The Cynical Developer

Microservices promised scalability and flexibility. But for most teams, have they delivered? James takes a critical look at the microservices hype.

Too many meetings, too little work getting done. James rants about the meeting culture plaguing software teams.

Technical debt accumulates in every codebase. James discusses who's responsible for creating it and who ultimately pays the price.

Software estimates are notoriously unreliable. James explores why this is the case and what we can do about it.

Being busy isn't the same as being effective. James discusses what separates truly productive teams from those just spinning their wheels.

Everyone's talking about AI making developers more productive. But what's the reality? James dives into the hype vs. reality of AI-assisted development.

Agile gets blamed for a lot of failures, but is Agile really the problem? James argues that leadership failures are often the real culprit.

What does it really mean to be a senior developer? James explores the disconnect between titles and actual skills in the industry.

James takes a cynical look at the current state of software development in 2026. What's working, what's broken, and what needs to change?

Welcome back to The Cynical Developer! In this episode, James introduces Season 2 and discusses what's coming up in the new season.

In this episode we talk about JetBrains Space, with Valerie Andrianova.
 
Contacting Valerie Andrianova
Website: https://www.jetbrains.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/va_leriya
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-andrianova-1172031a/
Blog: https://blog.jetbrains.com/author/valerie-andrianova/
Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about Code Reviews with Jordan Ambra   Contacting Jordan Ambra   Website: https://www.serenity.software Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanambra LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanambra/   Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/)

In This episode we talk with Lee Mallon about the Developer Life cycle   Contacting Lee Mallon   Website: http://www.rarely.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/leemallon LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/leemallon   Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/)   Music used during guest introduction - "Action Time" by Muz Station Productions (https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/audio/music/rock/action-trailer-music-pack-53553)

In this episode we talk with Nigel Cannings about Deep fakes... or do we... is this even us, are you even you?

Contacting Nigel Cannings

Website: http://www.dointelligentvoicewonky.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/intelligentvox

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelcannings

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by https://configcat.com/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this returning episode we introduce a returning guest Matt Yonkovit, who was on the show back in November 2019, on episode 127 about Automation leading us astray! Matt is back to talk to us about the changes happening in the Open Source sphere...

Register for Percona Live Online 2021 today for FREE! - https://www.percona.com/live/conferences

Contacting Matt Yonkovit

Website: http://www.dowonky.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MYonkovit

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myonk

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by ConfigCat...

In this episode we talk about PayPal with Drew Angell

Contacting Drew Angell Twitter: https://twitter.com/angelleye LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akangell/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode with talk about Spring with Laurentiu Spilca

Contacting Laurentiu Spilca Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurspilca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren%C5%A3iu-spilc%C4%83-01a931107/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/laurentiuspilca

Get Laurentiu's book on Spring Spring Security in Action: https://www.manning.com/books/spring-security-in-action?query=Laurentiu%20Spilca&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=cynicaldeveloper&utm_content=raffle

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about Svelte with Mark Volkmann.

Contacting Mark Volkmann Website: https://mvolkmann.github.io/ Blog: https://mvolkmann.github.io/blog/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-volkmann-28466/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mark_volkmann

Get Mark#s book on Svelte and Sapper Svelte and Sapper in Action: https://www.manning.com/books/svelte-and-sapper-in-action

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk to Benjamin Harding about the fact that being a developer is more the coding.

Contacting Benjamin Harding Website: http://benharding.co.nz/ Github: https://github.com/BenjaminHarding LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-harding-10aa2360/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk to Sam Schutte about leadership for developers.

Contacting Sam Schutte Website: https://samuelschutte.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/unstoppablesoft

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about some truths that new developers should be aware of with Dan Moore.

Contacting Dan Moore Website: https://letterstoanewdeveloper.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickMcFadin

Get the book USA: https://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484260739 Rest of the World: https://www.apress.com/gp/book/9781484260739

DISCOUNT CODES FOR THE BOOK GiveMeMoore08 - good through Aug 31 2020 GiveMeMoore09 - good Sep 1 through Sep 30 2020

Other Links The Secrets of Consulting, by Gerald Weinberg: http://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/Consulting_Secrets.html The T-Shaped Developer: htt...

In this episode we talk about Cassandra 4.0 with Patrick McFadin.

Contacting Patrick McFadin Website: https://cassandra.apache.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickMcFadin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-mcfadin-53a8046/ Datastax: https://www.datastax.com/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talking about Microservices with Christian Horsdal

WIN A COPY OF MICROSERVICES IN .NET 2nd EDITION To win a copy enter the draw here: https://cynical.dev/microservices2ndedition

Contacting Christian Horsdal Website: https://www.horsdal-consult.dk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/chr_horsdal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianhorsdal Book: https://www.manning.com/books/microservices-in-net-core-second-edition

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talking about developer estimates with Aaron Upright

Contacting Aaron Upright Website: https://www.zenhub.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronupright/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImAaronUpright

Contacting Zen Hub LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4820421/admin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenHubHQ

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talking about authoring books for developers with Philip Keily

Contact Philip Keily

Twitter: https://twitter.com/philip_kiely YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvt-DiQlQTpdVDcpPa4EjLA Website: https://philipkiely.com/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about Augmented Reality with Connell Gauld

Contact Connell Gauld

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connell-gauld-95a56b7b

Contact Zapper

Website: https://www.zappar.com/ Blog: https://www.zappar.com/blog Twitter: https://twitter.com/zapparapp YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/zappartv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zappar/

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about dashboards and grafana with Raj Dutt.

Contact Raj Dutt

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radutt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nopzor Blog: https://grafana.com/author/raj/

Contact Grafana

Grafana: https://grafana.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grafana/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/grafana LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grafana-labs/ GitHub: https://github.com/grafana/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYCwgQAMm9sTJv0rgwQLCxw

Episode Editing by - RJJ Software Ltd (https://rjj-software.co.uk/ )

In this episode we talk about OpenStack with Tytus Kurek

Contact Tytus Kurek

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tkurek/

Contact Canonical

Website: https://canonical.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/canonical

In this episode we talk about Software and the Apocolypse, with Ian Reynolds

Contact Ian Reynolds

Website: https://www.zibtek.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/just_solve LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianjhreynolds/ Github: https://github.com/IanReynolds-Zibtek

In this episode we speak with Todd Gardner about Modern Development for Modern Developers

Contact Todd Gardner

Website: https://todd.mn/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/toddhgardner LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/clifford-agius Github: https://github.com/toddhgardner

Contact TrackJs

Website: https://https://trackjs.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/trackjs

Contact Request Metrics

Website: https://https://requestmetrics.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_requestmetrics YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIklNDcnPT8_eVFM1oOoQyA

Other useful links

Pubc...

In this episode we talk about Pilots, Prothetics and Programming with Cliff Agius, this is part 2 of 2

Find part one here: Episode 137 - Piloting .Net Prosthetics pt.1

Contact Clifford Agius

Website: https://www.cliffordagius.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CliffordAgius LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/clifford-agius Github: https://github.com/CliffAgius

In this episode we talk about Pilots, Prothetics and Programming with Cliff Agius, this is part 1 of 2

Contact Clifford Agius

Website: https://www.cliffordagius.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CliffordAgius LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/clifford-agius Github: https://github.com/CliffAgius

In this episode we're join by two guests, Zac Braddy and Jamie Taylor to discuss what developers goals, and what we're doing in the next 12 months or more.

Contact Jamie Taylor

Website: https://www.gaprogman.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dotNetCoreShow LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jamie-taylor-57602959 GitHub: https://github.com/gaprogman Blog: https://dotnetcore.gaprogman.com

Contacting Zac Braddy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZackerTheHacker Github: https://github.com/zacbraddy CV: https://zackerthehacker.com/ Medium: https://medium.com/@zacharybraddy React in motion course: https://www.manning.co...

In this episode we are talking about learning to code and changing careers will Ed Hazledine

Contacting Ed Hazeldine Website: https://edthecoder.dev/ Twitter: https://aqoc.dev/ed_the_coder

A question of code Podcast Website: https://aqoc.dev/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/aqocode

In this episode we talk with Aaron Upright, about creativity for developers, yes you can be creative!

Contacting Aaron Upright Website: https://www.zenhub.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronupright/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImAaronUpright

Contacting Zen Hub LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4820421/admin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenHubHQ

In this episode we are joined by Juval Löwy to discuss the question Do Developers needs Architects?

Contacting Juval Löwy website: https://www.idesign.net/

Contacting Anthony Cosgrave website: https://imtoospexy.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonycosgrave

A study currently being run by the NHS in the UK to gather data about Inflammatory Bowel Disease https://www.predicct.co.uk/

Good examples of recent and new social/socially assistive robots: http://stevietherobot.com/ https://diligentrobots.com/moxi/ https://www.herts.ac.uk/kaspar https://www.furhatrobotics.com/furhat/

Recommend book on the potential future of AI and Healthcare: https://drerictopol.com/book/deep-medicine/

Upcoming consumer home robots: https://www.mistyrobotics.com/robots/ https://us.aibo.com/<...

In this episode we are talking about why projects fail with Ron Lichty and Mickey Mantle.

Contacting Ron Lichty:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronlichty

Website: https://ronlichty.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronlichty/

Contacting Mickey Mantle:

Website: http://mmantle.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmantle/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mwmantleCA

Managing the Unmanagable book: http://www.managingtheunmanageable.net/

In this episode we are at Percone Live Europe, we are joined by Pavel Genov and we are here to talk about migrating from on prem and dedicated servers to cloud.

Contact Jobin Augustine:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jobinaugustine/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jobinau

github: https://github.com/jobinau/

Sign up and win a digital copy of The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th Anniversary Edition

Enter at the following URL: https://cynical.dev/pragmaticprogrammer01

Links

In this episode we are at Percone Live Europe, we are joined by Pavel Genov and we are here to talk about migrating from on prem and dedicated servers to cloud.

Contact Pavel Genov:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pafelin

Github: https://github.com/pafelin

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavel-genov-84817549/

Website: https://www.pepper.com/

Sign up and win a digital copy of The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th Anniversary Edition

Enter at the following URL: h...