Develop Yourself

A junior developer who got hired at a startup used AI non-stop to keep up. It worked for weeks until he crashed and burned. He'd built a house of cards that he couldn't keep up. The AI tools went in doom loops or just added more sloppy code that his team wouldn't accept. Turns out they hired a prompt engineer instead of a coder. We're in uncharted territory my friends. You can&...

3 traps to avoid in your career, that I nearly fell for: 1. The Framework Developer Trap 2. The Developer in a Hoodie Trap ( might be the most surprising revelation for many aspiring programmers) 3. The Hype-Driven Development Trap Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q499M9kl Send us a text Shameless Plugs 👉 Build Your First Website in 30 minute...

Matt Watson, who scaled VIN Solutions to a $150 million exit, shares his journey from coding to building products that make a real impact in the business world. We talk about: Why most developers fail at launching products What it means to be a product-minded engineer How AI is exposing weak developers The importance of sales, customer empathy, and learning in public “Your code isn’t the product....

This episode introduces a weekend project that will give you authentic experience working with existing code—a crucial skill that most tutorials and coding platforms simply don't teach.  Using Kyle Simpson's YouPeriod GitHub repository , you'll learn to navigate a codebase written by someone else, which is exactly what you'll do in your first development job. This particular pr...

Have you ever wondered what data scientists and engineers actually do all day? Forget what you've seen in movies – it's not all neural networks and fancy algorithms. Ryan Varley, Engineering Fellow at Magnite and experienced data leader, pulls back the curtain on the rapidly evolving world of data science and engineering.  The real work often involves what he colorfully describes as &quo...

Interviewing is arguably the highest paying skill you can have as a developer. I don't think this is fair but it is reality. I've taken part in well over 100 interviews both as an interviewee and interviewer. I've worked with dozens of developers to ace their interviews and increase their salaries by tens of thousands of dollars. This is not for developers looking to get into Big Te...

These principles don't just create pretty code—they reduce bugs, simplify updates, and prevent real-world problems like the $10,000 mistake I made early in my career. Yeah, that was not a fun one. Check out https://www.dofactory.com/javascript/design-patterns/adapter if you want to learn more patterns. PS - I write unfiltered advice for early career developers here: 👉 Real Talk JS Send us a...

In this Office Hours Q&A, I got some pretty interesting questions: Should you lie on your resume to trick the ATS and get more interviews? If you’re building websites with tools like Squarespace, does it count as real experience—or are you cheating yourself? Is a master’s degree in computer science worth it if you already have some tech skills? I also share thoughts on how to get experience th...

The software development market didn't die, it's just unrecognizable. Let's go over 8 harsh pieces of advice that will help you as a career changer to make a successful switch into a career as a software developer. PS. If you're a front-end developer looking to expand your skills, grab the Node Express Starter Kit here . Have a question for the Friday Q&A show? Submit it th...

Whatever you do, don’t learn to code. The market is over-saturated. AI took your job. There is no hope. But then you meet someone like Jacob, a young dad who was delivering food a year ago and just landed his first dev job without submitting a single application. Is his story typical? No. But then few stories are. At Parsity.io , we've seen CS grads take up to a year to get hired. We've...

Got a question you want answered on the show? Drop it here: Ask Your Question On today's show: " I’m currently a mid-level product manager thinking of switching to software engineering. Is that too ambitious?" “Where do I get good at interview practice? Leetcode seems unrealistic. Is there something more practical?” “Should I go all in on C# or .NET instead? Or maybe get a CS degree...

Learning data structures and algorithms (DSA) isn't JUST a smart interview skill, it will boost your confidence as a software engineer, give you a deeper understanding of computer science fundamentals and they can even be fun once you know how to use them. If you're self teaching or just starting out with code, they can be intimidating. They don't have to be. I break down a pretty c...

Check out this beginner project to use AI with HTML and JS 👇 Grab the project here I'm no AI hater but I am getting so tired of the dialogue online I read from people who claim that AI is making developers 2, 3 or 10x more productive. Google's CEO recently came out with a sobering statistic: AI has made their engineers 10% more productive. ( source ) 10%. This is still massive but no wh...

Have you ever felt like the weakest link on your development team? You're not alone. The moment you land your first developer job, you're likely to face the crushing weight of comparison. Your teammates seem to know everything while your mind fills with doubts about your abilities. Seven years ago, this pressure nearly drove me out of the industry despite earning more money than ever bef...

What do engineering leaders really think about bootcamp grads? Why are so many developers so stressed? Is it even worth learning to code in 2025? Michael Greenspan pulls back the curtain on the realities of engineering leadership, interviewing and the state of the industry, drawing from his extensive experience as both a software engineer and engineering manager before becoming a coach for burnt-o...

I spent a few years as an engineering manager, and my buddy Zubin, a former Google engineer, is currently hiring developers at his company. Between the two of us, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the totally avoidable when it comes to technical interviews. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on what really happens during interviews. What are hiring managers actually looking for? What are th...

Ever feel like you missed your chance to break into tech? That 30 marks some invisible deadline for career reinvention? I've been there—and I'm here to tell you it's absolutely false. My journey from addiction to software engineering began in my thirties , while juggling two kids and a full-time job. The truth about learning to code after 30 isn't sugar-coated: you're play...

What happens when software engineers rely too heavily on AI-assisted coding tools? Brian and Zubin (an ex-Google engineer) dive deep into what they call "The 70% Problem" – the phenomenon where AI coding tools excel at initial scaffolding but falter when tackling the crucial final 30% of engineering work. Drawing from Addy Osmani's insightful article, these experienced developers sh...

What happens when a music educator with performance anxiety decides to become a software developer? Anne discovered coding through The Odin Project and immediately recognized a familiar pattern-based thinking from her music background. "I fell in love with the process of coding, the community of developers," she explains.  Despite being an introvert with social anxiety, she forced hersel...

AI didn’t kill bootcamps — shallow learning did. So what skills actually matter now that building a CRUD app is a commodity? And can you learn them without working at a company or getting a CS degree? In this episode, I’ll break down why the bootcamp model no longer works, what’s replacing it, and how to develop the old school engineering mindset that will set you apart in the AI era — even if you...

Yasemin, a senior front-end developer with a decade of experience, shares insights on career progression in front-end development and how the transition from junior to senior is more about mindset than technical skills. She discusses her journey from being task-focused to product-minded while offering practical advice for developers at all stages. • The junior-to-senior transition • Front-end inte...

Chris, a mentee at Parsity was feeling a bit down and asked me straight up what I think about the future of coding careers. I had to really think about it. With headlines screaming about AI taking our jobs and markets being oversaturated, it's enough to make anyone question their path. But what if the doom and gloom narrative isn't matching reality? In this candid episode, I tackle the q...

A rant on the myth of developer productivity with AI and my experience in vibe coding hell with a team of senior engineers. - Why Vibe Coding is great for prototyping and terrible for real software - Why we still need junior developers - Why you should be wary of loud expert beginners online - What skills you ACTUALLY need as a software engineer in the AI era Send us a text Shameless Plugs 👉 Buil...

Too many early career coders I’ve met approach landing a job like interview prep. They study LeetCode, read system design books and do mock interviews. 1 problem: They have 0 interviews. At Parsity.io we’ve coached dozens of developers from zero to hired. Coding is hard, trust me. Getting someone to take a chance on you as a career-switcher is much more difficult and requires a thoughtful (and ver...

You want to learn to code because you want more money. Let's just be honest about it. First off - there are many other ways to make a desirable income without learning a difficult skill like coding. You can do sales. You could be a product manager. Maybe start an illegal gambling den? Have you considered selling large quantities of drugs perhaps? If you do decide to create software for money,...