The Programming Podcast

AI is writing more code than anyone expected. Some of it is great. A lot of it is just okay. In this episode, Danny Thompson and Leon sit down with Matt DeBergalis, CEO of Apollo GraphQL, to unpack what it will take to move from a gold rush of mediocrity to production-grade agentic experiences that users can trust. Guest Co-Host: Matt DeBergalis https://www.linkedin.com/in/debergalis/ https://www....

Senior engineers don’t “wing it.” They use mental models to turn plans into production—faster, safer, and with less drama. Danny Thompson, Leon Noel, and Kent C. Dodds break down the exact models they use: decision docs, second-order thinking, reducing cognitive load, Occam’s Razor, leaky abstractions, feature flags vs. staging, chaos engineering, AI context windows (and rot), MCP, onboarding docs...

Are you studying for hours but still not retaining anything? 🧠 It's probably not your fault, you've likely been taught to learn all wrong. In this landmark episode, we sit down with the legendary Dr. Barbara Oakley, a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Oakland University, a globally recognized expert on the science of learning, and the creator of the world's most popular online...

What do JSON and conversational AI have in common? They are the glue behind ordering coffee, booking flights, and talking to support. In our tests, about 1 out of 3 replies missed the intent until we enforced structured JSON outputs. In this episode, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel break down how to move from “cool demo” to production systems that route, escalate, and self-audit reliably. SITE https:...

Stop leaving tech conferences with just a free t-shirt and some stickers. It's time to leave with a job offer. 🚀 The difference between a successful conference and a waste of money isn't luck, it's strategy. In this episode, we break down the ultimate conference survival guide for software developers and tech professionals. Learn how to shift from a passive "Tourist Mindset"...

One phishy email to an npm maintainer set off a supply-chain scare that could’ve torched the web—yet the real on-chain damage was… cents. In this episode, we break down how a fake npm 2FA reset (from npmjs.help) led to malicious releases of popular packages like chalk and debug, how the payload hijacked browser crypto flows (monkey-patching window.ethereum, fetch, and XHR), why the blast radius st...

Two devs. Same stack. Same years in. One gets three on-sites a week; the other gets ghosted. The difference isn’t talent—it’s process. We audit your job hunt like production: inputs & controls, bottlenecks, scripts that actually get replies, and the one KPI (MC/W) that predicts interviews. SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/ Stay in Touch: 📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are y...

49,000 developers just crowned Full-Stack the #1 software developer role of 2025. We dig into the Stack Overflow Developer Survey (2025) and turn the data into an actionable career roadmap: what to learn, what to ignore, and how AI actually fits into your workflow. NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/ Stay in Touch: 📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants...

On this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel unpack the biggest programming myths that confuse developers at every level. From “AI will take all dev jobs” to “DRY at all costs,” they separate hype from reality and share hard-won lessons from real teams in production. You will hear why paper Big-O is not the whole story, how cache behavior and data size impact real perfo...

6,000 Applications. 0 Jobs. What Went Wrong? In this episode, Danny & Leon break down the recent New York Times article about the collapse of $165,000 tech jobs — and why so many new computer science graduates are struggling to find work. This one gets personal. We dig into salary expectations, the rise of AI coding tools, offshoring, and the real reasons grads are stuck. Plus, we share how ba...

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Leon Noel and Danny Thompson dive deep into the wild, twist-filled journey of Figma, from a college side project that almost became a meme generator to a $58 billion IPO.We break Figma’s story into five acts, uncovering the pivotal moments, technical breakthroughs, and business decisions that made it one of the most beloved design tools in the world. Fro...

If you're learning JavaScript in 2025, **this is the definitive roadmap** you didn’t know you needed. Whether you're just opening your first `.js` file or you’ve been dabbling and finally want to get serious, this episode of *The Programming Podcast* with Danny Thompson and Leon Noel is a *masterclass in what actually matters*. NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/ Stay in Touch: 📧 Have id...

Struggling to land software engineering interviews—or worse, landing them but not getting the callback? In this game-changing episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel break down the THRIVE framework—a strategy designed to help you crush behavioral interviews and stand out as a top-tier candidate. Danny reveals his THRIVE acronym:Targeted ResearchHonest NarrativesResults Foc...

Join hosts Danny Thompson (Director of Technology at This Dot Labs) and Leon Noel (Managing Director of Engineering at Resilient Coders) on The Programming Podcast as they dive into the AI-powered tools transforming their daily workflows—everything from productivity boosters and prompt engineering to hands-free coding and customizable models. They reflect on why "strong opinions held weakly" is a...

In this special three-act deep dive of The Programming Podcast, hosts Danny Thompson (Director of Technology at This Dot Labs) and Leon Noel (Managing Director of Engineering at Resilient Coders) unpack the roller-coaster saga of Windsurf’s attempted acquisition.- Act I covers the OpenAI offer, a jaw-dropping $3 billion deal that promised to supercharge OpenAI’s IDE ambitions, only to be derailed...

Is it WRONG to work at 4 different tech companies at the exact same time!? This is a very spicy episode, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel dive into the viral story of Soham Parekh—the engineer who somehow landed four tech jobs at the same time ., multiple times. We unpack: Ethics & Overemployment : Is it right or wrong to juggle multiple full-time roles? Viral Playbook : How Soham’s informal outre...

In this episode, Danny and Leon are joined by James Quick, Head of Developer Experience at BigCommerce, to unpack all the major announcements from Vercel Ship 2025. We cover: NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/ Stay in Touch: 📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business? Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com! 💡 Sponsor: Level Up Financia...

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel dive deep into three key topics that every developer should know right now: Vercel’s Fluid Compute — What it is, why it matters, and how a single toggle can slash your cloud costs. JavaScript .map() explained — Not just for beginners! Real-world enterprise use cases and how it protects your original data. New CSS features — D...

Struggling to learn JavaScript in 2025? You're not alone—and it's not your fault. In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Leon Noel and Danny Thompson break down the real strategies for mastering JavaScript (and TypeScript) in today’s dev landscape. From avoiding tutorial hell to embracing project-based learning, we cover everything you need to finally make progress. Whether you're...

In this episode, Danny and Leon dive into their firsthand takeaways from the AI Engineer World’s Fair in San Francisco. They share what it felt like to be among the brightest minds shaping the future of AI, why “tiny teams” are the hottest trend right now, and how rapid prototyping tools are changing the game. You’ll hear real-world use cases for AI agents (from meal ordering to personal finance a...

Is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript still enough to land a job in 2025 — especially with AI reshaping everything? Danny and Leon go all in on this question with unfiltered, experience-backed advice that every aspiring developer needs to hear.🔥 Topics we dive into:The real expectations for entry-level devs in today’s marketWhy listing HTML on your resume might actually hurt youHow to develop confidence t...

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Leon Noel and Danny Thompson dive deep into how to get the most out of tech conferences — including unique strategies used at Commit Your Code, what it really takes to build a network from scratch, and how AI is completely changing the developer landscape. From portable mini golf to prompt cards that kickstart conversations, Danny unveils how CYC is engi...

In this power-packed episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson (Director of Technology at This Dot Labs) and Leon Noel (Managing Director of Engineering at Resilient Coders) break down everything you need to know to get your first job in tech. We go deep on: - Recruiter secrets - Nailing behavioral interviews - Technical interview mindset - Salary negotiation mistakes - Job hunt strategy...

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel are joined by special guest Santiago, a machine learning engineer and teacher of the Machine Learning School cohort, for one of the most actionable and grounded AI discussions in tech today. We cut through the hype and dive deep into: - How AI is (and isn’t) replacing developers - Using AI as a co-pilot vs letting AI drive -...

"It's Not Just You!" This is one of our most powerful episodes yet. 🔥 Real advice. Real experience. Real value. Hit that like & subscribe button to support more episodes like this! Follow our guest cohosts! Jeremy Parker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrobinparker/ Pariss Chandler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pariss-chandler/ Black Tech Pipeline: https://blacktechpipeline.com/ Lea...