The Cynical Developer
Technology
About
A UK based Technology and Software Developer Podcast that helps you to improve your development knowledge and career, through explaining the latest and greatest in development technology and providing you with what you need to succeed as a developer.
Episodes
- Episode 18 - Your LLM Is Not a Junior Developer
This episode of The Cynical Developer discusses the nature of LLMs, emphasizing that they are powerful tools but should not be treated as junior developers. James provides insights on how to approach AI assistants effectively.
- Episode 17 - AI Won't Replace Developers — But It Will Replace Some Jobs
This episode addresses the debate around AI replacing developers, with host James offering a detailed perspective on job security within the industry and identifying roles that may be vulnerable to automation.
- Episode 16 - Observability Is Not Optional Anymore
In this episode, James explains why observability is crucial for modern systems and highlights that neglecting monitoring and tracing is no longer a viable option.
- Episode 15 - Why Your Cloud Bill Keeps Going Up
In this episode, James examines the frequent causes behind escalating cloud expenses for organizations and suggests actionable strategies to manage these costs.
- Episode 14 - APIs Are Products — Start Treating Them Like It
This episode emphasizes that APIs are products used by developers and argues for giving API design more attention, as discussed by James.
- Episode 13 - The Death of "Clean Architecture" Dogma
James challenges the dogmatic adherence to architectural patterns, arguing against the religious-like following of concepts like Clean Architecture.
- Episode 12 - Monoliths Are Back (Because They Never Left)
James discusses the resurgence of monolithic architectures and explores why they remained a viable architectural choice.
- Episode 11 - Event-Driven Everything — Do You Actually Need It?
James discusses event-driven architecture, evaluating its appropriate use cases and situations where it should be avoided.
- Episode 10 - The Rise (and Abuse) of Serverless
This episode examines the rapid growth of serverless computing. Host James analyzes situations where serverless is a suitable choice and instances where it is not.
- Episode 9 - Microservices Were a Mistake (For Most Teams)
This episode critically examines the promises of microservices, specifically their scalability and flexibility, and questions whether they have truly delivered for most development teams.
- Episode 8 - Meetings Stink!
James discusses the negative impact of excessive meetings on software development teams, highlighting how it hinders productivity.
- Episode 7 - Technical Debt: Who Creates It and Who Pays
This episode of The Cynical Developer features James discussing technical debt. He covers who creates it within a codebase and who ultimately has to pay the price for its accumulation.
- Episode 6 - Why most software estimates are fiction, not fact
This episode delves into why software estimates are often inaccurate. Host James examines the underlying causes of this common problem in software development and suggests possible ways to improve estimation accuracy.
- Episode 5 - The Difference Between Busy Teams and Effective Teams
James explains that being busy does not equate to being effective. The episode differentiates between teams that are genuinely productive and those that are simply occupied.
- Episode 4 - Is AI going to make us all 10x Developers?
The episode examines the claims of AI significantly boosting developer productivity, contrasting the current reality with the widespread hype surrounding AI-assisted development.
- Episode 3 - Agile Is Not the Problem — Leadership Is
This episode challenges the notion that Agile is the source of project failures. Instead, it posits that leadership deficiencies are the more common underlying cause.
- Episode 2 - Why "Senior Developer" Doesn't Mean What You Think
This episode of The Cynical Developer features James discussing the meaning of the 'senior developer' title. He explores the gap that often exists between job titles and the true skills possessed by individuals in the industry.
- Episode 1 - The State of Software in 2026: What's Actually Broken
In this episode, James presents a cynical perspective on the current state of software development in 2026. He discusses what aspects are functioning well, what is not working, and identifies areas that require significant change.
- Episode 0 - We are back!
The Cynical Developer is back for Season 2. Host James introduces the new season and outlines what listeners can expect.
- Episode 159 - JetBrains Space
This episode of The Cynical Developer features Valerie Andrianova discussing JetBrains Space. Contact and social media links for Valerie Andrianova are provided.
- Episode 158 - Code Reviews
This episode of The Cynical Developer features Jordan Ambra discussing code reviews. Contact information for Jordan Ambra is provided, along with details for episode editing services.
- Episode 157 - Developer Life Cycle
Lee Mallon is the guest on The Cynical Developer podcast to discuss the developer life cycle. Contact information and social media links for Lee Mallon are provided.
- Episode 156 - Deep Fakes
In this episode of The Cynical Developer, guest Nigel Cannings joins to discuss the technology behind deepfakes.
- Episode 155 - Changes in OSS
Matt Yonkovit returns to The Cynical Developer to discuss changes in the Open Source sphere. He was previously a guest in episode 127, discussing automation.
- Episode 153 - PayPal
This episode of The Cynical Developer features Drew Angell discussing PayPal. Contact details for Drew Angell are included in the episode information.
- Episode 152 - Spring Time
In this episode, The Cynical Developer features Laurentiu Spilca to discuss Spring. The discussion touches upon his book, Spring Security in Action.
- Episode 151 - Svelte
In this episode of The Cynical Developer, the topic of Svelte is discussed with guest Mark Volkmann. Volkmann has authored a book on Svelte and Sapper.
- Episode 150 - More than Coding
Benjamin Harding joins The Cynical Developer to explore the aspects of being a developer that extend beyond just writing code. The discussion covers the multifaceted nature of the developer role.
- Episode 149 - Leadership for developers
The Cynical Developer podcast episode features a discussion with Sam Schutte about leadership for software developers. Contact information for Sam Schutte is provided.
- Episode 148 - Letters to a new dev
In this episode of The Cynical Developer, the hosts discuss essential truths for new developers with guest Dan Moore. The conversation touches on resources and a book available for aspiring programmers.
- Episode 147 - Cassandra 4.0
This episode of The Cynical Developer podcast features a discussion about Cassandra 4.0 with guest Patrick McFadin. Contact and editing information is also provided.
- Episode 146 - Microservices
This episode of The Cynical Developer features Christian Horsdal discussing Microservices, specifically within the .NET framework. A giveaway for a copy of "Microservices in .NET 2nd Edition" is also mentioned.
- Episode 145 - Developer Estimates
Aaron Upright discusses developer estimates on The Cynical Developer podcast. The episode provides information on the topic and related contacts.
- Episode 144 - Writing for Developers
Philip Keily joins The Cynical Developer podcast to discuss writing books specifically for a developer audience. Contact information for Philip Keily is provided.
- Episode 143 - Augmented Reality
This episode of The Cynical Developer features a discussion about Augmented Reality with Connell Gauld. Contact information for Connell Gauld and Zappar is provided.
- Episode 142 - Grafana
This episode features a conversation with Raj Dutt about dashboards and Grafana. Raj Dutt's contact information and links to Grafana's social media and website are provided.
- Episode 141 - OpenStack
In this episode, Tytus Kurek from Canonical discusses OpenStack.
- Episode 140 - Software and the Apocolypse
This episode of The Cynical Developer features a discussion on the topic of "Software and the Apocalypse" with guest Ian Reynolds. Contact information for Ian Reynolds is provided.
- Episode 139 - Modern Development for Mordern Developers
This episode features a conversation with Todd Gardner focusing on modern development strategies tailored for contemporary developers.
- Episode 138 - Piloting .Net Prosthetics pt.2
This episode features a discussion on pilots, prosthetics, and programming with guest Cliff Agius. It is the second part of a two-part series.
- Episode 137 - Piloting .Net Prosthetics pt.1
This episode of The Cynical Developer features a discussion on pilots, prosthetics, and programming with guest Cliff Agius. It is the first part of a two-part series.
- Episode 136 - Developer Goals
This episode features guests Zac Braddy and Jamie Taylor discussing developer goals and their plans for the next 12 months or more.
- Episode 135 - Learning to code & changing careers
This episode of The Cynical Developer features Ed Hazledine discussing learning to code and making a career change. Contact information and websites for Ed Hazledine and the podcast are provided.
- Episode 134 - Creativity for Developers
Aaron Upright discusses the concept of creativity for developers on The Cynical Developer podcast. He emphasizes that developers can indeed be creative.
- Episode 133 - Do Developers needs Architects?
Juval Löwy joins The Cynical Developer to discuss the role and necessity of architects for developers. The discussion covers the relationship between developers and architects.
- Episode 132 - Artificial Intelligence for Good
This episode of The Cynical Developer explores the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare and social assistance. The discussion includes resources on AI-driven medical studies, socially assistive robots, and the future of AI in medi…
- Episode 131 - Why Projects Fail
Ron Lichty and Mickey Mantle discuss the reasons behind project failures on The Cynical Developer.
- Episode 130 - Postgres is the Future! - Percona Live Europe 2019
Pavel Genov joins The Cynical Developer at Percona Live Europe to discuss the migration of databases from on-premises and dedicated servers to cloud environments.
- Episode 129 - Migrating from On Prem to Cloud - Percona Live Europe 2019
Pavel Genov joins The Cynical Developer at Percona Live Europe 2019 to discuss the process of migrating from on-premises and dedicated servers to cloud infrastructure.
- Episode 128 - Is MySQL still a thing? - Percona Live Europer 2019
At Percona Live Europe 2019, Dimitri Vanoverbeke and Tom De Cooman join The Cynical Developer to discuss MySQL and its continued relevance.