Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers SE Radio 683: Artie Shevchenko on Programmers as Code Health Guardians
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Aug 28, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Artie Shevchenko, a software engineer at Canva and lecturer at ITMO University, dives into the pressing challenges of code complexity in the AI era. He highlights the critical issues of change amplification and the unknown unknowns that can derail projects. Shevchenko emphasizes the importance of a product-focused mindset and ownership mentality to balance short-term delivery with long-term maintainability. Strategies such as thorough documentation, design principles, and the necessity for psychological safety in teams are also explored.
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Programmers As Code Health Guardians
- Humans remain crucial by managing code complexity better than AI.
- Artie calls this role the "Code Health Guardian" and advises focusing there.
Code Health Is A Productivity Question
- Code health equals pragmatic simplicity and maintainability.
- Artie frames code health primarily as a productivity question for teams.
Balance Short And Long-Term Productivity
- Balance short-term delivery with long-term maintainability.
- Too much of either side hurts future productivity and increases complexity.
