I am often asked what I mean when I say that developers spend most of their time figuring the system out. Let’s unpack the statement.
The Case for ‘Developer Experience’
How are developers supposed to manage and coordinate fast-moving, heterogeneous systems including maintenance & operations — and free themselves to build?
The 10 Best Practices for Remote Software Engineering
At face value, when we think of developer productivity we might think of effectiveness in time management, communication, and task completion.14 Although we are drawn to personal workflow or time management tools, and learning secrets to improving our productivity, ironically this quest for the holy grail can sometimes take us off course and be a detriment to our productivity. The problem is that accomplishing tasks or having a filled up schedule does not necessarily equate to productivity. Creating a formulaic working strategy, as was common in the last century, does not either.a,8,13 Productivity is less a quality that can be easily measured,b controlled, or improved directly with tools, but instead is a human element that manifests from developer happiness.
Why embracing complexity is the real challenge in software today
In the midst of industry discussions about productivity and automation, it’s all too easy to overlook the importance of properly reckoning with complexity.
Why developers using AI are working longer hours
Studies find AI helps developers release more software—while logging longer hours and fixing problems after the code goes live
Measuring developer productivity? A response to McKinsey
The consulting firm came up with a methodology they claim can measure software developer productivity. But that measurement comes at a high price – and we offer a more sensible approach.
The developer’s dilemma
When it comes to making money, software developers are an odd bunch. Developers produce code, and code is in high demand. At a glance, it…
How teams build – Linear
AI usage patterns in software teams: who is adopting AI, how it reshapes where teams spend their time, and how much more they ship.
Complexity and Strategy | HackerNoon
I struggled with how to think about complexity through much of my career, especially during the ten years I spent leading Office development. Modeling complexity impacted how we planned major releases, our technical strategy as we moved to new platforms, how we thought about the impact of new technologies, how we competed with Google Apps, how we thought about open source and throughout “frank and open” discussions with Bill Gates on our long term technical strategy for building the Office applications.
Theory and Memory: Two Forces Shaping Software Team Knowledge
How insights from cognitive science and social psychology explain why software knowledge is so hard to preserve
Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026
More than 30K technologists from 169 countries have shared their thoughts with us, and now it’s time to share everything we’ve learned with you. So let’s dive into this year’s Annual Developer Survey.
Things end users care about but programmers don't
A list of things I've noticed are important for end users but hard for programmers to understand or implement
Programmer as wizard, programmer as engineer
Context matters. Sometimes we need to get things done, sometimes we need to build things to last.
Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity
We conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand how early-2025 AI tools affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers working on their own repositories. Surprisingly, we find that when developers use AI tools, they take 19% longer than without—AI makes them slower.
Study finds AI tools made open source software developers 19 percent slower
Coders spent more time prompting and reviewing AI generations than they saved on coding.
How finishing what you start makes teams more productive and predictable
Hot takes and cold truths on software, startups, and the lies we tell ourselves.