Tony Alicea

Don't Imitate Understand

Technology EN ↓ 4 episodes

Don’t Imitate, Understand is a podcast by Tony Alicea, bestselling Udemy and Pluralsight author and creator of JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts. Each episode helps developers grow from Dev → Lead → Architect through deep, practical conversations about modern web development, AI, architecture, and leadership. No hype. No buzzwords. Just real understanding, the kind that makes you a better coder, thinker, and teammate.🎧 New episodes weekly on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.💡 Learn more at dontimitate.dev

Author

Tony Alicea

Episodes

Losing the Joy of Coding (Dev → Lead → Architect #4) 03.02.2026 13:36

In the age of LLMs, if you were a dev who enjoyed writing every line of code, you may find yourself losing joy in the job. How can you help yourself and your team to stay motivated, and not lose joy in the age of LLM code generation? Subscribe to my newsletter: https://dontimitate.dev/newsletter/ Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyalicea/

Stop Adding AI To Bad Process (Dev → Lead → Architect #3) 26.11.2025 14:12

In this episode, we talk about how adding LLMs to bad processes only makes it worse, and how to look at your process holistically in order to get the best results from AI-generated coding workflows. Check out my new site, on for Black Friday!: https://dontimitate.dev/

Being an Abstraction Breaker (Dev → Lead → Architect #2) 12.11.2025 13:24

In this episode, Tony talks about how growing from dev → lead → architect means understanding how the tools we use really work, because web development is an ecosystem of leaky abstractions. He gives some concrete tips on how to become the abstraction breaker on your team. Become a Founding Member of DIU's new All-Access Mentorship subscription here: https://tonyalicea.dev/all-access

Dev → Lead → Architect #1: Growing Your Career in the Age of AI 04.11.2025 13:42

In this first episode, Tony Alicea talks about how the AI era is reshaping developer careers, and what skills matter most as you move from dev → lead → architect. Grab the new course on Understanding Modern JavaScript Frameworks: https://tonyalicea.dev/jsframeworks Book a 1-on-1 coaching session: https://dontimitateunderstand.com/l/coaching/980612/coaching Book a team coaching session: https://don...