In this engaging discussion, Dr. Nicole Forsgren, a leading expert in developer productivity and co-creator of the DORA and SPACE frameworks, dives into the complexities of measuring productivity in software development. She explores the importance of holistic metrics that prioritize developer well-being and communication. Nicole shares insightful strategies for improving team dynamics, the impact of AI tools on workflows, and the value of investment in platform teams to boost productivity. It's a treasure trove of knowledge for tech leaders and engineers alike!

Ashutosh Agrawal, former Chief Architect of JioCinema and current Staff Software Engineer at Google DeepMind, shares insights from architecting a live streaming system that achieved a world record with 32 million streams. He discusses the complexities of video streaming architecture, the trade-offs in optimizing performance, and the challenges of capacity planning, especially in the APAC region. Ashutosh also reveals why he dislikes APMs and offers valuable advice for improving systems design expertise. Tune in for a tech deep dive!

Chip Huyen, a computer scientist and author with experience at Netflix and NVIDIA, joins the conversation to explore AI Engineering. They discuss how AI Engineering differs from Machine Learning Engineering and express caution over fine-tuning tactics. The episode highlights practical steps to build AI applications and emphasizes the value of structured learning paired with project-based methods. Chip also shares insights into deploying AI for customer service and the importance of human oversight in integrating AI into business processes.

Jonas Tyroller, co-developer of the indie game Thronefall, shares his journey from concept to creation in the world of game development. He discusses the importance of rapid prototyping, revealing why he spent months refining game ideas in just days. Jonas explains the workflows using Unity and addresses the challenges of game testing without traditional methods. He highlights how he integrates AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline processes and offers tips on making games that sell in a competitive market.

Charity Majors, co-founder and CTO of Honeycomb and observability expert, shares her insights on the evolving landscape of observability. She discusses the concept of Observability 2.0, emphasizing the shift to unified storage and the critical role of platform teams. Charity critiques the overloaded term DevOps, explains the impact of cardinality on observability costs, and highlights how OpenTelemetry mitigates vendor lock-in. She argues for the necessity of strong observability before integrating AI code, making a compelling case for its importance in modern software engineering.

Michael Novati, Co-founder and CTO of Formation and former top code committer at Meta, shares fascinating insights about his journey through Meta’s engineering culture. He discusses the 'coding machine' archetype and its impact on engineering evaluations. Listeners will appreciate his tips for navigating career progression and preparing for technical interviews. Anecdotes about redesigning internal tools and beating Mark Zuckerberg in Risk add a personal touch, making this a must-listen for aspiring tech professionals.

Blake Stockman, a former tech recruiter at Google, Meta, and Uber, now runs his own recruitment agency and studies law. He shares eye-opening insights on the opaque hiring processes at major tech companies. Blake reveals tips on navigating salary negotiations and why candidates shouldn’t disclose salary expectations too early. He discusses the unique dynamics of recruiting for startups versus big tech. Additionally, he emphasizes the power of authentic relationships between recruiters and candidates to improve hiring success.

Sean Goedecke, a Staff Engineer known for his roles at Zendesk and GitHub, shares insights on successfully shipping projects in large tech organizations. He discusses the significance of aligning engineering efforts with business goals and the dual skills needed for project success. The conversation highlights the transformative role of Generative AI in enhancing collaboration among teams, as well as the challenges of balancing developer metrics with customer satisfaction. Sean also emphasizes effective communication and engagement to overcome common project hurdles.

Supported by Our PartnerDX⁠ → DX is an engineering intelligence platform designed by leading researchers—In today’s exciting episode of The Pragmatic Engineer, I am joined by two members of the Notion mobile apps team, Austin Louden and Karn Saheb. Austin and Karn joined Notion in 2019 when Notion was revamping its mobile apps. Notion is a versatile productivity and collaboration platform that combines note-taking, task management, and knowledge organization into a single workspace. It is available as a web app, as well as iOS and Android apps for mobile use.In our conversation today, we take a deep dive into how the Notion mobile team operates and discuss the following: • What the engineering culture is like at Notion • Why the mobile team focuses so much on app performance• The incremental shift from Cordova to Native • Notion’s tech stack and frameworks they rely on • How the mobile team maintains consistency across iOS and Android• Unique features of the development process, including a public beta, using modules, and practices around feature flags• … and much more!—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(02:03) The RFC process at Notion (06:00) How Notion uses internal channels to share RFCs(07:57) Some of the unique ways the mobile team works(11:07) Why they don’t do sprint planning at Notion—and what they do instead(12:57) An overview of the size of Notion and teams at Notion(13:15) The beginning of mobile at Notion(14:40) A simple explanation of Cordova(15:40) Why Notion decided to revamp mobile in 2019 and shift to Native(18:30) How the mobile team evaluated performance as they made the shift to Native(22:00) Scaling mobile and iterations of moving to Native (26:04) Why the home tab project was so complex(30:59) Why the mobile team saved the editor for last and other future problems(34:35) How mobile works with other teams (36:50) How iOS and Android teams work together (38:28) The tech stack at Notion(39:30) How frameworks are used(41:57) Pros and cons of different frameworks and why Swift was the right choice(45:16) How code reviews work at Notion(48:23) Notion’s mobile team’s testing philosophy(50:18) How the mobile team keeps compile time so fast(52:36) Modules in the iOS app(54:50) Modules in the Android app(56:44) Behind the scenes of an app release and the public beta(1:00:34) Practices around feature flags(1:03:00) The four dev environments at Notion(1:04:48) How development apps work (1:07:40) How and why you can work offline in Notion mobile (1:10:24) Austin and Karn’s thoughts on the future of mobile engineering (1:12:47) Advice for junior engineers(1:16:29) Rapid fire round—The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode:—Where to find Austin Louden:• GitHub: https://github.com/austinlouden• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinlouden• Website: https://austinlouden.com/Where to find Karn Saheb:• GitHub: https://github.com/Karn• LinkedIn: https://github.com/Karn• Website: https://karn.ioWhere to find Gergely:• Newsletter: https://www.pragmaticengineer.com/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mrgergelyorosz• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gergelyorosz/• X: https://x.com/GergelyOrosz—References and Transcripts:See the transcript and other references from the episode at https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/podcast—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@pragmaticengineer.com. Get full access to The Pragmatic Engineer at newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/subscribe

Grady Booch, Chief Scientist for Software Engineering at IBM, discusses his pioneering role in software development, including his creation of UML and insights into the evolving architecture landscape. He reflects on his decision to decline the Chief Architect position at Microsoft and shares pivotal moments in software history. Grady also dives into the challenges of legacy systems, the rise of large language models, and offers invaluable advice for budding software engineers navigating today's tech environment.