Runtime Arguments
Conversations about technology between two friends who disagree on plenty, and agree on plenty more.
Episodes
In episode 8, Wolf talks about using AI to write code; and a bit of the landscape around that. In this episode, he describes what he’s learned on his journey from just coding to using AI as a major tool in his toolbox for addressing friction in every area of (mostly) work and (a bit of) life.
Less about the landscape and more about the applications, the reasoning, the big-picture, and having the right expectations.
Links:
Jim brings his vast knowledge of Databases and dives into the history, some theory, some best practices and some choices you can make.
Links:
Claude best practices guide - https://code.claude.com/docs/en/best-practices
Passkeys Server and Client - https://github.com/Runtime-Arguments/passkeys-demo
Webassembly History - https://bytecodealliance.org/articles/ten-years-of-webassembly-a-retrospective
Git is an amazing tool for managing your source code. Lots of people use it every day but most people barely scratch the surface of what git can do.
In this episode, we dive in and explain lots of features from the simple to the complex.
Links:
Julia Evans Wizard Zines
https://wizardzines.com - The main page
https://wizardzines.com/comics/inside-git/ - The git specific 'Zine
Hosts:
Jim McQuillan can be reached at jam@RuntimeArgu...
Data centers are sprouting up every where. Do we really need more of them?
In this episode, Jim and Wolf talk about what data centers are, how prevalent they are and what it takes to build them.
We talk about the sizes and energy uses and all sorts of other things related to data centers.
It was a fun episode to research and very eye-opening.
Links:
This episode is a little different from our normal format.
When you listen to podcasts, watch Youtube videos or even sit in a conference room listening to a speaker, they almost always will mention things and assume you know what they are talking about. And lets face it, we don't always know what they are talking about.
In this episode, Jim asks Wolf questions. Questions about things you hear in other podcasts (maybe even ours...
When people talk about the power of their computers, we've heard all kinds of claims:
- I have more power on my desktop computer than the Apollo had to put a man on the moon
- The phone in my pocket has more power than the Apollo space program had
- I have more power on my wrist watch than the lunar lander
- And the latest one: I have more power in my key fob than the Apollo capsule had
Are any of these true? In this episode, we ...
Wolf has lots of great information about the tools you should consider using when developing software projects. Jim chimes in with his own ideas.
Takeaways
Just a few take-aways this episode and I hope by this point you have already internalized them and this is just a summary.
- I’ve presented categories: the tools you will absolutely need to get your job done. You will need an editor. You will need language. You will need a source...
Listen in as Jim describes what POSIX is, what it means to be "POSIX Compliant" and why you should (or shouldn't) care.
Hosts:
Jim McQuillan can be reached at jam@RuntimeArguments.fm
Wolf can be reached at wolf@RuntimeArguments.fm
Follow us on Mastodon: @RuntimeArguments@hachyderm.io
If you have feedback for us, please send it to feedback@RuntimeArguments.fm
Checkout our webpage at h...
Wolf surfaces five fundamentals to becoming a better developer (that you probably didn’t even know you didn’t know)! This is a fiery one! Jim asks questions, and also questions Wolf's choices.
Takeaways
- The problem comes first—ask more questions
- Start with the simplest thing that could reasonably work
- Measure before you optimize (but don’t be stupid)
- Understand what’s actually an error
- Test so you can evolve, and so that you don...
Jim takes us on a walk down memory lane!
Terminals have been around for a long time, probably much longer than you'd ever guess. Join us as we talk about the history of computer terminals and get a bit into how they work and how they've evolved into the amazing applications that we have today.
Links
It's Wolf's turn this episode, and this one required research!
GPUs obviously do tons of work. You see it every time you play a graphics intensive game. You know how crypto-miners are using them. You’ve heard AI companies using them for model building. You’ve got this hardware in your machine! Can you use it? Should you use it? Where even to start?
GPUs can help if your problems, data, systems, languages, and arch...
Jim demonstrates more of his networking knowledge, though this episode still required a lot research. Wolf, of course, has questions.
The internet has been around for more than 40 years in some form. It's outgrown its ability to handle all of the hosts but fortunately, there's a solution. IPv6 is mature and wide-spread and not only does it increase the address space to 128-bits (up from 32-bits) it is also more efficient f...
Wolf hands you the keys to the old-world kingdom, which turn out to still be valuable, just much less used!
Most programmers are comfortable in their IDE but still click through file managers and manually handle repetitive tasks outside of it. You might know basic command line navigation, maybe even write the occasional script, but you're missing the real superpower: composition - the art of connecting existing tools to solve c...
We talk about data types and their importance in software development. Modern dynamic languages hide type information from you but it's still there, under the hood. Statically-typed languages, on the other hand, bring types right out in front of you. What are the fundamental types and why are they important? What about user defined types and aggregate types?
Join us as we dive right in and try to explain it all. In most episode...
Wolf has a lot to say about AI and coding!
If you’re expecting AI to write entire programs for you while you sit back and watch, we're going to disappoint you right up front—that’s not what these tools do well, and chasing that fantasy will waste your time. But what if we told you there’s a tool that could help you interpret cryptic error messages, navigate tricky syntax in unfamiliar languages, write the documentation you alwa...
If you need to connect to remote networks, or if you are outside of your network and would like to connect into it, then almost certainly you need a VPN. Jim has lots of real-world experience connecting networks together. In this episode we talk about various ways to connect and list some of the issues that you might run into.
Take-aways from the episode:
- There's a difference between a "VPN" and a "VPN Service...
Wolf talks about making your programs better. There are lots of ways to make them better. It all starts with figuring out what matters and measuring it. Measuring it all the time. Measuring it more. This episode is about following that path.
Show notes:
Take-aways from the episode:
- Understand what you are optimizing for: (speed,memory,storage,developer, etc…)
- Measurement is job one, because that’s the only way to know whe...
When setting up a new system there's many things to think about including choosing the filesystem. In this episode, Jim dives into all of the choices and describes the benefits of each. Wolf is here to ask the questions, and to fail at keeping Jim entirely on track.
Show notes
Things to think about:
- For Linux, ext4 is the default for many distros and it's pretty good but btrfs has some really great benefits and you shoul...
People throw around the term Functional Programming but it's not always clear what they mean. In this episode, Wolf explains what goes into FP, and together we build a clearer picture that reveals you might already be doing it.
Show notes and things to think about:
- Functional programing isn't academic. It isn't overwhelming. It isn't impossible to use. It isn't inapplicable to ordinary problems like th...
Web browsers and web sites have been around for quite a while. Javascript has been the language driving those pages but there's a way to write in a lower-level language and speed up the slow parts without losing cross-platform compatibility. That way is called Web Assembly (WASM). In this episode Jim explains exactly what that is, and Wolf asks questions.
Show notes:
Take-aways from the episode:
- If you have a comput...
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Host
Jim McQuillan and Wolf