18 Aug 2025 #coding
Today I found this question on dev.to (with a tone of frustration in it):
I’m trying to start learning webdev but I don’t know if it’s too late.
Like investing, planting trees, and pretty much anything else in life, the best time to start was five years ago. But the next best time? Now.
Decades ago, people learned from reference manuals and magazines. Paid for compilers. And suffered with slow and expensive internet connections. You could only access a computer in universities. Having one at home was a complete luxury.
Fast forward to today, your phone has more power than the computer that put a man on the Moon. Now, anyone can start learning to code by asking ChatGPT for a 3-month learning guide and following YouTube tutorials. All for free.
If you’re asking the same question, don’t be discouraged by AI. Blame all the misleading headlines.
AI is making coding faster and cheaper. Sure. But most of it happens through collaborating in meetings and discussions, not at the keyboard. AI isn’t replacing coders (for real) anytime soon because coding is about thinking and problem-solving. Typing is just the surface.
17 Aug 2025 #misc
Elliot Smith nailed it in his post Why LinkedIn Rewards Mediocrity.
It’s hard to disagree with that headline and his main idea. Yes, LinkedIn is a weird place. We do crazy things for a moment of fame or to impress future employers.
I’ve been writing consistently on LinkedIn since 2024, and here are my reactions:
It’s built for virality
Honestly, the best approach is to remember that LinkedIn is a website owned by Microsoft, trying to make money for Microsoft, based on time spent on the site.
Absolutely! Like any other social platform, they want us trapped.
If you have a LinkedIn account, you’ve already received the useless “someone on LinkedIn viewed your profile” email and plenty of others. The more time we spend there, the more ads they show and the more money they make. Our attention is the product they sell.
The feed, the algorithm, and the platform itself are created for virality, not depth. And truth be told, nobody goes to social media for depth. When was the last time you went there for that? We go there to scroll until it’s time to clock out. We might learn something dumb scrolling sometimes.
Social media might offer ideas, but only in 280 characters or a flashy image. Funny enough, my most viewed posts have been listicles and short controversial posts. They crush it on social media. But for depth, we have newsletters and books.
It has good content
Lots of people who write good content don’t live on LinkedIn, they might repurpose things for the platform but they exist elsewhere.
That’s true.
I use social media to test ideas and promote my coding newsletter and blog. No shame in being “salesy.” That’s what most creators do. After all, social media is built for dopamine hits, not depth.
It’s easy to support good content
If you’re more of a consumer than a producer and you want to help make things better the best thing you can do is reward the real stuff. Find those people who aren’t playing the game and promote that instead.
100% agree. If you comment that something is clickbait, you’ll only boost it. More comments = larger audience. Simply ignore that type of content. Engage with content worth spreading. That’s how we can fix the feed.
16 Aug 2025 #coding
The other day, I shared my story of how I met my first computer on dev.to. It resonated with at least a dozen people. From the 1 KB RAM computer story to the grassy hill wallpaper of Windows XP.
All comments had something in common: Seeing a computer for the first time was like a magical moment. For many, changing letters on a screen felt magical 10 or 20 years ago.
Most of us ended up choosing programming because of the mystery and magic of seeing computers for the first time.
Maybe my first encounter with a computer wasn’t that magical. I didn’t know then I’d work with with computers. But I narrowed down all my options until a computer-related one was left. I owe it to my STEM classes and having a computer at home, a luxury for universities and big firms back then.
These days, computers are everyday tools we barely notice. That magic has faded away.
15 Aug 2025 #mondaylinks
Hey there.
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. One senior developer failed at a live coding interview session. Funny enough, once the interview was over, he solved the exercise. Arrggg! He wrote a breakdown of why live coding sucks (9min).
#2. Here are 50 bits of career advice (12min). Bit#26 is what I call “my code is not my baby.”
#3. It’s interesting to notice how coding has changed over the years. Coding a spellchecker used to be a huge challenge (3min). These days we have plenty of memory, we don’t really care anymore.
#4. This is a coder vs huge corporation story. He wrote a piece of code that a major AI corporation uses. But they rejected him when he applied to work there. He gave AI arms and legs, then it rejected him (7min).
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about the one lesson I wish I’d known when I started coding (2min) and some C# extension methods I stole from Reddit (3min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Check my Gumroad store to access free and premium books and courses to level up your coding skills and grow your software engineering career.
Coming soon: the “C# Fundamentals Bundle,” all of my beginner-friendly C# video courses to help you master the language from the ground up. Launching in just a few weeks, so stay tuned!
See you next time,
Cesar
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14 Aug 2025 #misc
Today, Derek Siddoway’s LinkedIn post deeply resonated.
He wrote that he didn’t work out or sleep early. He shared a honest “didn’t do” list with unhealthy entries: burger for lunch and two cans of Mountain Drew. But he managed to find time to write.
I’ve had a busy week too. I’ve missed my daily practice. I haven’t worked out. And I’ve barely kept my daily streak intact. But like Derek, I found time for one thing that made my days matter: I supported my family when they needed me… and hit Publish.
Imperfect days happen. Ride the tide. One action could turn an imperfect day into a good one. Tomorrow is always new. That’s what I’m learning to do.