Weeknotes 261

Hot, hot, hot, man. Too hot. Uncomfortably hot.

Dynamic Ecto Queries and PostgreSQL Query Plans – this is an interesting demonstration of how small code changes can ruin query performance.

Well, doesn’t time go fast? Already that time of year where I make my yearly journey to Brighton, complain about the trains, and then reiterate that I don’t really go for the talks.

The trains were predictably a nightmare, but I did more or less get where I needed to, so overall a success?

I don’t really go for the talks…but, in particular:

The talk from Elena and Emma from GitHub about using flamegraphs to diagnose performance issues was interesting. GitHub have experienced a 40% increase in code commits in recent months which goes some way to explain things.

I also found Rémy’s talk on timezones equal parts entertaining and terrifying. I’m now even more scared about dealing with times and dates.

Of course, it was inevitable, the debate about AI/LLMs seemed to constantly crop up with people seemingly increasingly sick of talking about it. Some of the talks demonstrated to me just how much some people are in their own bubbles. I’m sure I’m in mine too.

Pledging Another $400,000 to the Zig Software Foundation

I use AI heavily. I’ve written about my AI adoption journey and shipping real features with AI assistance. I’m also quite vocal about remaining rational about its capabilities and frustrated with its negative impacts on open source.

The point is that I have opinions. Those opinions don’t fully align with ZSF’s approach. And yet, I have nothing but respect for ZSF: the people, the policies, and the project. Part of what makes the internet and open source great is that projects can be weird and different. They can set unusual boundaries, build their own culture, and pursue quality in ways that won’t make sense to everyone.

Developers don’t understand CORS

I’ve been certainly guilty of this but I understand it a bit better now!

Four ways to plan agent work, and when to switch

I wish I could express myself better without the hyperbole and ranting but here we are.