Chad Fowler
@chadfowler.com
GP&CTO @blueyard.com
Author, musician, speaker, developer
https://chadfowler.com/
I'm on Germ DM 🔑
anchr://ger.mx/A4ThL8vo6C6uygkNTQKyjHTSc9ZUaQWU0s5aVU3Io2s4#did:plc:4qsyxmnsblo4luuycm3572bq
Author, musician, speaker, developer
https://chadfowler.com/
I'm on Germ DM 🔑
anchr://ger.mx/A4ThL8vo6C6uygkNTQKyjHTSc9ZUaQWU0s5aVU3Io2s4#did:plc:4qsyxmnsblo4luuycm3572bq
Ooh yes! I’m in London once or twice a year.
January 7, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Ooh yes! I’m in London once or twice a year.
Nice! I composed chamber music in the 90s a bit and spent a lot of time with some of my favorite contemporary composers. Now I play avant-garde “jazz” music and run a label. I play mostly fully improvised music but now re-introducing composition as part of that process.
January 7, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Nice! I composed chamber music in the 90s a bit and spent a lot of time with some of my favorite contemporary composers. Now I play avant-garde “jazz” music and run a label. I play mostly fully improvised music but now re-introducing composition as part of that process.
@darylfeehely.com “into new/experimental music”. Do tell.
January 7, 2026 at 10:02 PM
@darylfeehely.com “into new/experimental music”. Do tell.
Reposted by Chad Fowler
Having inherited a few systems in my time, simpler architectures go a long way to making things easier to maintain & upgrade.
This n=1 design constraint is a nice way of codifying this.
I once did a handover with a founder who was delighted with his 1 line of C++ no docs sub-system. We weren't 😂
This n=1 design constraint is a nice way of codifying this.
I once did a handover with a founder who was delighted with his 1 line of C++ no docs sub-system. We weren't 😂
If your system cannot be understood, modified, and (at least theoretically) regenerated by one competent engineer, it is already too complex. That’s not a statement about staffing. It’s a statement about architecture.
n=1 Is a Design Constrain (Not a Staffing Model)
Single-developer capability isn’t a productivity story. It’s the test that tells you whether your architecture is worth keeping.
aicoding.leaflet.pub
January 7, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Having inherited a few systems in my time, simpler architectures go a long way to making things easier to maintain & upgrade.
This n=1 design constraint is a nice way of codifying this.
I once did a handover with a founder who was delighted with his 1 line of C++ no docs sub-system. We weren't 😂
This n=1 design constraint is a nice way of codifying this.
I once did a handover with a founder who was delighted with his 1 line of C++ no docs sub-system. We weren't 😂
Reposted by Chad Fowler
Her vehicle's right front panel cleared the ICE agent who didn't open fire until after he was at the side of her vehicle. He used deadly force on a fleeing individual, which is against DHS policy. This is murder. He needs to be arrested.
January 7, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Her vehicle's right front panel cleared the ICE agent who didn't open fire until after he was at the side of her vehicle. He used deadly force on a fleeing individual, which is against DHS policy. This is murder. He needs to be arrested.
Reposted by Chad Fowler
Tim Walz is mobilizing the MN National Guard, and reminds Minnesotans that the guard "is OURS - our teachers and our neighbors." He asks Minnesotans to respect them. "They're there to protect you and your constitutional rights. They don't wear masks."
January 7, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Tim Walz is mobilizing the MN National Guard, and reminds Minnesotans that the guard "is OURS - our teachers and our neighbors." He asks Minnesotans to respect them. "They're there to protect you and your constitutional rights. They don't wear masks."
Reposted by Chad Fowler
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell, 1984
Trump defends the ICE agent who shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis.
Video footage does not support Trump's claims.
Video footage does not support Trump's claims.
January 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell, 1984
If your system cannot be understood, modified, and (at least theoretically) regenerated by one competent engineer, it is already too complex. That’s not a statement about staffing. It’s a statement about architecture.
n=1 Is a Design Constrain (Not a Staffing Model)
Single-developer capability isn’t a productivity story. It’s the test that tells you whether your architecture is worth keeping.
aicoding.leaflet.pub
January 7, 2026 at 8:20 PM
If your system cannot be understood, modified, and (at least theoretically) regenerated by one competent engineer, it is already too complex. That’s not a statement about staffing. It’s a statement about architecture.
Reposted by Chad Fowler
This reminds me of the Law of Requisite Variety -- controlling a situation (that is, reducing its variability) doesn't _eliminate_ the variability, it moves it elsewhere in the (larger) system.
January 7, 2026 at 2:56 PM
This reminds me of the Law of Requisite Variety -- controlling a situation (that is, reducing its variability) doesn't _eliminate_ the variability, it moves it elsewhere in the (larger) system.
Relocating Rigor
The Discipline That Looks Like Recklessness
aicoding.leaflet.pub
January 6, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Chad Fowler
cowsay --dangerously-skip-permissions
January 6, 2026 at 1:29 PM
cowsay --dangerously-skip-permissions
Reposted by Chad Fowler
INSIGHT - Identify Risk First - a groundbreaking new framework - it reframes the entire software development process around identifying and managing risk.
Save 40% with code INSIGHT
Save 40% with code INSIGHT
January 5, 2026 at 6:33 PM
INSIGHT - Identify Risk First - a groundbreaking new framework - it reframes the entire software development process around identifying and managing risk.
Save 40% with code INSIGHT
Save 40% with code INSIGHT
Reposted by Chad Fowler
openai models are livestock. claudes are pets.
January 2, 2026 at 4:48 PM
openai models are livestock. claudes are pets.
Reposted by Chad Fowler
Wow. By far the most resonant and interesting metaphor/idea I've encountered recently on the future of (malleable) software. Thank you @bmann.ca !!!
aicoding.leaflet.pub/3majnyfydzs2...
aicoding.leaflet.pub/3majnyfydzs2...
January 5, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Wow. By far the most resonant and interesting metaphor/idea I've encountered recently on the future of (malleable) software. Thank you @bmann.ca !!!
aicoding.leaflet.pub/3majnyfydzs2...
aicoding.leaflet.pub/3majnyfydzs2...
The System Is the Asset
Why Regeneration Does Not Mean Starting Over
aicoding.leaflet.pub
January 5, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Chad Fowler
For your analogies @chadfowler.com
The endpoint of malleable code is that the “meta tools” of your software system are themselves in flux.
@joelchan86.bsky.social check out Chad’s writing on this aicoding.leaflet.pub
The endpoint of malleable code is that the “meta tools” of your software system are themselves in flux.
@joelchan86.bsky.social check out Chad’s writing on this aicoding.leaflet.pub
January 5, 2026 at 1:05 PM
For your analogies @chadfowler.com
The endpoint of malleable code is that the “meta tools” of your software system are themselves in flux.
@joelchan86.bsky.social check out Chad’s writing on this aicoding.leaflet.pub
The endpoint of malleable code is that the “meta tools” of your software system are themselves in flux.
@joelchan86.bsky.social check out Chad’s writing on this aicoding.leaflet.pub
same with assembler and machine code right? What's your point?
January 1, 2026 at 1:29 AM
same with assembler and machine code right? What's your point?
Reposted by Chad Fowler
There's precedence in some formal verification + code generation research, where you simply refine the spec over time instead of directly writing code
December 31, 2025 at 1:56 PM
There's precedence in some formal verification + code generation research, where you simply refine the spec over time instead of directly writing code
Reposted by Chad Fowler
This was a great read — thanks!
There’s an angle here that I’ve been noodling over for a *long* time; I think the layer we need to systematise now is “Product”, and I don’t think BDD testing and user/job stories are anywhere near the whole picture.
There’s an angle here that I’ve been noodling over for a *long* time; I think the layer we need to systematise now is “Product”, and I don’t think BDD testing and user/job stories are anywhere near the whole picture.
December 31, 2025 at 4:51 AM
This was a great read — thanks!
There’s an angle here that I’ve been noodling over for a *long* time; I think the layer we need to systematise now is “Product”, and I don’t think BDD testing and user/job stories are anywhere near the whole picture.
There’s an angle here that I’ve been noodling over for a *long* time; I think the layer we need to systematise now is “Product”, and I don’t think BDD testing and user/job stories are anywhere near the whole picture.
Reposted by Chad Fowler
This sounds like it meshes very closely with an idea I had about "atomic development", which I keep meaning to write up, as well as possibly this one - news.mit.edu/2025/mit-res...
MIT researchers propose a new model for legible, modular software
A new MIT CSAIL approach breaks software systems into “concepts,” or individual pieces designed to do one job, and “synchronizations,” or explicit rules that describe how those pieces fit together. Th...
news.mit.edu
December 31, 2025 at 11:36 AM
This sounds like it meshes very closely with an idea I had about "atomic development", which I keep meaning to write up, as well as possibly this one - news.mit.edu/2025/mit-res...