Friday Links: Coding like a surgeon, surviving a stroke
31 Oct 2025 #mondaylinksHey there.
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. I’ve been thinking about how to adopt AI. I don’t want to outsource coding. I still want my hands dirty. I thought we should be like the lead surgeon in an operating room. But I’m not the only one thinking to code like a surgeon (6min).
#2. We can reduce the whole clean code discussion to a few principles, like “separate specific code from generic code” (That’s the one I cover in Street-Smart Coding, by the way). But there’s a similar one: pure core, impure shell (3min).
#3. The tech industry made me sick last year, literally and figuratively. It was life-changing, though not as serious as surviving a stroke (5min). Even if you haven’t had health issues, that’s worth reading. You can always find a new job, but not a new body. You need boundaries.
#4. With big corporations eager to make money, the dream of running what we want in our devices seems to be gone (10min).
Also on my blog this week, I shared about the subtle sign you’re growing as a coder (2min) and 5 lessons from a mentor that helped me become senior (4min).
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Some of the lessons inside are conventional. Others were learned the hard way. And a few are weird. (One of the tips is to watch a TV show. That’s on Chapter #29.) But all the tips and lessons are battle-tested.
Grab your copy here. Just for a few days, you can pay what you want (even $1 or $2). No tricks or treats.
See you next Friday,
Cesar
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