zach
@ztellman.ideolalia.com
"Software," I said. "In every sense."
Reposted by zach
Good news: If you would like to watch Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants on YouTube I have done a painstaking 4k upscale of this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gW...
November 17, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Good news: If you would like to watch Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants on YouTube I have done a painstaking 4k upscale of this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gW...
Reposted by zach
wait did I really never post this one
August 20, 2025 at 5:06 AM
wait did I really never post this one
The software design literature is 98% platitudes and tautologies by volume. So when I say that this book is extremely, thoroughly wrong - I disagree with nearly every premise and conclusion - I hope you can understand how exciting that is. A post is forthcoming.
June 19, 2025 at 11:10 PM
The software design literature is 98% platitudes and tautologies by volume. So when I say that this book is extremely, thoroughly wrong - I disagree with nearly every premise and conclusion - I hope you can understand how exciting that is. A post is forthcoming.
Reposted by zach
Talking about programming is hard because none of us know anything about it, so instead we invent metaphors for programming and talk about those.
April 29, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Talking about programming is hard because none of us know anything about it, so instead we invent metaphors for programming and talk about those.
honestly, that’s a really solid Deleuze puppet
March 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
honestly, that’s a really solid Deleuze puppet
Reposted by zach
I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...
complexity as entropy
In a random dataset, there are no internal relationships; with each element, our explanation must begin anew.
explaining.software
March 12, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...
I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...
complexity as entropy
In a random dataset, there are no internal relationships; with each element, our explanation must begin anew.
explaining.software
March 12, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I wrote about software maintenance, entropy, and the myth of the broken window: explaining.software/archive/comp...
Reposted by zach
Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com
Elements of Clojure
Polanyi calls this "tacit knowledge", a thing which we only understand as part of something else. When we speak, we do not focus on making sounds, we focus on our words. We understand the muscular act of speech, but would struggle to explain it.
elementsofclojure.com
February 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com
Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com
Elements of Clojure
Polanyi calls this "tacit knowledge", a thing which we only understand as part of something else. When we speak, we do not focus on making sounds, we focus on our words. We understand the muscular act of speech, but would struggle to explain it.
elementsofclojure.com
February 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Elements of Clojure is now available as a free PDF: elementsofclojure.com
Reposted by zach
the profiles of contact between a piano's capstan and whippen
February 1, 2025 at 4:22 PM
the profiles of contact between a piano's capstan and whippen
Reposted by zach
I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...
the sudoku affair
In 2006, Ron Jeffries wrote a series of posts describing his attempts to build a Sudoku solver. He began by wrapping a class around a simple datatype for the...
explaining.software
February 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...
I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...
the sudoku affair
In 2006, Ron Jeffries wrote a series of posts describing his attempts to build a Sudoku solver. He began by wrapping a class around a simple datatype for the...
explaining.software
February 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I wrote about the fifty (50) posts that Ron Jeffries has written about solving Sudoku: explaining.software/archive/the-...
Reposted by zach
Today on Apropos, 2pm EST, we'll have @ztellman.ideolalia.com in the hot seat. Tune in to watch and chat live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wN-...
Apropos Clojure 2025-01-28
YouTube video by apropos clojure
www.youtube.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Today on Apropos, 2pm EST, we'll have @ztellman.ideolalia.com in the hot seat. Tune in to watch and chat live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wN-...
Reposted by zach
I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...
state and trace
When we say fiction belongs to a genre, we mean that it builds upon familiar themes and structures. By assigning a genre — a slasher flick, or a comedy of...
explaining.software
January 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...
I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...
state and trace
When we say fiction belongs to a genre, we mean that it builds upon familiar themes and structures. By assigning a genre — a slasher flick, or a comedy of...
explaining.software
January 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I wrote about why the best software resembles trashy genre fiction: explaining.software/archive/stat...
Reposted by zach
I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...
structuralism
The idea of structure, as used in this newsletter, is nothing new. It was first introduced by Ferdinand de Saussure in 1916, in his enormously influential...
explaining.software
January 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...
I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...
structuralism
The idea of structure, as used in this newsletter, is nothing new. It was first introduced by Ferdinand de Saussure in 1916, in his enormously influential...
explaining.software
January 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
I wrote about structuralism and the frontend/backend continuum: explaining.software/archive/stru...
Reposted by zach
this is the best thing I’ve read on what makes a good PR and how to get better at reviewing code
I wrote about why the current generation of AI developers is so underwhelming, and what I think it’d take to do better: explaining.software/archive/seni...
senior developer agents
When you're responsible for a junior developer, there's an early, crucial milestone: they know when to ask for help. Before this milestone, every task must...
explaining.software
November 28, 2024 at 5:49 PM
this is the best thing I’ve read on what makes a good PR and how to get better at reviewing code
I wrote about why the current generation of AI developers is so underwhelming, and what I think it’d take to do better: explaining.software/archive/seni...
senior developer agents
When you're responsible for a junior developer, there's an early, crucial milestone: they know when to ask for help. Before this milestone, every task must...
explaining.software
November 28, 2024 at 12:07 AM
I wrote about why the current generation of AI developers is so underwhelming, and what I think it’d take to do better: explaining.software/archive/seni...
Reposted by zach
continuing my trend of earnestly posting about tech: I started a company
Ian and I started Junction because everything in platform/infrastructure is too damn hard and we're arrogant enough to believe the world could be a little bit better.
www.junctionlabs.io/blog/platfor...
Ian and I started Junction because everything in platform/infrastructure is too damn hard and we're arrogant enough to believe the world could be a little bit better.
www.junctionlabs.io/blog/platfor...
Platforms Need New Building Blocks
Junction Labs’ mission is to empower platform builders with a service to service networking platform that bridges the developer-operator divide. This is essential to fixing how much applications teams...
www.junctionlabs.io
November 13, 2024 at 4:00 PM
continuing my trend of earnestly posting about tech: I started a company
Ian and I started Junction because everything in platform/infrastructure is too damn hard and we're arrogant enough to believe the world could be a little bit better.
www.junctionlabs.io/blog/platfor...
Ian and I started Junction because everything in platform/infrastructure is too damn hard and we're arrogant enough to believe the world could be a little bit better.
www.junctionlabs.io/blog/platfor...
I wrote about how the Agile methodology failed to achieve its original goals, and had to settle for something else: explaining.software/archive/the-...
the death of the architect
Once upon a time, every project began with the creation of a canonical design document. This was called the system architecture, because it "rightly...
explaining.software
October 30, 2024 at 7:21 PM
I wrote about how the Agile methodology failed to achieve its original goals, and had to settle for something else: explaining.software/archive/the-...
I wrote about how each software project has its own notion of progress: explaining.software/archive/maki...
making things better
Previously, we explored how abstract explanations, paired with intent, become specific. And in our case, the intent is almost always to improve our software....
explaining.software
October 23, 2024 at 5:04 PM
I wrote about how each software project has its own notion of progress: explaining.software/archive/maki...
I wrote about why abstract metaphors are a useful tool in software design: explaining.software/archive/inte...
intent and implication
There was, in the mid 2010s, a popular formula for explaining a new startup: "Uber, but for ____." This was a metaphor: the startup, despite targeting a...
explaining.software
October 16, 2024 at 7:11 PM
I wrote about why abstract metaphors are a useful tool in software design: explaining.software/archive/inte...
I wrote about the treachery of spatial metaphors: explaining.software/archive/stru...
structures as paths
In the fractal-metaphor, our software is an open space. Each reader traverses that space, noting new details as they come into view. When our software is...
explaining.software
October 9, 2024 at 9:10 PM
I wrote about the treachery of spatial metaphors: explaining.software/archive/stru...