The Pragmatic Engineer
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Big Tech and startups, from the inside. Highly relevant for software engineers and managers, useful for those working in tech.
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Discover more/Create at: @skystack.xyz
How AWS deals with a major outage • What happens when there’s a massive outage at AWS? A member of AWS’s Incident Response team lifts the lid, after playing a key role in resolving the leading cloud provider’s most recent major outage
How AWS deals with a major outage
What happens when there’s a massive outage at AWS? A member of AWS’s Incident Response team lifts the lid, after playing a key role in resolving the leading cloud provider’s most recent major outage
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM
How AWS deals with a major outage • What happens when there’s a massive outage at AWS? A member of AWS’s Incident Response team lifts the lid, after playing a key role in resolving the leading cloud provider’s most recent major outage
The Pulse #156: Beware of global configuration changes in large systems • Also: inadequate capacity planning at AWS, how the engineering team at Oxide uses LLMs, Linux now supports Rust in the kernel, and more
The Pulse #156: Beware of global configuration changes in large systems
Also: inadequate capacity planning at AWS, how the engineering team at Oxide uses LLMs, Linux now supports Rust in the kernel, and more
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The Pulse #156: Beware of global configuration changes in large systems • Also: inadequate capacity planning at AWS, how the engineering team at Oxide uses LLMs, Linux now supports Rust in the kernel, and more
Frictionless: why great developer experience can help teams win in the ‘AI age’ • Exclusive excerpts from the newly-released book ‘Frictionless’, by Nicole Forsgren and Abi Noda.
Frictionless: why great developer experience can help teams win in the ‘AI age’
Exclusive excerpts from the newly-released book ‘Frictionless’, by Nicole Forsgren and Abi Noda.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Frictionless: why great developer experience can help teams win in the ‘AI age’ • Exclusive excerpts from the newly-released book ‘Frictionless’, by Nicole Forsgren and Abi Noda.
Building MCP servers in the real world • How engineers and teams use MCP servers: from debugging to working with legacy systems, & giving non-devs more access. Details from 40+ devs – with some surprises
Building MCP servers in the real world
How engineers and teams use MCP servers: from debugging to working with legacy systems, & giving non-devs more access. Details from 40+ devs – with some surprises
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Building MCP servers in the real world • How engineers and teams use MCP servers: from debugging to working with legacy systems, & giving non-devs more access. Details from 40+ devs – with some surprises
The Pulse #155: 5-day RTO looms for those at Big Tech? • Also: senior engineers might be more efficient with AI tools than juniors, Anthropic and Claude Code on a roll, and more.
The Pulse #155: 5-day RTO looms for those at Big Tech?
Also: senior engineers might be more efficient with AI tools than juniors, Anthropic and Claude Code on a roll, and more.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The Pulse #155: 5-day RTO looms for those at Big Tech? • Also: senior engineers might be more efficient with AI tools than juniors, Anthropic and Claude Code on a roll, and more.
Being a founding engineer at an AI startup • Michelle Lim shares how to evaluate early-stage startup roles, negotiate equity, and grow into a high-impact founding engineer.
Being a founding engineer at an AI startup
Michelle Lim shares how to evaluate early-stage startup roles, negotiate equity, and grow into a high-impact founding engineer.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Being a founding engineer at an AI startup • Michelle Lim shares how to evaluate early-stage startup roles, negotiate equity, and grow into a high-impact founding engineer.
A pragmatic guide to LLM evals for devs • Evals are a new toolset for any and all AI engineers – and software engineers should also know about them. Move from guesswork to a systematic engineering process for improving AI quality.
A pragmatic guide to LLM evals for devs
Evals are a new toolset for any and all AI engineers – and software engineers should also know about them. Move from guesswork to a systematic engineering process for improving AI quality.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
A pragmatic guide to LLM evals for devs • Evals are a new toolset for any and all AI engineers – and software engineers should also know about them. Move from guesswork to a systematic engineering process for improving AI quality.
Code security for software engineers • Johannes Dahse, VP of Code Security at Sonar, breaks down where vulnerabilities really come from, how developers can prevent them, and how AI is reshaping the security landscape.
Code security for software engineers
Johannes Dahse, VP of Code Security at Sonar, breaks down where vulnerabilities really come from, how developers can prevent them, and how AI is reshaping the security landscape.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Code security for software engineers • Johannes Dahse, VP of Code Security at Sonar, breaks down where vulnerabilities really come from, how developers can prevent them, and how AI is reshaping the security landscape.
Holiday gift ideas for techies • Gift ideas and inspiration for the tech workers in your life (and maybe yourself) this holiday season
Holiday gift ideas for techies
Gift ideas and inspiration for the tech workers in your life (and maybe yourself) this holiday season
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Holiday gift ideas for techies • Gift ideas and inspiration for the tech workers in your life (and maybe yourself) this holiday season
The Pulse #154: Cloudflare takes down half the internet – but shares a great postmortem • Also: why it’s not practical to build for CDN redundancy, Google launches AI IDE Antigravity externally while using Jetski internally, more AI fakers caught in remote interviews, and more
The Pulse #154: Cloudflare takes down half the internet – but shares a great postmortem
Also: why it’s not practical to build for CDN redundancy, Google launches AI IDE Antigravity externally while using Jetski internally, more AI fakers caught in remote interviews, and more
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The Pulse #154: Cloudflare takes down half the internet – but shares a great postmortem • Also: why it’s not practical to build for CDN redundancy, Google launches AI IDE Antigravity externally while using Jetski internally, more AI fakers caught in remote interviews, and more
How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler • Martin Fowler breaks down how AI is transforming software architecture and development, from refactoring and deterministic techniques to the timeless principles that still anchor great engineering.
How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler
Martin Fowler breaks down how AI is transforming software architecture and development, from refactoring and deterministic techniques to the timeless principles that still anchor great engineering.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
How AI will change software engineering – with Martin Fowler • Martin Fowler breaks down how AI is transforming software architecture and development, from refactoring and deterministic techniques to the timeless principles that still anchor great engineering.
Career paths for software engineers at large tech companies • Tactics for getting promoted to Levels 5, 6, and 7, and advice on when to make your move into management. Former Amazon VP, Ethan Evans, reveals what he saw work during a successful Big Tech career
Career paths for software engineers at large tech companies
Tactics for getting promoted to Levels 5, 6, and 7, and advice on when to make your move into management. Former Amazon VP, Ethan Evans, reveals what he saw work during a successful Big Tech career
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Career paths for software engineers at large tech companies • Tactics for getting promoted to Levels 5, 6, and 7, and advice on when to make your move into management. Former Amazon VP, Ethan Evans, reveals what he saw work during a successful Big Tech career
The Pulse #153: Is Microsoft too early to agentic OS – like with smartphones? • Also: agents coming the default way to write code, inside Cursor’s unique engineering culture, and more. Plus: early applications for The Pragmatic Summit
The Pulse #153: Is Microsoft too early to agentic OS – like with smartphones?
Also: agents coming the default way to write code, inside Cursor’s unique engineering culture, and more. Plus: early applications for The Pragmatic Summit
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Pulse #153: Is Microsoft too early to agentic OS – like with smartphones? • Also: agents coming the default way to write code, inside Cursor’s unique engineering culture, and more. Plus: early applications for The Pragmatic Summit
Netflix’s Engineering Culture • Peek inside Netflix’s engineering culture with CTO Elizabeth Stone, as she shares how the company has no formal performance reviews, learns from failures, and builds at a global scale.
Netflix’s Engineering Culture
Peek inside Netflix’s engineering culture with CTO Elizabeth Stone, as she shares how the company has no formal performance reviews, learns from failures, and builds at a global scale.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Netflix’s Engineering Culture • Peek inside Netflix’s engineering culture with CTO Elizabeth Stone, as she shares how the company has no formal performance reviews, learns from failures, and builds at a global scale.
The Software Engineer’s Guidebook: a recap • Reflections on publishing The Software Engineer’s Guidebook two years ago, which has sold around 40,000 copies. Also: an unexpected trip to Mongolia to visit the startup which translated it
The Software Engineer’s Guidebook: a recap
Reflections on publishing The Software Engineer’s Guidebook two years ago, which has sold around 40,000 copies. Also: an unexpected trip to Mongolia to visit the startup which translated it
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Software Engineer’s Guidebook: a recap • Reflections on publishing The Software Engineer’s Guidebook two years ago, which has sold around 40,000 copies. Also: an unexpected trip to Mongolia to visit the startup which translated it
The Pulse #152: Cursor and GitHub double down on agents • Also: AI-assisted interviews at Meta, pay for Directors of Engineering at VC-funded startups, and is OpenAI inflating the bubble? And more
The Pulse #152: Cursor and GitHub double down on agents
Also: AI-assisted interviews at Meta, pay for Directors of Engineering at VC-funded startups, and is OpenAI inflating the bubble? And more
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Pulse #152: Cursor and GitHub double down on agents • Also: AI-assisted interviews at Meta, pay for Directors of Engineering at VC-funded startups, and is OpenAI inflating the bubble? And more
From Swift to Mojo and high-performance AI Engineering with Chris Lattner • I sit down with Chris Lattner, creator of LLVM, Swift, and Mojo, to discuss how better language and compiler design can open the door to faster, more accessible AI development.
From Swift to Mojo and high-performance AI Engineering with Chris Lattner
I sit down with Chris Lattner, creator of LLVM, Swift, and Mojo, to discuss how better language and compiler design can open the door to faster, more accessible AI development.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
From Swift to Mojo and high-performance AI Engineering with Chris Lattner • I sit down with Chris Lattner, creator of LLVM, Swift, and Mojo, to discuss how better language and compiler design can open the door to faster, more accessible AI development.
Tech jobs market 2025, part 3: job seekers’ stories • Details on the state of hiring from software engineers and EMs in the market for a new job. Insights on what’s happening from recruitment platforms: junior rebound, picky employers & a tough market
Tech jobs market 2025, part 3: job seekers’ stories
Details on the state of hiring from software engineers and EMs in the market for a new job. Insights on what’s happening from recruitment platforms: junior rebound, picky employers & a tough market
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Tech jobs market 2025, part 3: job seekers’ stories • Details on the state of hiring from software engineers and EMs in the market for a new job. Insights on what’s happening from recruitment platforms: junior rebound, picky employers & a tough market
The Pulse #151: Amazon layoffs – AI or economy to blame? • Also: OpenAI becomes for-profit and takes on Chrome, NVIDIA the biggest Big Tech by a distance, Citibank annoys premium customers for weeks with disastrous product rollout, and more
The Pulse #151: Amazon layoffs – AI or economy to blame?
Also: OpenAI becomes for-profit and takes on Chrome, NVIDIA the biggest Big Tech by a distance, Citibank annoys premium customers for weeks with disastrous product rollout, and more
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Pulse #151: Amazon layoffs – AI or economy to blame? • Also: OpenAI becomes for-profit and takes on Chrome, NVIDIA the biggest Big Tech by a distance, Citibank annoys premium customers for weeks with disastrous product rollout, and more
Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani • Google’s Head of Chrome Developer Experience, Addy Osmani, shares how AI is transforming the way he codes—accelerating development while still relying on human expertise to ensure real quality
Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani
Google’s Head of Chrome Developer Experience, Addy Osmani, shares how AI is transforming the way he codes—accelerating development while still relying on human expertise to ensure real quality
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani • Google’s Head of Chrome Developer Experience, Addy Osmani, shares how AI is transforming the way he codes—accelerating development while still relying on human expertise to ensure real quality
San Francisco is back as the world’s leading tech hub • Impressions from a week in San Fran spent visiting engineering teams at Cursor, OpenAI, Anthropic, Wispr, Factory, and more
San Francisco is back as the world’s leading tech hub
Impressions from a week in San Fran spent visiting engineering teams at Cursor, OpenAI, Anthropic, Wispr, Factory, and more
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
San Francisco is back as the world’s leading tech hub • Impressions from a week in San Fran spent visiting engineering teams at Cursor, OpenAI, Anthropic, Wispr, Factory, and more
The Pulse: AWS takes down a good part of the internet • On Monday, a major AWS outage hit thousands of sites & apps, and even a Premier League soccer game. An overview of what caused this high-profile, global outage, and learnings from the incident
The Pulse: AWS takes down a good part of the internet
On Monday, a major AWS outage hit thousands of sites & apps, and even a Premier League soccer game. An overview of what caused this high-profile, global outage, and learnings from the incident
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Pulse: AWS takes down a good part of the internet • On Monday, a major AWS outage hit thousands of sites & apps, and even a Premier League soccer game. An overview of what caused this high-profile, global outage, and learnings from the incident
What is good software architecture? • What good architecture looks like, how to improve your skill at building it –and why Architects are not always the answer. Guest post by Matthew Hawthorne, who built large systems at Netflix & Twitter
What is good software architecture?
What good architecture looks like, how to improve your skill at building it –and why Architects are not always the answer. Guest post by Matthew Hawthorne, who built large systems at Netflix & Twitter
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What is good software architecture? • What good architecture looks like, how to improve your skill at building it –and why Architects are not always the answer. Guest post by Matthew Hawthorne, who built large systems at Netflix & Twitter
Google’s engineering culture • Elin Nilsson and I unpack how Google’s engineering culture, tools, and systems actually work behind the scenes.
Google’s engineering culture
Elin Nilsson and I unpack how Google’s engineering culture, tools, and systems actually work behind the scenes.
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Google’s engineering culture • Elin Nilsson and I unpack how Google’s engineering culture, tools, and systems actually work behind the scenes.
The Pragmatic Engineer 2025 Survey: What’s in your tech stack? Part 3 • Which tools do software engineers use for observability, oncall tooling, feature flags, frontend & mobile work, and for developer tooling? Results from our survey, based on 3,000+ responses by readers
The Pragmatic Engineer 2025 Survey: What’s in your tech stack? Part 3
Which tools do software engineers use for observability, oncall tooling, feature flags, frontend & mobile work, and for developer tooling? Results from our survey, based on 3,000+ responses by readers
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Pragmatic Engineer 2025 Survey: What’s in your tech stack? Part 3 • Which tools do software engineers use for observability, oncall tooling, feature flags, frontend & mobile work, and for developer tooling? Results from our survey, based on 3,000+ responses by readers