Summary:

In this episode of the Overcommitted Podcast, host Bethany and co-host Brittany Ellich dive into software engineering education with Sam Rose, a developer educator at Ngrok. Sam shares his journey from software engineering to education, emphasizing his innovative approach to improving programmer productivity through visual interactive essays that simplify complex technical concepts like large language models (LLMs). He also discusses his work on prompt caching, aiming to enhance software projects by making technical knowledge more accessible to engineers and practitioners.

The conversation explores Sam's unique teaching methods, focusing on visualization and interaction as key tools in software development and career growth within tech careers. Sam reflects on his transition from an engineering role to an educator, sharing insights into the challenges of this career shift, the importance of feedback, and how his personal experiences influence his work. The episode concludes with a playful segment inspired by Sam's educational approach, highlighting the integration of engineering culture with interactive learning.

Tune in for an engaging discussion that blends software engineering, education, and work-life balance, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in advancing their tech career and embracing innovative learning strategies.

Takeaways:

• "If you truly understand something and you tinker with it, the mental model you end up with should be reasonably accurate."
• "Don't say 25 words if you can do it in 15."
• "Teaching has always felt very challenging in a really privileged way."

Links:

• Prompt caching article: https://ngrok.com/blog/prompt-caching/
• Bartosz Ciechanowski: https://ciechanow.ski/
• Load balancing article: https://samwho.dev/load-balancing/
• Autism diagnosis article: https://samwho.dev/blog/getting-an-autism-diagnosis/
• Having a baby article: https://samwho.dev/blog/having-a-baby/
• Write that blog article: https://writethatblog.substack.com/p/sam-rose-on-technical-blogging)
• The square hole girl video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUbIkNUFs-4

Hosts:

• Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev
• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com

Summary

In this episode of the Overcommitted Podcast, hosts Brittany, Bethany, and Erika dive deep into the realities of software development with guest Robby Russell. They explore the critical challenges of maintaining legacy code and managing technical debt, emphasizing the impact on programmer productivity and long-term sustainability of software projects. Robby shares his extensive experience, including his journey creating Oh My ZSH, highlighting the importance of documentation, testing, and fostering a collaborative engineering culture. The discussion also covers balancing personal and professional commitments, an essential aspect of career growth in tech. Listeners will gain practical insights into navigating software engineering challenges while sustaining work-life balance. The episode wraps up with a fun segment on current tech obsessions from all participants.

Links

• Planet Argon: https://www.planetargon.com/

• Oh My Zsh: https://ohmyz.sh/

• Maintainable Podcast: https://maintainable.fm/

• On Rails Podcast: https://onrails.buzzsprout.com/

• Robby’s Blog: https://robbyonrails.com/

• Robby’s Band: https://mightymissoula.com/

• Commit Goods Store: commitgoods.com

• d’Oh My Zsh: https://medium.com/free-code-camp/d-oh-my-zsh-af99ca54212c

• Stop Pretending You’re the Last Developer: https://robbyonrails.com/articles/2025/07/16/stop-pretending-youre-the-last-developer/

• Internal Tooling Maturity Ladder: https://robbyonrails.com/articles/2025/08/13/internal-tooling-maturity-ladder/

• Diataxis: https://diataxis.fr/

Hosts

• Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev

• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28

• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com

• Erika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead

Summary

In this insightful episode of the Overcommitted Podcast, hosts Erika, Bethany, and Brittany tackle the critical issue of burnout in software projects and software engineering, especially amid the surge of AI advancements and remote work. They dive into how the evolving programming landscape affects programmer productivity and well-being, highlighting alarming statistics that show 66% of tech workers struggling with burnout symptoms.

The conversation sheds light on the balance required between ambitious career growth in tech careers and maintaining work life balance through clear communication and strong boundaries. They discuss how AI influences software development and collaboration while emphasizing the importance of psychological safety within engineering culture to prevent burnout.

Listeners will gain valuable insights into managing the pressures of tech work, recognizing when to push back against unrealistic expectations, and sustaining passion in programming careers. The episode closes with a fun segment featuring bold predictions about the future of software engineering, reflecting the hosts' camaraderie and forward-thinking outlook.

Takeaways

• 66% of tech workers report burnout symptoms
• Burnout arises from work pressures and intrinsic factors like job insecurity
• Setting boundaries and effective communication are crucial for preventing burnout

Tune in for an honest, relatable discussion about navigating software development challenges and fostering a healthy engineering culture.

Links

• Context > Prompt: https://ruben.substack.com/p/context-is-all-you-need?triedRedirect=true

• Psychological safety episode: https://overcommitted.dev/imposter-syndrome-in-software-engineering/

• Glue work article by Tanya Reilly: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

• Gas Town article: https://steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-gas-town-4f25ee16dd04

• How they use Claude Code article: https://blog.sivaramp.com/blog/how-creator-of-claude-code-uses-claude-code/

Hosts

• Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev

• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28

• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com

• Erika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead