Gergely Orosz
@gergely.pragmaticengineer.com
Writing The Pragmatic Engineer (@pragmaticengineer.com), the #1 technology newsletter on Substack. Author of The Software Engineer's Guidebook (engguidebook.com). Formerly at Uber, Skype, Skyscanner. More at pragmaticengineer.com
If you are a dev / eng manager and would like to get a detailed report on how dev teams actually use AI tools, what is trending down/up: share what you do in our @Pragmatic_Eng survey and we'll share back a detailed report:
You can take the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/tpe-ai-sur...
You can take the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/tpe-ai-sur...
AI tooling for software engineering
How are software engineers using AI tools today? How has AI changed your work routines and the way you approach software development? Your responses will help paint an accurate picture of where we are...
www.surveymonkey.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:33 PM
If you are a dev / eng manager and would like to get a detailed report on how dev teams actually use AI tools, what is trending down/up: share what you do in our @Pragmatic_Eng survey and we'll share back a detailed report:
You can take the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/tpe-ai-sur...
You can take the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/tpe-ai-sur...
A massive upgrade while travelling has been getting a portable 15-inch monitor with a foldable stand. I can now setup a 2-screen workplace wherever - and it's been a massive unlock for me.
Could not recommend it more for any techie on the go (there are tons of brands for this)
Could not recommend it more for any techie on the go (there are tons of brands for this)
February 6, 2026 at 4:23 PM
A massive upgrade while travelling has been getting a portable 15-inch monitor with a foldable stand. I can now setup a 2-screen workplace wherever - and it's been a massive unlock for me.
Could not recommend it more for any techie on the go (there are tons of brands for this)
Could not recommend it more for any techie on the go (there are tons of brands for this)
This guide is absolute gold from @mitchellh.com (creator of Terraform) on how he started to use AI agents, step-by-step.
It's practical, step by step & how he changed how he works (without getting overloaded or anxious.)
mitchellh.com/writing/my-a...
It's practical, step by step & how he changed how he works (without getting overloaded or anxious.)
mitchellh.com/writing/my-a...
February 5, 2026 at 9:06 PM
This guide is absolute gold from @mitchellh.com (creator of Terraform) on how he started to use AI agents, step-by-step.
It's practical, step by step & how he changed how he works (without getting overloaded or anxious.)
mitchellh.com/writing/my-a...
It's practical, step by step & how he changed how he works (without getting overloaded or anxious.)
mitchellh.com/writing/my-a...
What if we're actually in the middle of the third golden age of software engineering? This is what Grady Booch (@booch.com) sees happening. If you are anxious about the state of the industry, you want to watch/listen to Grady's longer-term perspective:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
February 4, 2026 at 7:05 PM
What if we're actually in the middle of the third golden age of software engineering? This is what Grady Booch (@booch.com) sees happening. If you are anxious about the state of the industry, you want to watch/listen to Grady's longer-term perspective:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
How is it possible in this day and age that a hotel can be a 5-star one when it offers an internet connection of 2-5Mbps, with no option to even buy faster (clearly throttled.)
The hotel star rating is so terribly out of date for this modern age when slow internet is a killer
The hotel star rating is so terribly out of date for this modern age when slow internet is a killer
February 4, 2026 at 6:34 PM
How is it possible in this day and age that a hotel can be a 5-star one when it offers an internet connection of 2-5Mbps, with no option to even buy faster (clearly throttled.)
The hotel star rating is so terribly out of date for this modern age when slow internet is a killer
The hotel star rating is so terribly out of date for this modern age when slow internet is a killer
One weird thing about AI:
“Old school” companies, laggards and government agencies are adopting AI dev tooling for their engineers pretty much the same pace as eg cutting-edge startups. They are not years/a decade behind like usual: but months behind at most.
“Old school” companies, laggards and government agencies are adopting AI dev tooling for their engineers pretty much the same pace as eg cutting-edge startups. They are not years/a decade behind like usual: but months behind at most.
February 3, 2026 at 11:02 PM
One weird thing about AI:
“Old school” companies, laggards and government agencies are adopting AI dev tooling for their engineers pretty much the same pace as eg cutting-edge startups. They are not years/a decade behind like usual: but months behind at most.
“Old school” companies, laggards and government agencies are adopting AI dev tooling for their engineers pretty much the same pace as eg cutting-edge startups. They are not years/a decade behind like usual: but months behind at most.
This happened at Wealthsimple, I can now name.
More details on how exactly they did it in this deepdive: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-...
(they have a "Claude Code rollout day" where every dev had to install and was challenged to land a PR the same day as well)
More details on how exactly they did it in this deepdive: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-...
(they have a "Claude Code rollout day" where every dev had to install and was challenged to land a PR the same day as well)
February 3, 2026 at 6:08 PM
This happened at Wealthsimple, I can now name.
More details on how exactly they did it in this deepdive: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-...
(they have a "Claude Code rollout day" where every dev had to install and was challenged to land a PR the same day as well)
More details on how exactly they did it in this deepdive: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-...
(they have a "Claude Code rollout day" where every dev had to install and was challenged to land a PR the same day as well)
From a distinguished eng inside a *really* old school tech co:
“My team built an internal tool called AskCode in a few months. We hooked it up to all our internal code+services.
A super anti-AI sr dev just posted on the internal Slack: ‘this is the single best thing I used.’ “
“My team built an internal tool called AskCode in a few months. We hooked it up to all our internal code+services.
A super anti-AI sr dev just posted on the internal Slack: ‘this is the single best thing I used.’ “
February 3, 2026 at 3:11 PM
From a distinguished eng inside a *really* old school tech co:
“My team built an internal tool called AskCode in a few months. We hooked it up to all our internal code+services.
A super anti-AI sr dev just posted on the internal Slack: ‘this is the single best thing I used.’ “
“My team built an internal tool called AskCode in a few months. We hooked it up to all our internal code+services.
A super anti-AI sr dev just posted on the internal Slack: ‘this is the single best thing I used.’ “
“Software reliability is down across the industry; failure rate is up: and batch size is up.” @lauratacho.com + @nathenharvey.bsky.social
Basically, AI is generating larger changes (batch size) and we know from research (eg DORA) that larger batch size tends to result in exactly this!
Basically, AI is generating larger changes (batch size) and we know from research (eg DORA) that larger batch size tends to result in exactly this!
February 2, 2026 at 11:23 PM
“Software reliability is down across the industry; failure rate is up: and batch size is up.” @lauratacho.com + @nathenharvey.bsky.social
Basically, AI is generating larger changes (batch size) and we know from research (eg DORA) that larger batch size tends to result in exactly this!
Basically, AI is generating larger changes (batch size) and we know from research (eg DORA) that larger batch size tends to result in exactly this!
Nothing shows what the #1 operating system for "modern" devs is than OpenAI launching Codex desktop, Mac-only (for now.)
Windows really fumbled the dev market, years ago. Apple won it by avoiding the series of upsets Microsoft just could not help themselves (ads, MS account etc)
Windows really fumbled the dev market, years ago. Apple won it by avoiding the series of upsets Microsoft just could not help themselves (ads, MS account etc)
February 2, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Nothing shows what the #1 operating system for "modern" devs is than OpenAI launching Codex desktop, Mac-only (for now.)
Windows really fumbled the dev market, years ago. Apple won it by avoiding the series of upsets Microsoft just could not help themselves (ads, MS account etc)
Windows really fumbled the dev market, years ago. Apple won it by avoiding the series of upsets Microsoft just could not help themselves (ads, MS account etc)
"Earlier, all devs used GitHub Copilot.
9 months ago, we rolled out Cursor to all devs.
1.5 weeks ago, we rolled out Claude Code to everyone, and cancelled our Copilot subscription"
- CTO at a company with 600 engineers
(I hear this exact "transition" story, a LOT!)
9 months ago, we rolled out Cursor to all devs.
1.5 weeks ago, we rolled out Claude Code to everyone, and cancelled our Copilot subscription"
- CTO at a company with 600 engineers
(I hear this exact "transition" story, a LOT!)
February 2, 2026 at 9:15 PM
"Earlier, all devs used GitHub Copilot.
9 months ago, we rolled out Cursor to all devs.
1.5 weeks ago, we rolled out Claude Code to everyone, and cancelled our Copilot subscription"
- CTO at a company with 600 engineers
(I hear this exact "transition" story, a LOT!)
9 months ago, we rolled out Cursor to all devs.
1.5 weeks ago, we rolled out Claude Code to everyone, and cancelled our Copilot subscription"
- CTO at a company with 600 engineers
(I hear this exact "transition" story, a LOT!)
From a director at a more “traditional” company:
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
February 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
From a director at a more “traditional” company:
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
If you work in tech, and are ever approached by any crypto sh*tcoin even for a harmless ask ("here's some money for you/your project! Take it! No strings attached, promise!"), a warning:
Talked with someone who took it.
Seemed too good to be true.
Death threats to them and family followed.
Talked with someone who took it.
Seemed too good to be true.
Death threats to them and family followed.
February 2, 2026 at 12:52 PM
If you work in tech, and are ever approached by any crypto sh*tcoin even for a harmless ask ("here's some money for you/your project! Take it! No strings attached, promise!"), a warning:
Talked with someone who took it.
Seemed too good to be true.
Death threats to them and family followed.
Talked with someone who took it.
Seemed too good to be true.
Death threats to them and family followed.
I'll have Steve Yegge on the podcast: known for his rants and strong opinions - eg the Google Platform Rant here gist.github.com/chitchcock/1... most recently creator of Beads, Gast Town, and tinkering a lot with AI for building software.
What is something you're interested him talk about?
What is something you're interested him talk about?
February 1, 2026 at 7:45 AM
I'll have Steve Yegge on the podcast: known for his rants and strong opinions - eg the Google Platform Rant here gist.github.com/chitchcock/1... most recently creator of Beads, Gast Town, and tinkering a lot with AI for building software.
What is something you're interested him talk about?
What is something you're interested him talk about?
Pull requests (PRs) are dead, long live prompt requests (also PRs?)
By @steipete.me - this is how he actually uses them
Worth thinking if this only applies to some open source projects like OpenClaw or might be more broad...
Full: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
By @steipete.me - this is how he actually uses them
Worth thinking if this only applies to some open source projects like OpenClaw or might be more broad...
Full: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
February 1, 2026 at 6:46 AM
Pull requests (PRs) are dead, long live prompt requests (also PRs?)
By @steipete.me - this is how he actually uses them
Worth thinking if this only applies to some open source projects like OpenClaw or might be more broad...
Full: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
By @steipete.me - this is how he actually uses them
Worth thinking if this only applies to some open source projects like OpenClaw or might be more broad...
Full: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
Dates remain an amusing challenge in software.
Got a complaint from a customer that they bought a subscription at 6pm their time on the 31st Jan… but got a receipt with the date as 1 Feb. This is wrong - and they are right!
But from the server’s POV, the date is right!
Got a complaint from a customer that they bought a subscription at 6pm their time on the 31st Jan… but got a receipt with the date as 1 Feb. This is wrong - and they are right!
But from the server’s POV, the date is right!
February 1, 2026 at 5:49 AM
Dates remain an amusing challenge in software.
Got a complaint from a customer that they bought a subscription at 6pm their time on the 31st Jan… but got a receipt with the date as 1 Feb. This is wrong - and they are right!
But from the server’s POV, the date is right!
Got a complaint from a customer that they bought a subscription at 6pm their time on the 31st Jan… but got a receipt with the date as 1 Feb. This is wrong - and they are right!
But from the server’s POV, the date is right!
Even though AI agents make me more productive: when I use them, I end up working more, not less!
It’s such a contradiction: a thing that should be saving time ends up taking away more overall time…
A reason I find it hard to believe AI will lead to fewer hours/days worked…
It’s such a contradiction: a thing that should be saving time ends up taking away more overall time…
A reason I find it hard to believe AI will lead to fewer hours/days worked…
January 31, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Even though AI agents make me more productive: when I use them, I end up working more, not less!
It’s such a contradiction: a thing that should be saving time ends up taking away more overall time…
A reason I find it hard to believe AI will lead to fewer hours/days worked…
It’s such a contradiction: a thing that should be saving time ends up taking away more overall time…
A reason I find it hard to believe AI will lead to fewer hours/days worked…
No project has gotten more traction in such a short time than Clawd bot (now: Molt bot) by @steipete.me. But how is he building it?
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ie6...
• Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ie6...
• Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
January 28, 2026 at 7:11 PM
No project has gotten more traction in such a short time than Clawd bot (now: Molt bot) by @steipete.me. But how is he building it?
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ie6...
• Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Watch or listen:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lF7...
• Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ie6...
• Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Podcast episode coming later today, with Peter Steinberger, creator of Clawd bot 🦀 (now: Molt bot) and PSPDFKIt
Just add / search for The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast
Just add / search for The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast
January 28, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Podcast episode coming later today, with Peter Steinberger, creator of Clawd bot 🦀 (now: Molt bot) and PSPDFKIt
Just add / search for The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast
Just add / search for The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast
What I’m hearing: large open source projects are being absolutely hammered by AI-generated security reports. To the point of not being able to handle them.
Feeling is lots of ppl want an easy way to put a CVE on their CV and collect $$ for bug bounty.
Super bad for maintainers
Feeling is lots of ppl want an easy way to put a CVE on their CV and collect $$ for bug bounty.
Super bad for maintainers
January 27, 2026 at 8:57 PM
What I’m hearing: large open source projects are being absolutely hammered by AI-generated security reports. To the point of not being able to handle them.
Feeling is lots of ppl want an easy way to put a CVE on their CV and collect $$ for bug bounty.
Super bad for maintainers
Feeling is lots of ppl want an easy way to put a CVE on their CV and collect $$ for bug bounty.
Super bad for maintainers
The "death of SaaS" could well be the "death of SaaS that is not API-first"
A story on how 30-person startup Craft Docs is moving off Zendesk after they built much better internal AI workflows (with a tool they open sourced, Craft Agents)
Full: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/ai-first-m...
A story on how 30-person startup Craft Docs is moving off Zendesk after they built much better internal AI workflows (with a tool they open sourced, Craft Agents)
Full: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/ai-first-m...
January 27, 2026 at 6:13 PM
The "death of SaaS" could well be the "death of SaaS that is not API-first"
A story on how 30-person startup Craft Docs is moving off Zendesk after they built much better internal AI workflows (with a tool they open sourced, Craft Agents)
Full: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/ai-first-m...
A story on how 30-person startup Craft Docs is moving off Zendesk after they built much better internal AI workflows (with a tool they open sourced, Craft Agents)
Full: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/ai-first-m...
I cannot unsee the death of the pull request in open source upon us.
PRs from external contributors made a lot of sense when it was hard to write code, and it took lots of time investment (+ lots of thinking!) to do so.
Now that it takes seconds/minutes: dynamics change
PRs from external contributors made a lot of sense when it was hard to write code, and it took lots of time investment (+ lots of thinking!) to do so.
Now that it takes seconds/minutes: dynamics change
January 27, 2026 at 10:07 AM
I cannot unsee the death of the pull request in open source upon us.
PRs from external contributors made a lot of sense when it was hard to write code, and it took lots of time investment (+ lots of thinking!) to do so.
Now that it takes seconds/minutes: dynamics change
PRs from external contributors made a lot of sense when it was hard to write code, and it took lots of time investment (+ lots of thinking!) to do so.
Now that it takes seconds/minutes: dynamics change
For anyone wondering what AI means for devs:
Pre-AI, @steipete.me was one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: PDF rendering
Post-AI, he's again one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: building the next-gen Siri (aka Clawdbot)
Pre-AI, @steipete.me was one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: PDF rendering
Post-AI, he's again one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: building the next-gen Siri (aka Clawdbot)
January 25, 2026 at 9:15 PM
For anyone wondering what AI means for devs:
Pre-AI, @steipete.me was one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: PDF rendering
Post-AI, he's again one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: building the next-gen Siri (aka Clawdbot)
Pre-AI, @steipete.me was one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: PDF rendering
Post-AI, he's again one of the single most productive devs solving a very hard problem: building the next-gen Siri (aka Clawdbot)
Little-known fact: AWS S3 rewrote almost everything in the request path to Rust (!) for better performance.
From Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, who has been heading up AWS S3 for 10+ years.
Full episode in The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast: youtu.be/5vL6aCvgQXU
From Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, who has been heading up AWS S3 for 10+ years.
Full episode in The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast: youtu.be/5vL6aCvgQXU
January 25, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Little-known fact: AWS S3 rewrote almost everything in the request path to Rust (!) for better performance.
From Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, who has been heading up AWS S3 for 10+ years.
Full episode in The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast: youtu.be/5vL6aCvgQXU
From Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, who has been heading up AWS S3 for 10+ years.
Full episode in The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast: youtu.be/5vL6aCvgQXU
Sometimes I hate being a dev who can debug JavaScript because I see the absolute careless code another dev pushed to prod.
It is impossible to print package labels on the NL Post site (@PostNL) b/c of this unhandled null breaks everything
Use TypeScript and handle nulls, OK?!
It is impossible to print package labels on the NL Post site (@PostNL) b/c of this unhandled null breaks everything
Use TypeScript and handle nulls, OK?!
January 23, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Sometimes I hate being a dev who can debug JavaScript because I see the absolute careless code another dev pushed to prod.
It is impossible to print package labels on the NL Post site (@PostNL) b/c of this unhandled null breaks everything
Use TypeScript and handle nulls, OK?!
It is impossible to print package labels on the NL Post site (@PostNL) b/c of this unhandled null breaks everything
Use TypeScript and handle nulls, OK?!