This week, Robbie and Chuck talk with Ben Holmes—Astro core team alum and now at Warp—about the rapid evolution of developer tools, the promise and quirks of AI-powered coding, and why he’s betting big on terminal UX.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro
(02:09) - Warp and dev tools
(04:20) - Whiskey intro and rating: Heaven Hill Grain To Glass Kentucky Straight Rye
(15:47) - Hot Take: inferred types vs explicit types
(17:11) - What Cursor AI gets right (and wrong)
(23:12) - Pros and cons of Windsurf
(25:02) - Hot Take: git rebase vs git merge
(27:27) - Vim Motions and The Vim Gym
(30:45) - Hot Take: sidebar on the left or right in VS Code
(34:40) - Specialize or generalize?
(44:01) - Frameworks vs doing your own thing
(48:21) - The MBA journey
(52:06) - Ben's connection to Peloton
(53:12) - Plugs

Links

Heaven Hill Grain To Glass Kentucky Straight Rye: https://heavenhilldistillery.com/
Astro: https://astro.build/
Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
Norlan: https://norlanglass.com/
Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/
Windsurf: https://windsurf.ai/
Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
Cline: https://cline.bot/
Claude: https://claude.ai/
Ghostty: https://ghostty.org/
Vim Motions: https://www.barbarianmeetscoding.com/boost-your-coding-fu-with-vscode-and-vim/moving-blazingly-fast-with-the-core-vim-motions/
Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
Vue: https://vuejs.org/
Svelte: https://svelte.dev/
Ember: https://emberjs.com/
NeoVim: https://neovim.io/
Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen
Jason Lengstorf: https://x.com/jlengstorf
Vision Pro: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/
JSWorld: https://jsworldconference.com/
Final Cut Pro: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/
CapCut: https://www.capcut.com/
DHH: https://x.com/dhh/
University of Alabama: https://www.ua.edu/
Georgia Tech: https://www.gatech.edu/

Connect with Ben

Website: https://bholmes.dev/
X / Twitter: https://x.com/bholmesdev

Connect with Chuck and Robbie

Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Subscribe and stay in touch

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Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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275: Fostering Connection, Independence and Confidence in Our Kids with Nicole Runyon