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From the Network
langdev.stackexchange.com

Why do most languages have a complete operator precedence?

Maybe the compiler is actually protecting you in this case.

movies.stackexchange.com

What version of Star Wars was I watching at home in 1978?

Some of your favorite movie memories may have been bootlegs all along.

workplace.stackexchange.com

Should I give feedback on a redundancy proposal if I'm not directly affected?

"Not directly affected" is a misnomer for when you are directly affected, but they just don't want your input.

academia.stackexchange.com

What are some reputable software tools I can use to transcribe participants' interview recordings offline?

Knowing if a software runs fully locally is harder than one might thing.

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johnwhiles.com

AI slows down open source developers. Peter Naur can teach us why.

When it comes to open-source development, AI's models haven't caught up to human experts.

florian-kraemer.net

Most RESTful APIs aren't really RESTful

One cannot simply close their weary eyes when their API isn't RESTing.

evanhahn.com

How I build software quickly

Don't let perfect get in the way of good enough.

tedium.co

Ten desktop publishing tools that didn’t make it

Desktop publishing is dead. Long live desktop publishing.

langdev.stackexchange.com

Why do most languages have a complete operator precedence?

Maybe the compiler is actually protecting you in this case.

time.com

ChatGPT's impact on our brains according to an MIT study

It turns out that suffering really is the root of all wisdom.

spacebar.news

Moonbase Alpha: That time NASA made a meme video game

Did you know that NASA made an MMO and the users turned it into a singing contest?

akdev.blog

How questions build software

We've always known that the best way to learn programming is to ask questions, but it's nice to see other folks get on board.

research.roundtable.ai

Proof of Human. Creating the invisible Turing Test for the Internet

...And you will know us by the trail of erratic mouse movements.

henrikwarne.com

Lessons from nine more years of tricky bugs

It's amazing how many of these bugs are in the "Oops!" category.

suthakamal.substack.com

Revisiting Minsky’s Society of Mind in 2025

A 1986 book from an AI pioneer describes where AI is headed pretty well.

dbreunig.com

The drawbridges go up

Interoperability sounds nice and all, but everybody would rather keep their moats.

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Previous issues Subscribe on Stack Overflow

Issue 286: The future is now

This week, we're ringing in a new era at Stack Overflow. We're fresh from WeAreDevelopers, where our CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar and CPTO Jody Bailey shared with the world the next chapter at Stack Overflow. New era, new us...but don't worry, we're keeping you right at the center of it. With a new era, you gotta have a fresh new look. And like a middle schooler starting a new year of school, we had to ask our friends (the community) to help us pick the best one. XX But we're not just looking forward; we're also looking back. We're throwing it back to classic movies, the original Transformers paper, and talking like a baby. On the pod, Illia Polosukhin, co-author of the "Attention Is All You Need" paper, joins us to give his thoughts on the evolution of LLMs. Meanwhile, some award-winning baby-talk innovators flexed their skills during our community Coding Challenges. Plus, we got the story on how student co-founders at Koel Labs are using films to innovate speech technology, which would be helpful for our dear user on the Academia site who's asking about reputable transcription services. XX Speaking of movies, what version of Star Wars were you watching at home as a kid? We've got a possible answer for you in this issue, plus a bit about RESTful APIs, desktop publishing, and more. Wanna build software quicker...or slower? Well, you probably don't want to do that second one, but we've got the stories for both at our links below.

Issue 285: One query to rule them all

This week, we're thinking about the unsimple things in life. For instance, what are we supposed to do with a "dream machine" when its dreaming turns into hallucinations? How are 256 electrodes placed on the brain able to create perfect speech? Can you replace several cables with a single fiber line and still have internet? Are Ghibli breads real, and if so, where can I get one? You know, just everyday ponderings. XX Over on the pod, Stack Overflow legend Jon Skeet joined us to impart some of the tech wisdom that garnered him a million rep points, including the complexities of timezones (very Y2K problem). Plus, Matt DeBergalis from Apollo GraphQL jumped on to to talk the evolution of API orchestration and what it means for modern development stacks. And if you too are pondering about those peskily unreliable "dream machines," you'll be excited to know there are ways to base those dreams in reality. XX And in a world of unsimple things, we'll leave you with a few overly simplified answers: Is using your brain REALLY better for coding than an LLM? (Yes.) What kind of exception should you be throwing in C++? (Trick question, you shouldn't all the time.) Will T.S. Eliot get me fired from Apple? (Almost.) If you want to know more, the full answers are down below. XX

Issue 284: 98 problems on the wall...

This week, we're focused on problems. Secretly, this is also a solution week, because if we just piled on with new problems, geez, what a bummer email that would be. We all know data is becoming a bigger engineering problem, so the podcast talked to folks at Tobiko Data about how they are improving the data engineering toolbox. For those of you in hardware, you know the troubles that tariffs have caused—our other podcast this week talks to MiniProto, a company doing hardware prototyping in the US. XX AI (thought you'd escape it this week, eh?) claims to be a solution, but it often comes with its own problems. We chatted with Vish Abrams, chief architect at Heroku, about the problems with software that vibe coders aren't thinking about. For those of you adopting AI at work, we review our Leaders of Code conversation with the CTO of Cloudflare to figure out how to overcome AI adoption and implementation problems. XX Okay, enough with the problems already. Time for answers! Why were players singing in a NASA MMO? Whose fault are radio buttons? How can I apply to more jobs, theoretically getting me one job? How can we distinguish these smart robots from people on the internet? FYI, these are questions—answers are in the links.

Issue 283: Knowledge for lurkers

This week, we're thinking about the changes taking place within venerable institutions. We talked with the Chair of the OpenJDK Governing Board, Georges Saab, about what the past five years have meant to a 30-year-old language. The biggie: new releases every six months with whatever's done instead of waiting to shove a massive feature-fest out every few years. Over on the Leaders of Code podcast, our CTO talks with Cloudflare's CTO about how the internet—and their jobs making it a better place—are about to get a little cray-cray in the next few years. XX We're also thinking about how to keep making things better, now and in the future. We've got a round table podcast with Stack Overflow's Trust and Safety team about how they put out dumpster fires that are inevitable in any user community. For those of you in the Zoomer generation (or trying to deal with them spotting bad vibes), we've a fantastic look at how this generation learns differently and how AI fits there. XX Fret not, pretty babies, we have a fat stack of fun facts for you to trot out at the next "Kid from Jerry McGuire look-alike contest." Did you know giant snails could have sieged medieval castles? But did you know Marvin Minsky created a framework for thinking about AI agents in 1986? But, but did you know you can spot a bad workplace pretty fast? Bonus: Yes, Mr. Goodwillie, we have your 1987 letter!