Adam Keys
@therealadam.com
Engineering lead and full-stack developer. I'm trying to tell jokes here. Porsches, Disney parks, pub quiz, Star Wars, Destiny, music, television. We should all write more words.
Three great clarinet-adjacent sentences: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/20/three-great-clarinetadjacent-sentences.html
Three great clarinet-adjacent sentences
I DID NOT KNOW what was going to come from Angela’s clarinet. No one could have imagined what was going to come from there. I expected something pathological, but I did not expect the depth, the violence, and the almost intolerable beauty of the disease.
– Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
therealadam.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Three great clarinet-adjacent sentences: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/20/three-great-clarinetadjacent-sentences.html
Coding for the sake of typing in code: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/17/coding-for-the-sake-of.html
Expert typist’s elegy
Expert typist’s elegy
Coding for the sake of typing in code
Expert typist’s elegy
therealadam.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Coding for the sake of typing in code: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/17/coding-for-the-sake-of.html
Expert typist’s elegy
Expert typist’s elegy
Reposted by Adam Keys
When Bernard Purdie played a session, he'd sometimes put up a sign that said "You Done Hired the Hitmaker."
He was that good.
youtu.be/J8DsNo4KB6Y?...
He was that good.
youtu.be/J8DsNo4KB6Y?...
The Real "Purdie" Shuffle
YouTube video by ClassicDrummers
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 6:41 AM
When Bernard Purdie played a session, he'd sometimes put up a sign that said "You Done Hired the Hitmaker."
He was that good.
youtu.be/J8DsNo4KB6Y?...
He was that good.
youtu.be/J8DsNo4KB6Y?...
> If everything is slow-moving around you, it is likely not going to be good. To fully make use of your brain, you need to move as close as possible to the speed of your thought.
lemire.me/blog/2025/1...
lemire.me/blog/2025/1...
Why speed matters
The one constant that I have observed in my professional life is that people underestimate the need to move fast. Of course, doing good work takes time. I once spent six months writing a URL parser. But the fact that it took so long is not a feature, it is not a positive, it is … Continue reading Why speed matters
lemire.me
December 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
> If everything is slow-moving around you, it is likely not going to be good. To fully make use of your brain, you need to move as close as possible to the speed of your thought.
lemire.me/blog/2025/1...
lemire.me/blog/2025/1...
Write some pseudocode. Then tell the agent to turn it into a working implementation.
That's a whole wisdom. 🤷 Don't overthink it!
That's a whole wisdom. 🤷 Don't overthink it!
December 11, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Write some pseudocode. Then tell the agent to turn it into a working implementation.
That's a whole wisdom. 🤷 Don't overthink it!
That's a whole wisdom. 🤷 Don't overthink it!
Delivering software reduces the demand for estimates. The faster you can deliver software, the less you will need estimates.
Estimating software as a list of tasks scored by effort and variance conveys the most important information required for good-faith use of estimates.
Estimating software as a list of tasks scored by effort and variance conveys the most important information required for good-faith use of estimates.
December 9, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Delivering software reduces the demand for estimates. The faster you can deliver software, the less you will need estimates.
Estimating software as a list of tasks scored by effort and variance conveys the most important information required for good-faith use of estimates.
Estimating software as a list of tasks scored by effort and variance conveys the most important information required for good-faith use of estimates.
Language models can’t slop their way out of social, human problems, like estimating software projects:
therealadam.com/2025/05/01/...
therealadam.com/2025/05/01/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
Of all the hype I’ve read about AI, none of it has suggested …
therealadam.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Language models can’t slop their way out of social, human problems, like estimating software projects:
therealadam.com/2025/05/01/...
therealadam.com/2025/05/01/...
It’s really hard to know how you did in a job interview.
The bad ones stand out, but the meh and good ones are harder to sniff out.
The bad ones stand out, but the meh and good ones are harder to sniff out.
December 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
It’s really hard to know how you did in a job interview.
The bad ones stand out, but the meh and good ones are harder to sniff out.
The bad ones stand out, but the meh and good ones are harder to sniff out.
For the most parts, we’ve unscientifically made up our deadlines. They’re forcing functions, not hard constraints.
Most deadlines aren’t scientific. They’re arbitrary dates chosen for plausibility, not intended accuracy.
therealadam.com/2025/04/17/...
Most deadlines aren’t scientific. They’re arbitrary dates chosen for plausibility, not intended accuracy.
therealadam.com/2025/04/17/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
For circa 2015 Adam, two of the most stressful words in …
therealadam.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:58 PM
For the most parts, we’ve unscientifically made up our deadlines. They’re forcing functions, not hard constraints.
Most deadlines aren’t scientific. They’re arbitrary dates chosen for plausibility, not intended accuracy.
therealadam.com/2025/04/17/...
Most deadlines aren’t scientific. They’re arbitrary dates chosen for plausibility, not intended accuracy.
therealadam.com/2025/04/17/...
Owl visitor: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/03/owl-visitor.html
December 4, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Owl visitor: https://therealadam.com/2025/12/03/owl-visitor.html
I did a talk compiling what I’ve learned about, and with, coding agents over the past several months.
I think everyone on product teams, not just developers, can benefit from their use.
You should read to find out why!
therealadam.com/2025/11/25/...
I think everyone on product teams, not just developers, can benefit from their use.
You should read to find out why!
therealadam.com/2025/11/25/...
The whole product team can use coding agents
I did a talk on coding agents, like Claude Code and Codex, …
therealadam.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I did a talk compiling what I’ve learned about, and with, coding agents over the past several months.
I think everyone on product teams, not just developers, can benefit from their use.
You should read to find out why!
therealadam.com/2025/11/25/...
I think everyone on product teams, not just developers, can benefit from their use.
You should read to find out why!
therealadam.com/2025/11/25/...
Culture colliding with excitement often sounds like “that could never possibly work”.
therealadam.com/2025/11/18/...
therealadam.com/2025/11/18/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
“So then the changes in progress are just there, ready to …
therealadam.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Culture colliding with excitement often sounds like “that could never possibly work”.
therealadam.com/2025/11/18/...
therealadam.com/2025/11/18/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
Every so often I find myself a few screens deep in an …
therealadam.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Adam Keys is Thinking
I’m on-board with exploring LLM and agent tooling to improve …
therealadam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Adam Keys is Thinking
When sizing up a stranger, the advice I’ve heard in the past …
therealadam.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Seems like the unifying thread of our dumb times is that everyone is losing the thread.
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
Everyone is losing the thread. Maybe that’s what makes this …
therealadam.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Seems like the unifying thread of our dumb times is that everyone is losing the thread.
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
If you started programming in the 1990s, I am happy to inform you that domain names like “int-main-int-argc-char-star-argv.net” are still very much in vogue for your programming blog.
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
A little voice in the recesses of my brain, the one that …
therealadam.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
If you started programming in the 1990s, I am happy to inform you that domain names like “int-main-int-argc-char-star-argv.net” are still very much in vogue for your programming blog.
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/25/...
If you’ve been playing along at home, great news: I started a new job last week and it’s going well! 🎊😮💨
October 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM
If you’ve been playing along at home, great news: I started a new job last week and it’s going well! 🎊😮💨
The most useful thing I’ve read on interviewing in a while:
hellointerview.substack.com/p/what-happ...
It helps to have run a lot of interviews as a hiring manager. Or, to have been part of a lot of interview loops as a technical or panel interviewer.
hellointerview.substack.com/p/what-happ...
It helps to have run a lot of interviews as a hiring manager. Or, to have been part of a lot of interview loops as a technical or panel interviewer.
What Happens After the Interview?
A peek behind the scenes of deciding Yes or No
hellointerview.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The most useful thing I’ve read on interviewing in a while:
hellointerview.substack.com/p/what-happ...
It helps to have run a lot of interviews as a hiring manager. Or, to have been part of a lot of interview loops as a technical or panel interviewer.
hellointerview.substack.com/p/what-happ...
It helps to have run a lot of interviews as a hiring manager. Or, to have been part of a lot of interview loops as a technical or panel interviewer.
Adam Keys is Thinking
Moody weather, a variety of cars, good coffee.
therealadam.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Maybe we should build more personal software _in the text_, instead of in scripts and toolbar buttons. 🤔
therealadam.com/2025/10/19/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/19/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
Maybe we should build more personal software in the text: …
therealadam.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Maybe we should build more personal software _in the text_, instead of in scripts and toolbar buttons. 🤔
therealadam.com/2025/10/19/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/19/...
The King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Rule: If you provide a text box for people to put things on the internet, you will eventually need some kind of moderation mechanism for people to opt out of the King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard discourse without bothering the admins.
October 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Rule: If you provide a text box for people to put things on the internet, you will eventually need some kind of moderation mechanism for people to opt out of the King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard discourse without bothering the admins.
De/compress: it’s a pretty good tool for iterative thinking on what software and code _wants_ to be.
therealadam.com/2025/10/14/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/14/...
Adam Keys is Thinking
Taylor Troesh, Compressing Codebase Collocates:
To …
therealadam.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
De/compress: it’s a pretty good tool for iterative thinking on what software and code _wants_ to be.
therealadam.com/2025/10/14/...
therealadam.com/2025/10/14/...
Reposted by Adam Keys
New post: Someone built it; someone has to build it.
Someone built it; someone has to build it
jmduke.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:48 AM
New post: Someone built it; someone has to build it.
Adam Keys is Thinking
Many folks seem really excited about autumn’s arrival. …
therealadam.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM