Typing Looks Like Typing
The problem with typing, is that it just looks like typing no matter what kind of work you're doing. If you're not looking at the person's computer screen you assume...
My obituary for programming (simonwillison.net).
Softwareengineering
From 6/5/17 in one of my notebooks I wrote down this quote from Andreesen Horowitz - AI Playbook:
AI is the new relational database, about to get into every important piece of software we write.
This seems to have mostly come true in 2025.
A Decades Long Retrospective
Then I realized that if I limited it to only a decade, I would be cutting out half the journey. Oh. My. God. This is a long time.
Things Great Engineering Managers Do
Reacts quickly, and decisively.Has a leadership philosophy. Has thought about it, a lot. Can speak at length about it.Is passionate about engineering. Is passionate about management. Understands the intersection of the two.When there is a problem, fixes it quickly.Cares about women being in tech. (Also see diversity.)Understands the engineering hierarchy,...
Simon commenting on Jeremy Scheff's post:
Yeah I feel this both ways I think. I'm not sure which camp I fall into.
I think it depends. For personal software, it's amazing, the things I knew I could build but would take FOREVER, can now be done fairly quickly.
So I get to enjoy more software abundance to satisfy my every whim.