Swizec's articles in the "opinions" category
I aim to write mindblowing emails with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them.
Below are 84 articles filed under opinions
. Enjoy ❤️
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"
Software engineers, exercise, health, and productivity
Don't worry about the hype, just get some sun, some rest, and remember to hydrate.
March 31st, 2023
The programming tutorial SEO industry is dead
20 years ago greybeards laughed at us for Googling. Now they laugh when we ask ChatGPT. But the leverage is 🚀
March 28th, 2023
Reader question: Should you learn the latest hotness?
Great question. Common concern. *What if I get stuck in a technology that isn't hot??* Or worse, burn out re-learning every new thing 😱
September 22nd, 2022
Balancing serious sidehustles and full-time work
Erik, the author of Developer Hegemony and founder of Hit Subscribe, invited me to chat about balancing sidehustles and full-time work
November 5th, 2021
Stop SHOUTING = 'shouting'
A hill I will die on 👉 global CONSTANT = 'constant' are bad
September 21st, 2021
Reader question: "When do you fix tech debt?"
Long time reader Phil asks when do you fix the tech debt you used to ship faster. Heroic efforts don't work. The real answer is "always" – a mindset of gardening.
August 17th, 2021
Tech debt is a tool
If your house was on fire, would you mow the lawn first?
August 13th, 2021
Complex vs. complicated
Would you rather work with a complex system or a complicated system? 🤔
August 3rd, 2021
Tips for a fulfilling tech career
When I dropped out of college to focus on freelancing back in 2012, I set 3 ground rules:
July 23rd, 2021
Your career needs a vision
In his book, The Art of Science and Engineering, Richard Hamming says the key to a great career is vision. What does that really look like?
July 14th, 2021
Preventing RSI for programmers
I've been computering daily for 24 years, since I was 9, and managing RSI since high school. People often ask how it never gets bad. This is the article I always wish I had written.
July 9th, 2021
How to own projects like a senior engineer
The best skill you can learn is ownership. The second best is to let go.
July 2nd, 2021
Do important work
Next time you finish a project, ask yourself: *"Might this work be important?"*. Add the polish.
June 19th, 2021
What matters in a senior engineer job interview
Degree matters if you have nothing better to show, consulting and BigTech backgrounds are negative, too many seniors can't code.
May 7th, 2021
the trashcan metaphor
April 30th, 2021
Flow good for programming, not engineering
Friend, how good are you at your best? ... Nobody cares. How good are you at your average? What about your worst?
April 24th, 2021
Can you code faster?
What slows you down most while coding? It's not lack of skill. It's not lack of ideas. It's uncertainty. Fear.
February 26th, 2021
"silicon valley is like hollywood"
and I don't mean Silicon Valley the place, I mean Silicon Valley the concept.
January 29th, 2021
What's your code for?
Perfect code that doesn't solve the problem is useless. Perfect metrics that don't serve the user are a distraction.
November 6th, 2020
How I use delegation to get more done
Productivity porn shows you how to pack more into your day. Productivity porn is wrong my friend. You need to remove things to grow.
October 23rd, 2020
Should you take a pay cut for equity
Would you take some % of your salary in bitcoin? The joke is that compared to pre-IPO equity, bitcoin is predictable and has a known value.
October 9th, 2020
Computer science is not software engineering
Wow, college was such a waste of time ... when did you ever invert a binary tree outside of an interview? Honestly I never inverted a binary tree in college either ☹️
October 2nd, 2020
Why senior engineers get nothing done
You start a new job and it's amazing. Code all day, clear objectives, easy guidelines, ship a bunch of features be a hero. Then something happens and suddenly you get nothing done. 🤔
September 11th, 2020
Why Understanding beats Knowledge
Understanding beats knowledge every day. To have a strong career, learn to understand, not just to know.
August 28th, 2020
Tech in 2021 according to a VC
August 14th, 2020
What if engineers were paid like athletes
July 31st, 2020
Why engineers are worth so much
Engineers don't do the day to day work, they build assets the business can exploit for years to come. That's the magic
July 24th, 2020
How to grow as a senior engineer or why I got a new job
June 26th, 2020
Hackers
June 22nd, 2020
Looking for the perfect light work device
May 15th, 2020
What you do while waiting
May 4th, 2020
Don't just wait around
April 24th, 2020
Your dumb ideas often work best
April 23rd, 2020
You don't *have* ideas, you develop them
April 21st, 2020
"I just need an idea"
April 20th, 2020
Stuck at home? Advance your career
March 19th, 2020
HOW great engineers hack The Process
March 6th, 2020
Why great engineers hack The Process
March 3rd, 2020
Why you should talk about engineering salaries
February 21st, 2020
Ready to build your future?
January 31st, 2020
How can you make an extra $1,000 🤔
January 15th, 2020
What could you do with an extra $1,000/month?
January 14th, 2020
Famous last words: Pfft, that's easy
January 10th, 2020
What makes you a true master
November 25th, 2019
How to recession proof your career
November 1st, 2019
How to succeed as a lead engineer – tactics and mindsets from practice
October 25th, 2019
DO more _work_ less
October 11th, 2019
San Francisco v. Europe part 2
September 16th, 2019
Thoughts on San Francisco after 2 weeks in Europe
September 11th, 2019
The code is not the goal
July 31st, 2019
Better engineer or More Effective engineer?
July 29th, 2019
Friend, go offline
July 12th, 2019
The Principle of Charity in tech
June 5th, 2019
What a hockey legend can teach you about career development
Say your boss gives you $1000 to grow your career. What do you do?
May 9th, 2019
What makes you a senior software engineer anyway?
I used to think a senior engineer was someone who gets a project, understands the context, puts their head down, and gets it done. But no. A senior engineer does so much more than just write code and design systems.
February 13th, 2019
Should you work at a startup
October 5th, 2018
How running a side business is a lot like running a marathon
July 25th, 2018
What I learned at MicroConf Growth 2018
May 10th, 2018
Working IN your career vs. ON your career
March 7th, 2018
Why everything must change every five years
February 23rd, 2018
Don't say yes when you're happy
January 17th, 2018
After a week I must begrudgingly admit VSCode is a better editor than Emacs
November 10th, 2017
Why I won't be switching to VSCode any time soon
November 3rd, 2017
How resumé-driven development shapes our industry
All that once was new is old again
October 19th, 2017
What it's like to be a statistical super minority in tech
September 12th, 2017
Best coding headphones: Bose QuietComfort 35
July 19th, 2017
First day with a new 2017 MacBook Pro
June 15th, 2017
The Trouble with Vacation
March 1st, 2017
If the first page of The Martian was written in different type systems
December 15th, 2016
Let's talk about filter bubbles
November 11th, 2016
These 19 Words are the Only Self-Help & Business Advice You Need
November 7th, 2016
Why coding is more fun than engineering
October 14th, 2016
Magic shiny paint
September 23rd, 2016
Are You an Engineer or a Developer?
September 14th, 2016
It's Just Like Knitting
August 24th, 2016
MacOS filesystem's annoying little quirk
August 23rd, 2016
The surprising difficulty of paying the US government
June 23rd, 2016
The worst software bug I've ever had to deal with as a user
February 12th, 2015
Programmers are optimists
May 25th, 2012
Why every entrepreneur should take up boxing
February 10th, 2012
Why programmers work at night
December 15th, 2011
"Startup rollercoaster" isn't even the half of it
October 25th, 2011
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"