Ryan Peterman
@ryanlpeterman.bsky.social
Staff engineer @instagram • Writing about software engineering and career growth • Join 90k+ engineers who read my newsletter @ developing.dev
Broke 10k subs on YouTube 🎉🎉
Thanks for all the support! It's been a lot of fun making these podcast videos and trying to improve the quality for the community
If you have any suggestions for future guests or the podcast in general I'm always open to feedback!
Thanks for all the support! It's been a lot of fun making these podcast videos and trying to improve the quality for the community
If you have any suggestions for future guests or the podcast in general I'm always open to feedback!
June 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Broke 10k subs on YouTube 🎉🎉
Thanks for all the support! It's been a lot of fun making these podcast videos and trying to improve the quality for the community
If you have any suggestions for future guests or the podcast in general I'm always open to feedback!
Thanks for all the support! It's been a lot of fun making these podcast videos and trying to improve the quality for the community
If you have any suggestions for future guests or the podcast in general I'm always open to feedback!
Principal Eng (IC8) from Meta interview footage is edited and ready for posting, will drop it tomorrow. We discussed:
• his promos from IC6 -> IC8
• why he accepts diffs that will break prod
• his notetaking system in vscode
Any guesses on who it is? 👀
• his promos from IC6 -> IC8
• why he accepts diffs that will break prod
• his notetaking system in vscode
Any guesses on who it is? 👀
May 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Principal Eng (IC8) from Meta interview footage is edited and ready for posting, will drop it tomorrow. We discussed:
• his promos from IC6 -> IC8
• why he accepts diffs that will break prod
• his notetaking system in vscode
Any guesses on who it is? 👀
• his promos from IC6 -> IC8
• why he accepts diffs that will break prod
• his notetaking system in vscode
Any guesses on who it is? 👀
"New grad hiring drops 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels", I doubt that this is fully due to AI tooling automating routine tasks though
Any ideas on the real reason behind this?
Chart below is from "The SignalFire State of Talent Report - 2025":
Any ideas on the real reason behind this?
Chart below is from "The SignalFire State of Talent Report - 2025":
May 29, 2025 at 3:30 PM
"New grad hiring drops 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels", I doubt that this is fully due to AI tooling automating routine tasks though
Any ideas on the real reason behind this?
Chart below is from "The SignalFire State of Talent Report - 2025":
Any ideas on the real reason behind this?
Chart below is from "The SignalFire State of Talent Report - 2025":
New ergo office chair experiment, trying to find something better for my posture than the Herman Miller Aeron chair
May 21, 2025 at 9:57 PM
New ergo office chair experiment, trying to find something better for my posture than the Herman Miller Aeron chair
Just interviewed an Principal Eng (IC8) from Meta, another one in the editing pipeline. We discussed:
• his promos at Meta from IC6 -> IC8
• his notetaking system
• IC8 impact working 40 hours a week
If interested, follow and I'll post about it here when it's ready
• his promos at Meta from IC6 -> IC8
• his notetaking system
• IC8 impact working 40 hours a week
If interested, follow and I'll post about it here when it's ready
May 8, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Just interviewed an Principal Eng (IC8) from Meta, another one in the editing pipeline. We discussed:
• his promos at Meta from IC6 -> IC8
• his notetaking system
• IC8 impact working 40 hours a week
If interested, follow and I'll post about it here when it's ready
• his promos at Meta from IC6 -> IC8
• his notetaking system
• IC8 impact working 40 hours a week
If interested, follow and I'll post about it here when it's ready
"How to get a return offer from FAANG internships" clip just went viral on my IG (~100k views, 907 shares, 1.7k saves)
I've had 5 interns at Meta, here's the gist on what a strong internship performance looks like:
I've had 5 interns at Meta, here's the gist on what a strong internship performance looks like:
May 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
"How to get a return offer from FAANG internships" clip just went viral on my IG (~100k views, 907 shares, 1.7k saves)
I've had 5 interns at Meta, here's the gist on what a strong internship performance looks like:
I've had 5 interns at Meta, here's the gist on what a strong internship performance looks like:
Did a talk at UCLA about "industry secrets I wish I knew before graduating college" for UPE & ACM clubs
If you're curious what we talked about, drop a reply and I'll share the recording link when it's ready:
If you're curious what we talked about, drop a reply and I'll share the recording link when it's ready:
March 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Did a talk at UCLA about "industry secrets I wish I knew before graduating college" for UPE & ACM clubs
If you're curious what we talked about, drop a reply and I'll share the recording link when it's ready:
If you're curious what we talked about, drop a reply and I'll share the recording link when it's ready:
Anthropic CEO: "In 3-6 months, AI is writing 90% of the code. And then in 12 months we may be in a world where AI is writing essentially all of the code"
This scares junior engineers but not senior+ engineers. Here's why:
This scares junior engineers but not senior+ engineers. Here's why:
March 12, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Anthropic CEO: "In 3-6 months, AI is writing 90% of the code. And then in 12 months we may be in a world where AI is writing essentially all of the code"
This scares junior engineers but not senior+ engineers. Here's why:
This scares junior engineers but not senior+ engineers. Here's why:
Every engineer will eventually decide to become a people manager or stay an individual contributor (IC).
Neither path is objectively better than the other.
I compiled all my notes from senior managers and ICs I chatted with when considering the switch myself. Some takeaways:
Neither path is objectively better than the other.
I compiled all my notes from senior managers and ICs I chatted with when considering the switch myself. Some takeaways:
March 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Every engineer will eventually decide to become a people manager or stay an individual contributor (IC).
Neither path is objectively better than the other.
I compiled all my notes from senior managers and ICs I chatted with when considering the switch myself. Some takeaways:
Neither path is objectively better than the other.
I compiled all my notes from senior managers and ICs I chatted with when considering the switch myself. Some takeaways:
If you agree that 10x engineers exist (they do, trust me) we'll soon see them become 100x or even 1000x engineers
AI assisted tooling will give them more leverage which is a multiplier for their exceptional judgement
AI assisted tooling will give them more leverage which is a multiplier for their exceptional judgement
February 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM
If you agree that 10x engineers exist (they do, trust me) we'll soon see them become 100x or even 1000x engineers
AI assisted tooling will give them more leverage which is a multiplier for their exceptional judgement
AI assisted tooling will give them more leverage which is a multiplier for their exceptional judgement
Configure some upper bound of max # of iterations. If you ever hit that, you rehash everything with new hash functions and repeat the insertion procedure.
Found this interesting idea while reading how they applied it in TikTok's Monolith paper:
Found this interesting idea while reading how they applied it in TikTok's Monolith paper:
February 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Configure some upper bound of max # of iterations. If you ever hit that, you rehash everything with new hash functions and repeat the insertion procedure.
Found this interesting idea while reading how they applied it in TikTok's Monolith paper:
Found this interesting idea while reading how they applied it in TikTok's Monolith paper:
Core concept: maintain two hash functions.
When inserting, if no collision -> you're done
If collision -> you evict the old element and set the new one. Then you run the old element through the other hash function. You repeat this until no collision
To prevent infinite loop:
When inserting, if no collision -> you're done
If collision -> you evict the old element and set the new one. Then you run the old element through the other hash function. You repeat this until no collision
To prevent infinite loop:
February 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Core concept: maintain two hash functions.
When inserting, if no collision -> you're done
If collision -> you evict the old element and set the new one. Then you run the old element through the other hash function. You repeat this until no collision
To prevent infinite loop:
When inserting, if no collision -> you're done
If collision -> you evict the old element and set the new one. Then you run the old element through the other hash function. You repeat this until no collision
To prevent infinite loop:
Meetings have their purpose, but they vary a lot in how useful they are.
As you add attendees, typically the cost goes up and the average usefulness goes down.
Giant meetings with 20+ people zoned out are painful:
As you add attendees, typically the cost goes up and the average usefulness goes down.
Giant meetings with 20+ people zoned out are painful:
February 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Meetings have their purpose, but they vary a lot in how useful they are.
As you add attendees, typically the cost goes up and the average usefulness goes down.
Giant meetings with 20+ people zoned out are painful:
As you add attendees, typically the cost goes up and the average usefulness goes down.
Giant meetings with 20+ people zoned out are painful:
Why I hate wasting engineering time in meetings:
February 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Why I hate wasting engineering time in meetings:
1. Switched to Python - It's easier to read and solutions are much shorter in this language. For instance, "Two Sum" in Python is only 8 lines of code while it's 15 lines in C++.
This helped me get the code out faster:
This helped me get the code out faster:
February 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
1. Switched to Python - It's easier to read and solutions are much shorter in this language. For instance, "Two Sum" in Python is only 8 lines of code while it's 15 lines in C++.
This helped me get the code out faster:
This helped me get the code out faster:
It's bittersweet that one day (probably this year) cleaning up code will no longer be necessary
It's so satisfying deleting dead code and fixing things
Imagine, though, a fully-typed, null-safe codebase with no dead code, using all the latest patterns with up-to-date comments
It's so satisfying deleting dead code and fixing things
Imagine, though, a fully-typed, null-safe codebase with no dead code, using all the latest patterns with up-to-date comments
February 6, 2025 at 1:43 AM
It's bittersweet that one day (probably this year) cleaning up code will no longer be necessary
It's so satisfying deleting dead code and fixing things
Imagine, though, a fully-typed, null-safe codebase with no dead code, using all the latest patterns with up-to-date comments
It's so satisfying deleting dead code and fixing things
Imagine, though, a fully-typed, null-safe codebase with no dead code, using all the latest patterns with up-to-date comments
2. What you write about >> how you write about it - Even the world’s best writer could only do so much with a boring topic
I put the same amount of work into each essay yet some did way better like this one:
I put the same amount of work into each essay yet some did way better like this one:
February 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM
2. What you write about >> how you write about it - Even the world’s best writer could only do so much with a boring topic
I put the same amount of work into each essay yet some did way better like this one:
I put the same amount of work into each essay yet some did way better like this one:
1. Quantity leads to quality - Even though quality was my north star, writing a lot coupled with reflecting on it eventually made me a better writer
Below are two snippets that show how my writing improved
The old intro is bland and doesn't really tell the reader why they should care:
Below are two snippets that show how my writing improved
The old intro is bland and doesn't really tell the reader why they should care:
February 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM
1. Quantity leads to quality - Even though quality was my north star, writing a lot coupled with reflecting on it eventually made me a better writer
Below are two snippets that show how my writing improved
The old intro is bland and doesn't really tell the reader why they should care:
Below are two snippets that show how my writing improved
The old intro is bland and doesn't really tell the reader why they should care:
After two years of writing a weekly newsletter, we reached 100,000+ subscribers 🎉
Since writing is important for engineers, I figured it’d be helpful to share everything I learned about writing after 100+ essays.
Top 3 points that helped me write better:
Since writing is important for engineers, I figured it’d be helpful to share everything I learned about writing after 100+ essays.
Top 3 points that helped me write better:
February 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM
After two years of writing a weekly newsletter, we reached 100,000+ subscribers 🎉
Since writing is important for engineers, I figured it’d be helpful to share everything I learned about writing after 100+ essays.
Top 3 points that helped me write better:
Since writing is important for engineers, I figured it’d be helpful to share everything I learned about writing after 100+ essays.
Top 3 points that helped me write better:
CS new grads, you might like the podcast I've been working on
Comment from YouTube:
Comment from YouTube:
January 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
CS new grads, you might like the podcast I've been working on
Comment from YouTube:
Comment from YouTube:
After many late Thursday nights, hit 100 weeks in a row on Substack without missing 🎉
Next goal, more sleep...
Next goal, more sleep...
January 17, 2025 at 5:44 PM
After many late Thursday nights, hit 100 weeks in a row on Substack without missing 🎉
Next goal, more sleep...
Next goal, more sleep...
What Worked (and Didn't) in a Decade of Goal Setting:
January 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM
What Worked (and Didn't) in a Decade of Goal Setting:
Thinking about next year:
January 2, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Thinking about next year:
2024 wrapped:
> Switched to AI/ML team
> Added 200k+ followers on socials
> Walked LA marathon
> Launched podcast
> Gave conference talk in Prague
> Took my parents on a dream vacation
> Hired well for my passion project
> Got scuba certs
See you all in 2025!
> Switched to AI/ML team
> Added 200k+ followers on socials
> Walked LA marathon
> Launched podcast
> Gave conference talk in Prague
> Took my parents on a dream vacation
> Hired well for my passion project
> Got scuba certs
See you all in 2025!
December 30, 2024 at 4:24 PM
2024 wrapped:
> Switched to AI/ML team
> Added 200k+ followers on socials
> Walked LA marathon
> Launched podcast
> Gave conference talk in Prague
> Took my parents on a dream vacation
> Hired well for my passion project
> Got scuba certs
See you all in 2025!
> Switched to AI/ML team
> Added 200k+ followers on socials
> Walked LA marathon
> Launched podcast
> Gave conference talk in Prague
> Took my parents on a dream vacation
> Hired well for my passion project
> Got scuba certs
See you all in 2025!
Big tech is back 🎉
Reddit is full of new offer posts:
Reddit is full of new offer posts:
December 11, 2024 at 9:50 PM
Big tech is back 🎉
Reddit is full of new offer posts:
Reddit is full of new offer posts: