Friday Links: The best time to be a coder
09 Jan 2026 #mondaylinksHey, there!
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. AI makes coding and shipping nearly free. Side projects alone won’t help you stand out (7min). Maybe it’s time to double down on open source contributions or start a “learn and build in public” YouTube channel.
#2. Addy Osmani, a leader at Google, shared 21 lessons after a decade of coding (10min). The one that resonated the most? #6. “Coding doesn’t advocate for you.” Good code alone doesn’t make you a good coder, especially in the AI era.
#3. AI shows coding isn’t the bottleneck. A concept that isn’t new. Here’s a breakdown of why it’s never been the bottleneck (6min).
#4. Maybe juniors won’t say the same, but it’s a great time to be a coder (5min). Our job may be to design systems and let AI fill in the blanks. (That’s point #10 from that post)
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about the “hiring is broken” law of coding blogs (2min) and the mantra to thrive in the AI era (2min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… my new book, Street-Smart Coding: 30 lessons to help you code like a pro. From Googling to clear communication, it covers the lessons you don’t learn in tutorials. It’s now out on Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
Happy coding in 2026!
See you next time,
Cesar