<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[swizec.com RSS Feed]]></title><description><![CDATA[Swizec shares software engineering lessons from production in his books, articles, talks, and workshops]]></description><link>https://swizec.com</link><generator>GatsbyJS</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:31:26 GMT</lastBuildDate><item><title><![CDATA[Watch people work]]></title><description><![CDATA[We talk a lot about outcomes over outputs and how engineers are supposed to get us over the water, not blindly build a bridge because someone asked for a bridge. But how do you do that in practice?]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/watch-people-work/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/watch-people-work/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Frustration Driven Development]]></title><description><![CDATA[Frustration is your greatest engineering asset. What do you do the 5th time someone asks for the same damn thing yet again?]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/frustration-driven-development/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/frustration-driven-development/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Software engineer interviews for the age of AI]]></title><description><![CDATA[Maybe AI will replace engineers, I don't know. Self-driving cars were just around the corner for 50 years. Until then we've got shit to do and engineers to hire.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineer-interviews-for-the-age-of-ai/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/software-engineer-interviews-for-the-age-of-ai/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The best engineers just get shit done, sometimes with AI]]></title><description><![CDATA[The best engineers I know never talk about their AI setup. The worst engineers I know only talk about their AI setup.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-best-engineers-just-get-shit-done-sometimes-with-ai/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-best-engineers-just-get-shit-done-sometimes-with-ai/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Taming chaos is a learnable skill]]></title><description><![CDATA[How you approach software engineering makes it harder or easier to handle interruptions and other chaos. Writing a behavioral interview made me realize this is a learnable skill!]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/taming-chaos-is-a-learnable-skill/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/taming-chaos-is-a-learnable-skill/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Put scope on your resume]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your resume titles don't matter. Just tell me what did you do.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/put-scope-on-your-resume/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/put-scope-on-your-resume/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Probably the realest thing I ever wrote]]></title><link>https://swizec.com/blog/probably-the-realest-thing-i-ever-wrote/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/probably-the-realest-thing-i-ever-wrote/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Users buy your service, not your code]]></title><description><![CDATA[You might enjoy this podcast episode. Sylvain and I talked about owning production in a world where AI writes the code.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/users-buy-your-service-not-your-code/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/users-buy-your-service-not-your-code/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[GeLLMan amnesia]]></title><description><![CDATA[AI will automate every job except the ones I'm deeply familiar with]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/ge-ll-man-amnesia/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/ge-ll-man-amnesia/</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The 3 curves that make a scalable business]]></title><description><![CDATA[You want users and revenue to grow exponentially. Bugs per day to grow linearly. Support work to grow logarithmically. Your goal is to make this happen.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-3-curves-that-make-a-scalable-business/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-3-curves-that-make-a-scalable-business/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[In praise of the stacked pull request]]></title><description><![CDATA[How fast you do code review is how fast you do everything. Your PR queue is the leading indicator of team velocity. Stacked PRs can help.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/in-praise-of-the-stacked-pull-request/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/in-praise-of-the-stacked-pull-request/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How you migrate is everything]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your code becomes legacy software when it works. You build something to solve a problem, then the problem changes. Or best practices evolve. Or you hire team members with more experience. Or the world changes. Or you have more people touching the same code and your beautiful architectural vision didn't translate.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/how-you-migrate-is-everything/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/how-you-migrate-is-everything/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The future of software engineering is SRE]]></title><description><![CDATA[When code gets cheap operational excellence wins. Anyone can build a greenfield demo, but it takes engineering to run a service.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-future-of-software-engineering-is-sre/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-future-of-software-engineering-is-sre/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A tough job market is the best time to start something]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's how to navigate a tough job market from someone dumb enough to have done it before. Me.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/a-tough-job-market-is-the-best-time-to-start-something/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/a-tough-job-market-is-the-best-time-to-start-something/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Place good startup bets]]></title><description><![CDATA[You can't win every bet. Your goal is to be a little more right than wrong and keep playing]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/place-good-startup-bets/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/place-good-startup-bets/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Small projects, clear scope]]></title><description><![CDATA[Minutes of planning save you days of programming. It is shocking how little planning it takes to make a big difference.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/small-projects-clear-scope/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/small-projects-clear-scope/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A better way to end-to-end test your webapp]]></title><description><![CDATA[End-to-end tests are the best way to test your webapp, but they're flaky and annoying to write. I'm trying a new agentic approach that fixes the issue.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/a-better-way-to-end-to-end-test-your-webapp/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/a-better-way-to-end-to-end-test-your-webapp/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[2025 Year in Review]]></title><description><![CDATA[I called it a year in review but it's so much more.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/2025-year-in-review/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/2025-year-in-review/</guid><pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are you playing games you want to win?]]></title><description><![CDATA[As we enter the funny week-without-time between Christmas and New Year, it's a great time to reflect. Here's a framework I like to use.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/are-you-playing-games-you-want-to-win/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/are-you-playing-games-you-want-to-win/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How good engineering unlocks fast scaling]]></title><description><![CDATA[You're building systems and tools to help companies grow without drowning in work. This fuels your equity, career capital, and reputation.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/how-good-engineering-unlocks-fast-scaling/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/how-good-engineering-unlocks-fast-scaling/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Scaling Fast – my new book on software engineering through the hockeystick]]></title><description><![CDATA[After almost 3 years of writing, research, and editing Scaling Fast is now available in paperback and ebook wherever books are sold 🥳]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/scaling-fast-my-new-book-on-software-engineering-through-the-hockeystick/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/scaling-fast-my-new-book-on-software-engineering-through-the-hockeystick/</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[What makes your resume stand out]]></title><description><![CDATA[What did you do, for whom, did it work]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/what-makes-your-resume-stand-out/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/what-makes-your-resume-stand-out/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 22 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to lead a project]]></title><description><![CDATA[you were asked to lead or own a project. Now what? Here are a few practical steps to help you succeed.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/how-to-lead-a-project/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/how-to-lead-a-project/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[*People* detangle a ball of mud]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ball of mud is the world's most popular software architecture. The one we all use at work. But it sucks to work with. So what do you do?]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/people-detangle-a-ball-of-mud/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/people-detangle-a-ball-of-mud/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[AI fills my day with busywork]]></title><description><![CDATA[Remember when AI was gonna take our jobs? I've never felt busier. The more I get done, the more there is to do.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/ai-fills-my-day-with-busywork/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/ai-fills-my-day-with-busywork/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The unreasonable effectiveness of stack ranking]]></title><description><![CDATA[Stakeholders are silly people. Everything feels important and urgent. Stack ranking helps]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-stack-ranking/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-stack-ranking/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Chesterton's true lesson]]></title><description><![CDATA[Too many engineers cry chestertons fence and never check why the code exists]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/chestertons-true-lesson/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/chestertons-true-lesson/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The job behind the job [of a high level IC]]]></title><description><![CDATA[Advancing big goals while you stay on top of operational day-to-day fires _is the job_. This is hard. Here are a few tips I've found helpful.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-job-behind-the-job-of-a-high-level-ic/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-job-behind-the-job-of-a-high-level-ic/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make sure it works first]]></title><description><![CDATA[Explore the importance of functionality over elegance in Swizec's latest piece. Learn from his experience of tripling an engineering team's size within a year.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/make-sure-it-works-first/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/make-sure-it-works-first/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Feedback is a strange thing]]></title><description><![CDATA[Performance oscillates around your mean. Your average is what matters.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/feedback-is-a-strange-thing/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/feedback-is-a-strange-thing/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[React, HTMX, and TanStack/Start]]></title><description><![CDATA[More and more UI frameworks are ditching JSON as the transfer protocol and going back to server-rendered markup injected into your app]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/react-htmx-and-tan-stack-start/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/react-htmx-and-tan-stack-start/</guid><pubDate>Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The grind won't get you there]]></title><description><![CDATA[Don't grind on something the company doesn't value. Hard work is not rewarded. **_Outcomes_** are rewarded.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/the-grind-wont-get-you-there/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/the-grind-wont-get-you-there/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Most history is fake myth building]]></title><description><![CDATA[Regimes come and go but the people stay. Observations from living through a socialism->capitalism transition]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/most-history-is-fake-myth-building/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/most-history-is-fake-myth-building/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[You may be looking for a useSyncExternalStore]]></title><description><![CDATA[When you see a `useEffect` that updates a `useState` and returns a value, you might be looking for a `useSyncExternalStore`. This is my current vendetta.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/you-may-be-looking-for-a-useSyncExternalStore/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/you-may-be-looking-for-a-useSyncExternalStore/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to be witty and off-the-cuff as a slow deep thinker]]></title><description><![CDATA[Deep thinking is the super power of wit]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/how-to-be-witty-and-off-the-cuff-as-a-slow-deep-thinker/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/how-to-be-witty-and-off-the-cuff-as-a-slow-deep-thinker/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Should you join an AI startup right now?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Beyond income there's 2 reasons to take any specific job: Invest in yourself or invest in the company. Both is best.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/should-you-join-an-ai-startup-right-now/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/should-you-join-an-ai-startup-right-now/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Leadership lessons from growing 3x in 1 year]]></title><description><![CDATA[So this talk is my attempt to step back and write down some of the things I've learned. Hope you find something to apply in your team.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/leadership-lessons-from-growing-3x-in-1-year/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/leadership-lessons-from-growing-3x-in-1-year/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pair programming]]></title><description><![CDATA[Great for learning those little tricks of the trade you forgot you even learned]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/pair-programming/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/pair-programming/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Yes it's like spinning plates]]></title><description><![CDATA[In a fast-growing company software engineering feels like spinning plates. Nothing ever stays fixed.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/yes-its-like-spinning-plates/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/yes-its-like-spinning-plates/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[HTMX – Server Components without React]]></title><description><![CDATA[Let's be honest: Half the APIs you write are for a specific purpose in a specific component on a specific page. Re-usable in theory but you've never tried. That's where Server Components come in ... but what if your server isn't JavaScript?]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/htmx-server-components-without-react/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/htmx-server-components-without-react/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Quick tips for distributed event-based systems]]></title><description><![CDATA[Hidden lessons painfully learned over the years.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/quick-tips-for-distributed-event-based-systems/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/quick-tips-for-distributed-event-based-systems/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Quick update on Scaling Fast, my next book]]></title><description><![CDATA[Your goal is not to write a book, it's to change how your reader thinks]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/quick-update-on-scaling-fast-my-next-book/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/quick-update-on-scaling-fast-my-next-book/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[These 3 alerts catch the most issues]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's a few alerts I've found unreasonably effective over time]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/these-3-alerts-catch-the-most-issues/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/these-3-alerts-catch-the-most-issues/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 26 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[What makes a senior engineer]]></title><description><![CDATA[The base expectation for engineers is that you don't just build whatever you're asked.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/what-makes-a-senior-engineer/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/what-makes-a-senior-engineer/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[A few more thoughts on mentoring]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wanted to share a few more thoughts on my mentoring philosophy and answer questions that readers asked]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/a-few-more-thoughts-on-mentoring/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/a-few-more-thoughts-on-mentoring/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cursor background agents in Slack changed my workflow]]></title><description><![CDATA[a couple weeks ago Cursor launched a Slack integration and ... wow. First time I can say AI *changed* my workflow]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/cursor-background-agents-in-slack-changed-my-workflow/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/cursor-background-agents-in-slack-changed-my-workflow/</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[My mentoring philosophy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Yesterday I had lunch with a newly promoted lead and realized I have opinions on mentoring engineers. Here they are.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/my-mentoring-philosophy/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/my-mentoring-philosophy/</guid><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[TechLeadConf 2025 in September]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dive into rapid tech team growth at TechLeadConf 2025, featuring lessons from Swizec's experience with Plasmidsaurus's explosive expansion. Explore tech debt, AI, and leadership insights from industry experts.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/tech-lead-conf-2025-in-september/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/tech-lead-conf-2025-in-september/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[It's like surfing]]></title><description><![CDATA[The weird thing about engineering management is that you feel kinda useless. Yet if you stop, projects stop.]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/its-like-surfing/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/its-like-surfing/</guid><pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why utils are bad, an example]]></title><description><![CDATA[Last week we ran into the perfect example of how utils-based code will smack you over the face at the worst moment. So much time wasted]]></description><link>https://swizec.com/blog/why-utils-are-bad-an-example/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://swizec.com/blog/why-utils-are-bad-an-example/</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><content:encoded></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>