Software Engineering Radio - the podcast for professional software developers SE Radio 695: Dave Thomas on Building eBooks Infrastructure
Nov 19, 2025
Join veteran software developer Dave Thomas, co-founder of the Pragmatic Bookshelf and author of The Pragmatic Programmer, as he delves into the world of eBook infrastructure. He explores the evolution of formats like EPUB and Mobi, the importance of reflowable layouts, and how technology shapes the authoring process. Dave highlights the significance of human involvement in writing and how AI tools can assist post-creation. With insights on author workflows and the interplay of writing and technology, he shares a vision for the future of publishing.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
EPUB Is Essentially A Zipped Website
- An EPUB file is just a ZIP of HTML, assets, and manifest files that ebook readers unzip and render like a browser.
- EPUB has become the dominant flexible, reflowable standard replacing older formats like Mobi.
Code Examples Became Images On Early Kindles
- Early Kindle/Mobi limitations forced publishers to embed code as images to get predictable rendering.
- That made files larger and reading examples painful for readers and publishers alike.
Pragmatic Books Started As Plain-Text HTML
- Dave and Andy wrote early Pragmatic content as plain-text HTML and convinced a publisher to accept camera-ready PostScript/PDFs.
- They iterated tools from Troff to LaTeX to retain control over master copies and updates.
