Software — imported from WordPress.https://alan.is/topics/software/https://alan.is/insights/vibe-coding-is-a-lie/https://alan.is/insights/vibe-coding-is-a-lie/Vibe coding is not engineering. Directed coding with architectural oversight turns AI into a real tool.Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:24:47 GMTaiengineeringprivate-equityvibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/turn-plex-into-a-real-radio-station/https://alan.is/insights/turn-plex-into-a-real-radio-station/Creating a live radio station, with DJ's voices, working from your own Plex music collection, using a variety of open source tools, along with AI.Fri, 14 Aug 2026 20:51:36 GMTchatterboxicecastplexradiohttps://alan.is/insights/will-ai-replace-developers/https://alan.is/insights/will-ai-replace-developers/AI will not replace devs but changes the job—frontier models need engineers who catch confident wrong answers.Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:27:58 GMTaisoftware-development-2vibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/not-more-product-managers/https://alan.is/insights/not-more-product-managers/Non-technical PMs cannot audit AI-generated architecture. We need engineers who own the hard parts.Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:35:37 GMTaiengineering-managerprivate-equityproduct-managervibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/five-nights-of-vibe-coding-a-game-experiment/https://alan.is/insights/five-nights-of-vibe-coding-a-game-experiment/I vibe-coded a fun game with Claude—but who owns it? The experiment left me oddly flat.Mon, 16 Feb 2026 13:10:00 GMTaigamevibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/well-pick-it-back-up/https://alan.is/insights/well-pick-it-back-up/Alert fatigue is real: monitoring needs a fall-detection necklace, not endless false positives.Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:30:00 GMTinfrastructuresoftware-managementhttps://alan.is/insights/vibe-factoring-java-with-claude/https://alan.is/insights/vibe-factoring-java-with-claude/Refactoring Java with Claude agents mostly worked—and the code came out better despite a few hurdles.Sun, 08 Feb 2026 02:42:37 GMTaiclaudesoftware-development-2vibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/planning-for-the-inevitable-end/https://alan.is/insights/planning-for-the-inevitable-end/Plan for user death: kill switches, retention, delegation—stop harassing families after bereavement.Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:47:00 GMTdeathsoftware-development-2software-engineering-2https://alan.is/insights/the-shiny-object-trap-dont-forego-the-basics/https://alan.is/insights/the-shiny-object-trap-dont-forego-the-basics/Chasing features while Outlook and PowerPoint fail basics creates risk—fix friction before new code.Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:15:00 GMTsoftwaresoftware-development-2https://alan.is/insights/reclaiming-focus-the-lost-art-of-downtime/https://alan.is/insights/reclaiming-focus-the-lost-art-of-downtime/We traded Borland's forced tea break for noisy pipelines. Step away, think, and make a proper cup.Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:04:00 GMTmental-health-2software-development-2https://alan.is/insights/the-silent-decay-to-legacy/https://alan.is/insights/the-silent-decay-to-legacy/Software outlives its context. Spend ~30% on maintenance or your stack becomes a museum.Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:55:00 GMTlegacysoftware-modernizationtechnical-debthttps://alan.is/insights/the-hidden-if-in-everything/https://alan.is/insights/the-hidden-if-in-everything/From car updates to AI, buried if-statements run our lives—product must own those rules, not devs.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:45:30 GMTlogicsoftware-engineering-2https://alan.is/insights/the-realities-of-software-releases-more-than-just-a-button/https://alan.is/insights/the-realities-of-software-releases-more-than-just-a-button/Release day is code meeting reality—scale, data, friction, and why we avoid Friday deploys.Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:48:00 GMTctodeploymentengineeringsoftware-development-2https://alan.is/insights/think-like-a-cto-japanese-edition/https://alan.is/insights/think-like-a-cto-japanese-edition/Think Like a CTO has been translated and published into another language, Japanese.Fri, 09 Jan 2026 03:48:27 GMTbookchief-technology-officerctohttps://alan.is/insights/the-inevitable-v3-rewrite/https://alan.is/insights/the-inevitable-v3-rewrite/v1 guesses, v2 survives, v3 subtracts noise. Real stability often arrives on the third rewrite.Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:52:25 GMTprogrammingsoftware-developmentsoftware-engineeringsoftware-engineering-2technologyhttps://alan.is/insights/change-management/https://alan.is/insights/change-management/CTOs must plan change, train stakeholders, and communicate constantly when users resist new systems.Sun, 07 Dec 2025 23:03:27 GMTbusinesschange-managementtechnologyhttps://alan.is/insights/quality/https://alan.is/insights/quality/Quality spans performance, reliability, and feel—in software it shapes safety and user trust.Sun, 07 Dec 2025 22:53:09 GMThttps://alan.is/insights/consistency/https://alan.is/insights/consistency/Like bourbon distilling, software needs consistent quality control at every stage—not luck at the end.Sun, 07 Dec 2025 22:51:10 GMTscotchsoftware-engineeringwhiskyhttps://alan.is/insights/empathy/https://alan.is/insights/empathy/Build products with the user's experience in mind—understand their needs and create solutions that resonate.Sun, 07 Dec 2025 22:48:12 GMThttps://alan.is/insights/art-of-keep-it-simple-stupid-kiss/https://alan.is/insights/art-of-keep-it-simple-stupid-kiss/We, humans that is, love to complicate things and it seems to come naturally without too much effort.Sun, 07 Dec 2025 22:40:11 GMTsoftwarehttps://alan.is/insights/remote-debugging-at-15-billion-miles/https://alan.is/insights/remote-debugging-at-15-billion-miles/Debugging Voyager 1, 15 billion miles out, with 22-hour round-trip commands—NASA's ultimate latency.Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:41:10 GMTnasasoftwarehttps://alan.is/insights/who-is-looking-at-your-code/https://alan.is/insights/who-is-looking-at-your-code/We’re software developers and we take our art form seriously.Mon, 06 Jan 2014 12:30:40 GMTcodingdevelopmentsoftwarehttps://alan.is/insights/hows-your-software-insurance-policy/https://alan.is/insights/hows-your-software-insurance-policy/Ask any software developer a list of things they dislike doing the most and chances are testing and documentation will make the top 2.Sat, 04 Jan 2014 18:30:15 GMTsoftwareunit-testing