Technology Commentary

It certainly isn’t a new idea to compile a language into an intermediate language. The original C++ compiler outputs C code, for example. Enhanced versions of Fortran were often just conversi…

Lisp is an ambiguous category. But Common Lisp isn't, right? It's a restricted self-sufficient language, after all.

Deconstructing the undeconstructable basic building blocks of reality

A new model opens up new possibilities

You can’t afford not to solve identity resolution – because when you do the value of every customer data initiative goes up, and the complexity goes down.

This is a companion article to my talk at Neovimconf 2023. I have been using Vim/Neovim as my full time text editor for close to 10 years. I’ve spent a lot of time in the terminal and have become very aware of the many flaws and idiosyncrasies of this bizarre platform. But I also think it gets a lot of things right! And I’m not alone in this belief: terminal based tools are still widely popular even in the presence of many alternatives (the StackOverflow developer survey shows that Neovim is the “most loved” editor 3 years in a row).

Joe Armstrong, creator of the Erlang programming language, once said  You wanted a banana but what you got was a gorilla holding the banana ...

Have you ever found yourself, whether in a coding interview or staring down the abyss of your latest project, wondering, “Is this the…

Microsoft held its most compelling Windows’ event in years, because Windows is no longer the center of the company.

You don’t really think you can depend on answers pulled from the likes of self-appointed Reddit experts, do you?

Lightbend CEO Tyler Jewell argues that open source infrastructure software projects, without corporate sponsorship or other forms of dedicated funding, can't provide assurances about their security.

Invented 50 years ago, the curious box deciphered an arcane kind of code to offer shoppers a trip into the future

Project Liberty is building a global alliance for responsible technology and bringing together technologists, academics, policymakers, civil society and citizens to build a safer, healthier tech ecosystem.

Is Google signaling the end of the open web? That’s some of the concern raised by its new embrace of AI. While most of the fears about AI may be overblown, this one could be legit. But it doesn’t m…

Groundbreaking and courageous software ideas start by first impressing 3 good friends

Now, I realize that there are some folks in the geek space who still make use of default apps. Robb Knight's project from the winter of 2023 taught us that. By and large though, the...

NoCode, scripting vs applications, and software marketplaces

Every competitor is better, and most of them are cheaper.

The universal first troubleshooting step is to reboot. No matter what the product is, no matter what the problem is, try turning it off and ...

With AI search results coming to the masses, the human-powered web recedes further into the background

tapps posted something to Twitter, I replied and turned it into a joke, and it went a little crazy from there with some help from janiukjf and chernowa … Here’s the transaction. (I’ve saved it here since at some point it may will become unavailable on Twitter.) As long as we’re on the subject, I [...]

Posted on Friday 17 May 2024. 1,373 words, 15 links. By Matt Webb.

Software that makes you a better programmer.