Reaching industrial economies of scale (Changelog Interviews #632)

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Mar 12, 2025

Beyang Liu from Sourcegraph discusses the industrialization of software development through AI tools. The conversation touches on enhancing developer productivity with innovative code search and review agents. They also explore the dual joys and challenges of coding in large codebases, and the role of automation in streamlining processes. Insights into the evolution of code editors and the integration of AI models highlight the changing landscape of software development. The paradox of industrial economies of scale offers food for thought about team dynamics.

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INSIGHT

Software Diseconomies of Scale

Software engineering, unlike other industries, experiences diseconomies of scale.
Larger codebases often lead to decreased productivity and quicker disruption cycles.

ANECDOTE

Automating Feature Flag Removal

Sourcegraph helped a client automate 80% of a 10-year dead feature flag removal project within a month.
This freed up senior engineers to focus on more valuable work.

ADVICE

Enforcing Codebase Rules with AI

Define rules for your codebase, like style guides or architectural constraints.
Enforce these rules through in-editor checks, code reviews, and background agents.

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Beyang Liu, the CTO & Co-founder of Sourcegraph is back on the pod. Adam and Beyang go deep on the idea of “industrializing software development” using AI agents, using AI in general, using code generation. So much is happening in and around AI and Sourcegraph continues to innovate again and again. From their editor assistant called Cody, to Code Search, to AI agents, to Batch Changes, they’re really helping software teams to industrialize the process, the inner and the outer loop, of being a software developer on high performance teams with large codebases.

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Featuring:

Beyang Liu – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!