Coder Radio

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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'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.

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

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.

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!

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

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...

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.

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 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.

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!

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 t...

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.

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 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 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!