness the fall of Eclipse & the rise of Microsoft. Plus our super quick take on the iPhone 7 & more!

The growing case for Swift on the server & Java 8’s underplayed success are the two main topics this week. We also discuss Dart on Android & some platform fundamentals with renewed vigor!

Mike & Chris share hard earned lessons for the first time about the expected value in the effort we put into our various next great ideas, marketing, attending conferences & whatever “networking” is suppose to be.

We flunk and debunk the Joel test, and ponder the long tail of coder interviews gone wrong, Apple’s removal of Dash, KDevelop on windows & more!

The Dash debacle gets the full Coder this week & Mike’s got a new sweet keyboard he tells us all about. Plus how it feels to learn Javascript in a React world & more!

Mike betting on server side bots & AI, making the big jump from the MacBook to a System76 Lemur running Linux. We talk about the platform development opportunities for a small shop. Plus how to design APIs that don’t suck & more!

Let’s get real about the tools we use this week.

Ballmer is trying to pin it all on Bill, MacBook follow up & Lemur struggles.

We ponder why Docker is a dumpster fire, doubt Samsung’s new Ai Bot platform, discover Botkit & discuss killing the Scrum.

Mike is back from vacation has somethings on his mind he shares this week. Hardware follow up, customer management for devs, book recommendations & more!

Mike reviews the state of hybrid development in the last days of 2016 & chat about his new Google Home and what he’s looking forward to testing. Plus a quick chat about ethics in coding.

Mike shares his swift migration pain from over the weekend & opens up a bar in the office in honor of his new Google Home.

Mike reviews his Google Home and we discuss Google Actions, Fitbit buying Pebble & the usefulness of some of these products. Plus Mike adopts a new philosophy about remote workers!

We reflect on the trainwreck that was 2016 & what might be emerging in 2017 as a real market opportunity. It’s our last live show of the year, so we throw out the rules!

We’ve given the guys the week off after a year of hard work, so in this episode we’ll take a look back at a series of events where the guys ended up realigning their opinions. From hybrid vs native apps & developing on linux to Pokémon & Bots, a lot changed in 2016. So sit back, grab a nice warm beverage & enjoy the show!

Mike’s got three wishes for the new year, Chris has a new Echo Dot & Google has partnerships to put Assistant in your TV. Plus why Mike got rid of his office, GitHub’s near term future & how terrible code gets written by sane people.

After we answer some audience feedback and chat about the week’s Hoopla & a fresh batch of Coder Radio 2017 predictions!

Mike and Chris start things off with some traditional feedback, get into some Dart discussion & then get into the hardware throw down.

Your emails this week get us discussing & sharing some really hard learned lessons & insights. Plus Mike spends the weekend preparing to shame Chris & shares a favorite book pick.

The tools we use to do the job, Microservices Gone Wrong, the real problem with TypeScript & more!

The fear of productivity loss & the crazy things we do to avoid it, a sober look at the tablet market for developers, GitLab’s recent disaster & we bring it all home with a little time travel.

Mike reports back from his recent travels, we debate the renaissance .Net & solve all of future Mike’s problems.

Rust has a busy 2017 ahead of it, Mike ponders Java’s failure on small Internet of Things & searches for a C++ alternative, then dazzles us with the new gear he’s recently picked up.

Our C++ alternatives quest for embedded continues, taking another look at Visual Studio Code, Mozilla’s big pockets & saving the web with Qt Quick. Plus Mike’s war story, great feedback & more!

Why coding everyday makes a big difference for Mike & Chris reflects on keeping momentum to prevent project rot. Plus our first look at Java 9, hopes & fears of Web Assembly & more!

We follow up on WebAssembly, it’s not just the future, it’s already here & it might be great! Plus C# 7’s release gets us thinking & Canonical’s got us ranting.

Mike’s new client has some strict requirements so we get very practical about the tools we use, compromises made & the line we won’t cross.

Mike’s got a new testing pipeline & he’s fired up and ready to go. He shares what might be a game changer for his business. Plus we discuss the damage done by “Coding Heroes”, the value of a namespace, a handy tool & more!

Tune in for a special road edition of the show today! After Mike & Chris cover some feedback, they share their worst hire stories, eat some Apple crow & debate the end of the exodus. Plus Chris shares some surprisingly topical experiences from his Dell trip, Mike’s got a tool of the week & Jonny’s feeling the hero rage.

Wes from Linux Unplugged joins Mike to host a special edition of the show. They chat about the merits (or not!) of Electron, Mike’s week from hell & their true feelings about Javascript. Then they discuss Clojurescript, React Native, & the benefits of a more functional programming style. Plus Docker, Devops & of course the Beer of the Week!

Habitat promises full automation that travels with app. Basically it’s a great way to have an extremely lightweight “environment + your app” (hence the name) that has everything you need except the OS or OS related bits. But is this a layer of abstraction too far for Mike? Plus the chronicles of one developer’s journey of getting started with Open Source, some cool dark matter development Chris spotted at Dell & more!

Mike is betting big on Docker, Angular has a new release, JavaScript is taking the lead & Uber is playing with fire. It’s a packed episode & wraps up with the bombshell that Mike is selling his new MacBook.

After digging into some rather tempting Hoopla, Mike shares his clever solution to one of Docker’s bigger problems & manages to motivate Chris into trying it out during the show. Plus thoughts on continuing your coding education, stories of past exams gone wrong & more!

Getting fined for doing math without a license, Windows 10 S goes app store only, a Coder community project goes into production & Chris learns a hard lesson about his tools!

Mike argues you should go hybrid today & end up progressive tomorrow. The Docker reality & why Swift is a bit like Kotlin. Speaking of Kotlin we chat a bit about the Google I/O news, Project Treble, Xamarin’s Live Player & Mike’s new rig.

The “process manager from hell” is driving our listener crazy! We have advice that’s a little unconventional. Then we discuss the slow demolition of the culture of youth taking place in tech, that could be shifting everything. Plus Microsoft’s huge Git commit, Quick Designer in Qt Creator 4.3 & some follow up on Kotlin.

The open source model has won, we discuss the impact that’s having on the development industry. Plus Swift gets a little more interesting, & Chris is ready for his lady in a tube!

After Mike gets a few things off his chest, we dive into the most developer relevant announcements & news from Apple’s WWDC 2017.

Mike shares some insights into building bots & a little sample code to get you started. Plus we discuss the week’s developer news & spend a bit of time on feedback.

We discuss the week’s developer hoopla & the beard joins us to share his insights. It’s a fun episode with a range of topics, including the recent rush to GitHub by a number of open source projects.

We ponder the ethical dilemma of a developer who has replaced himself with a bot, debate the possibility of ever making money from bots & have some tough love for Apple on the iPhone’s 10th anniversary. Plus discuss System76’s new Pop!_OS & Mike’s adventures in Florida.

Mike updates on spinning up his business in Florida, we debate limiting the use of the GPL & we try to better understand the recent System76 Pop!_OS news. Plus the industry is going all in on AI & spending less and less on other types of research. Mike discusses the huge potential issue that could be facing developers down the road.

Microsoft slips a little Windows 10 into your Office365 & we discuss the huge shift they just pulled off, plus a little real talk about growing pains and doldrums & the pains of over building a system. Plus your feedback & much more!

Wes sits down with Mike to talk about Starbucks not-so-secret API, the state of the developer ecosystem & difficult challenges faced by FOSS vendors in the medical field. Plus some fantastic feedback, Mike’s true feelings about Swift & a whole lot more!

We solve some problems, and then go down the rat hole of self hacking to increase work, productivity & our health. Then we gleefully watch as Coding Bootcamps begin to collapse & discuss the misleading metric that led them to their doom. Plus Mike shares some straightforward code that solved a very annoying problem.

Mike has a huge announcement towards the end of the show. Leading up to it we discuss the case against Kotlin, the next tech after Flash to die & the obvious reason Bots are going to be big.

A special guest and creator of PiCluster joins us to discuss the open source Docker cluster management project. PiCluster is a bit of a community hit & seems to strike a great balance compared to other solutions. We’ll dig into the technologies they use and what it’s all built on, what they love working with & thoughts about growing a community. Plus some of our personal projects that are brewing & more!

Mike busts the myth of the daily standup meeting & tracks it back to its origins. Then we play a little defense for Electron, share the mind of a PMO & wax on about TypeScript. Plus a little taste of Mike’s busy week, an update on Alice & Chris’ upcoming trip.

The serverless revolution is nigh, we discuss AWS Lambda and Azure Functions, rebuilding jbot, basing the business computers around Pop!_OS & more!

Mike and Chris discuss the types of workloads that better suit Serverless Architecture systems like Lambda & when you should roll a server. Plus Mike has major hardware woes, makes a surprising move on air & Chris is left pontificating on the future of AR.

Mike takes refuge from Irma to respond to audience feedback & share some thoughts on future plans. Chris has some thoughts on hardware that will help you get more work done & neither of us are worrying about Bash on Windows.

What’s really the root cause of open source developer burnout? Plus an honest chat about Electron’s bad parts & Mike finally reveals his master plan. It’s a Coder quickie this week, with Mike back in Florida there is much to be done, including a little criticism of the iPhone X.

While Chris is away Wes joins Mike to chat FOSS Burnout & the dark side of open source communities. Plus, we continue to react to React’s recent license change, debate about the Virtual DOM & explain why React Native’s license might be more important.

Wes joins Mike to chat all things Apple. We discuss the surprising implications of the iPhone X, including the challenges of its new special shape & the exciting possibilities of ARKit. Plus, we debate FaceID and APFS, check in on HomeKit & search for the right level of abstraction for UI development.

Wes is back to talk politics and Node.js. Plus, is it finally time to kill the Web? We discuss the purity of native development & the merits of the Web. Then Mike’s got some top IT automation tips for managers, we explore concurrency, distributed systems & Elixir’s secret sauce.

After a ninja dance though some “Coder Hoopla” Chris has a go at convincing Mike he might be missing the next big app goldmine.

Kotlin seems to have a very strong future on Android & Mike and Chris debate the hype vs reality. Plus Mike review’s his new Galago Pro. Then the guys get rather excited by an astute breakdown of developer workflow breakdowns & what the next 20 years of software development methodologies might look like.

Mike walks us through Optionals & gives us a specific code example. Plus we launch a new segment long in the making, “Mike Was Right” & it’s a doozy!

Mike and Chris begrudgingly accept the fundamental problem in sticking with boring and safe platforms, debate building a brand around FLOSS, get burned by Angular & reflect on some regrets in our business. Plus SQL’s new hype, some feedback & a project pick of the week!

Mike makes the case that he and Chris are dying breeds from a bygone era that need to hunker down & prepare for the cold winter. Plus we respond to a batch of great feedback, chat some contested hoopla & wrap it all up with a bit of small business wisdom.

Mike’s back from DevFest Florida & shares something new he’s discovered, Kotlin takes a shot at Objective-C & now we can all code together, with Atom’s new trick. Note: There is some rough “skype audio” at times, we had to use a backup recording. Totally listenable still & should be better next week.

Mike gets real about the future of WebAssembly, discuss the team up of Amazon and Microsoft, the real cost of Javascript & the iOS revolt underway. Plus we share the open source projects we’re most thankful for this year.

After Mike’s big Black Friday hardware score the guys try out a little Windows 10 challenge for their workflow & walk away a bit humbled and surprised by the experience. But first Mike shares his late night session with JavaScript & the big change he’s making. Plus our pick of the week, some hoopla & more! Note: We keep making the audio better by the week. We make a switch mid-way in this episode to a new system we think sounds much better!

A new breed of platform wars is brewing, and developers and users are on the losing side more than ever. Plus Mike updates us on his recent NYC trip, a batch of your feedback, an app pick & more!

Mike shares some recent lessons he’s learned trying to scale his team, some tools they tried & the processes that have stuck. But first we kick it off with some of your feedback, a bit of Hoopla & wrap it up with a quick touch on hardware.

Microsoft makes one of their boldest moves into open source yet, Mike’s got new wheels and turns it into a chance to reflect on building for voice interfaces, Amazon’s got a new way for devs to make money & we continue to ponder the best ways to achieve CI bliss.

Mike’s spent a week with JavaScript, Apple has a big gift & that launching a new product glow. Plus Linux’s new fight, Amazon’s big wins & the things that have really gone to hell.

Mike lays it all out for 2017 and makes the case that the small independent development model is fundamentally doomed. We spend the last Coder of the year being very honest about what hasn’t worked in our businesses, about the limitations that life and circumstances put on us all & how we try to make the very best of the hand we’re dealt. It’s not a typical end of year episode, but it might be the most important.

After a great batch of feedback we make some bold predictions for 2018, and it’s not your dad’s crystal ball this year.

Code linting is a way to increase code quality & Mike’s standardized his team on one tool. He shares what they’re doing, why they’re doing it & the impact it has made. Plus the brutal life cycle of JavaScript, the exaggerated death of microservices & more!

Mike and Chris review predictions from years past & check on how well they’ve aged. Plus we take a look at Microsoft’s big picture strategy with .Net & now PowerShell for every system.

A special live on location edition of the show, we talk new gear, workflows & how developers can turn a bad situation around.

Mike’s got a Greenfield project he’s fired up & a tale of woes to go along with it. Chris inspires a mini-revolt over the weekend & both the guys have some remarks for the week’s Hoopla.

Why the hell did Microsoft open source PowerShell Core, .Net Core, Visual Studio Code? What could possibly be in it for them? Chris goes onsite to ask what’s been on everyone’s mind & figure out what their angle is. Plus the massive leaps Kotlin seems to be making, your questions, our answers & more!

Mike may have cracked the testing pitch, the harsh reason the Junior Developer is dying & a nice batch of audience questions and follow up. This week’s Coder Radio is just like mom’s cookin’, but with a taste of Kotlin.

Mike’s back from a conference in New York & to say he’s got a few things on his mind is putting it mildly. Strap in as we rip through myths, lies & salesmen.

Chris is on the road & Mike’s been reflecting. Plus we answer some of your questions, which snowball into some much larger discussions. Then Mike’s made a list & he’s checking it twice.

It’s a special Coder Super show with big announcements & we look back at five years of Coder Radio. We have witnessed a massive shift of power & it’s been happening right under developers noses. From the slowly won battle for control of the server, to Amazon’s control over the Internet.

Mike and Chris find themselves at similar forks in the road with their business. And they both share raw observations from the front lines of some hard choices. Plus some weekly Hoopla, listener questions, and more!

Sun Microsystems was fertile ground for what might be the largest developer upset in ten years. We look back at some of the real innovations Sun brought us, discuss the latest developments in Oracle's suit against Google, and the massive shift Microsoft announced today. This is one of those episodes we'll be referencing back to for quite a while.

What is focus for the software industry? And is focus always a good thing, or can it lead to tunnel vision? Plus we spend a bit more time saluting Sun Microsystems for their contribution to our industry. Plus some feedback, a bit of weekly Hoopla, and more!

What we can learn from Mike's first business failing in 2014? Mike shares some necessary balance to today’s celebrity CEO "stories". And we discuss how having naive expectations, avoiding conflict, and a lack of focus can sneak up on you and hurt your business. Also some tips on how to change your expectations, embrace conflict, and maybe even be a bit ruthless.

We revisit IBM's total dominance over the PC industry in the early 80s, how they got there, and how we can apply the IBM model to current events. Plus a batch of your feedback, and a defeated discussion about the state of all desktop operating systems and hardware kicked off by Apple's taking our beer away.

The death of desktop apps has reached the next stage, but the long transition to WebAssembly is going to hurt, and why the crushing demand for good enough will force us all to live a life of "Progressive Webbie Things".

Mike and Chris have a workflow hangover, hit rock bottom, and bounce back with a new understanding. Plus the creeping revelation that our future is embed.