

Code with Jason
Jason Swett
On the Code with Jason podcast I discuss technical topics with interesting people. Guests include people from companies like GitHub, Google and Stripe.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 18, 2025 • 59min
275 - Irina Nazarova, Organizer of SF Ruby Conference
In this episode I talk with Irina Nazarova about the San Francisco Ruby Conference happening November 19-21. She explains why SF needs a Ruby conference, the focus on connecting Ruby startup founders with engineers, showcasing new companies building with Rails, and fostering a pragmatic community centered on growth and innovation.Links:San Francisco Ruby ConferenceSF Ruby Cloud CardsEvil MartiansNonsense Monthly

Nov 9, 2025 • 56min
274 - Matthew Ford, CEO/CTO at Bit Zesty
In this episode I talk with Matthew Ford about AI-assisted coding at BitZesty. We discuss how AI speeds up development while requiring human oversight, the risks of "vibe coding," why automated testing remains critical, and how AI changes but doesn't replace fundamental software development practices like version control and architecture decisions.Links:Bit ZestyMatthew Ford on TwitterMatthew Ford on BlueskyNonsense Monthly

Nov 5, 2025 • 1h 3min
273 - Steve Ruiz, Founder of tldraw
In this episode I talk with Steve Ruiz about creating TLDraw, an open-source canvas SDK. We discuss the intersection of design and engineering, managing complexity through abstractions, state machines, and how multiple rewrites helped him discover the core problems. Steve shares insights on building developer tools and solving difficult UI challenges.Links:tldrawSteve Ruiz's personal websiteNonsense Monthly

Oct 25, 2025 • 1h 3min
272 - Anthony Eden, Founder of DNSimple
In this episode I talk with Anthony Eden about building DNSimple, a DNS provider and domain registrar. We discuss his 25 years in the domain industry, technical challenges, and why specialized niches create natural competitive moats.DNSimpleAnthony Eden on LinkedInanthony@dnsimple.comNonsense Monthly

Oct 8, 2025 • 1h 12min
271 - Hotwire with Radan Skorić
In this episode I talk with Radan Skorić about his book Master Hotwire, the challenges of Hotwire documentation, blogging in the AI age, how AI affects content creation, the Chinese room thought experiment, consciousness and computation, trust versus critical thinking, and why quality content that goes deeper than AI can produce still matters.Master Hotwireradanskoric.comRadan's Rails World talkJason's stuff:Nonsense MonthlySaturnCI

Sep 29, 2025 • 1h 2min
270 - AI with Daniel Nastase
In this episode, I discuss AI with Daniel Nastase, covering Daniel's journey from building neural networks from scratch to understanding embeddings and vector databases. We explore the limitations of current AI learning models versus explanation-based reasoning, and discuss practical AI applications including agents and voice interfaces for programming.JS CraftDaniel's LangGraph bookDaniel's LangChain bookSaturnCINonsense Monthly

Sep 26, 2025 • 1h 15min
269 - Cody Norman, Founder of Spot Squid for Tattoo Shops
In this episode I talk with Cody Norman about his journey from economics to programming, his tattoo shop management software SpotSquid, and lessons from building products for non-technical users. We discuss market challenges, customer development strategies, and Cody's path to conference speaking.CodyNorman.comSpot SquidNonsense MonthlySaturnCI

Sep 22, 2025 • 1h 36min
268 - Joel Drapper
In this episode I talk with Joel Drapper about open source development, the joy of coding without constraints, AI tools like GitHub Copilot, and our shared discomfort with the phrase "duplication is better than the wrong abstraction." We explore abstraction, technical debt versus "technical poison," and our mutual search for high-quality work environments.Joel Drapper on LinkedInPhlexNonsense MonthlySaturnCI

Sep 19, 2025 • 54min
267 - Upcoming Ruby Events with Jim Remsik, Founder of Flagrant
In this episode I talk with Jim Remzick about how AI has affected the job market, the value of in-person networking, and XO Ruby, Jim's series of regional Ruby conferences happening across the US.XO RubyFlagrantNonsense Monthly

Sep 15, 2025 • 1h 19min
266 - Hotwire Native with Joe Masilotti
In this episode, I talk with Joe Masilotti about his new book on Hotwire Native, which lets Rails developers build mobile apps using web views with native functionality. We explore the writing process, consulting approaches, client engagement strategies, and how both of us find clients through speaking and writing.Hotwire Native for Rails Developers book (use discount code CodeWithJasonHotwire for 35% off)Joe Masilotti's websiteNonsense Monthly


