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Senior Developer Skills in the AI Age: Leveraging Experience for Better Results • Manuel Kießling

Senior Developer Skills in AI: Leverage experience for productivity. Embrace AI tools for coding; they can elevate results. Senior developers hold the advantage due to their expertise in project management and architecture, aiding effective AI use. Successful AI coding requires well-structured requirements, tool-based guard rails, and file-based keyframing. Real-world examples show AI can handle coding tasks efficiently, transforming project execution. Essential practices like documentation and quality checks ensure high standards. Human experience remains crucial for optimal AI implementation in software development.

https://manuel.kiessling.net/2025/03/31/how-seasoned-developers-can-achieve-great-results-with-ai-coding-agents/

Zencoder’s ‘Coffee Mode’ Is the Future of Coding: Hit a Button and Let AI Write Your Unit Tests

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Zencoder introduces ‘Coffee Mode,' allowing developers to use AI for unit tests and coding tasks while taking breaks. The AI, integrated into popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code and JetBrains, claims superior performance on industry benchmarks by analyzing entire codebases. Its unique “Repo Grokking” technology offers contextual insights, mitigating common AI coding tool issues. Zencoder positions itself against competitors like GitHub Copilot while enabling developers to maintain familiar workflows. The company aims for production-ready AI code with security checks, projecting transformative changes in software development by 2025.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/zencoders-coffee-mode-is-the-future-of-coding-hit-a-button-and-let-ai-write-your-unit-tests/

I’ve Operated Petabyte-scale ClickHouse® Clusters for 5 Years

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Operated ClickHouse® clusters for 5 years, focusing on architecture, storage, upgrades, config, costs, and ingestion challenges. ClickHouse uses replicas and shards for data management, though cloud storage is preferred for cost efficiency. Ingestion is critical, often causing data loss or corruption. Upgrades are complex but manageable with careful planning. Efficient cluster operation requires understanding source code and using CI/CD for testing. Balancing cost, performance, and configuration is essential, and effective ingestion is key to stability.

https://www.tinybird.co/blog-posts/what-i-learned-operating-clickhouse

There Is No Vibe Engineering

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Vibe Coding, coined by Andrej Karpathy, emphasizes coding without direct code interaction, relying on AI outputs. While AI changes coding, it doesn't replace the essential role of software engineering, which involves system design over time. Vibe coding focuses only on immediate coding tasks, neglecting vital long-term considerations. Thus, there's no unique “Vibe Engineering”; it's still traditional engineering, albeit with less coding. The future may integrate AI-generated components, but the need for careful system design remains unchanged. Vibe Coding is effective for prototypes but not suitable for robust production software.

https://serce.me/posts/2025-31-03-there-is-no-vibe-engineering

What Is Vibe Coding? And Why Should You Care?

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Vibe Coding Overview:
Vibe Coding emphasizes the “vibe” or essence of software rather than focusing solely on the code itself. It leverages AI to create software by using natural language inputs to guide the development process, allowing AI to iteratively refine and enhance code behavior based on human conceptual directions. This shift raises new challenges for businesses, such as reliance on code that may not be fully understood by humans, the acceleration of prototype development, and implications for software testing, security, and team structure. As AI-generated code becomes more prevalent, it's vital for businesses to adapt and stay competitive in this evolving landscape.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishatalagala/2025/03/30/what-is-vibe-coding-and-why-should-you-care/

Why I’m Breaking Up With Vibe Coding

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Breaking up with vibe coding: once enjoyable, now inefficient. Over-reliance on AI leads to time sink, high costs, lack of understanding. AI aids mockups, but structured planning needed for complex tasks. Exploring balanced alternatives like Gemini Code Assist and Open WebUI for better control and reduced expenses. Creativity valuable, but unsustainable without structure, especially under deadlines.

https://www.lucasaguiar.xyz/posts/vibe-coding-pitfalls/

Getting Started With TDD: a Practical Guide to Beginning a Lasting Practice

Extreme TLDR:

Test-driven development (TDD) can frustrate newcomers due to its perceived rigidity. The key issues include overly strict adherence to the “Red-Green-Refactor” cycle without recognizing individual skill levels or situational pressures. Developers should see TDD as a flexible practice rather than a strict procedure. Practical tips to begin TDD include brainstorming tests, organizing code into pure functions, acknowledging imperfect test coverage, avoiding direct reliance on externally owned code, using wrappers, employing dependency injection, and keeping UI handling simple and abstract. The aim is continuous practice and improvement rather than perfection. Readers with a basic understanding of JavaScript and React may find the article particularly beneficial.

https://8thlight.com/insights/getting-started-tdd-practical-guide

Hacker Laws

Hacker Laws repository: collection of useful laws, principles, and patterns for developers. Includes 90–9–1 Principle, Amdahl's Law, Brooks' Law, CAP Theorem, numerous others. Laws explain software development challenges and phenomena. Repository serves as a reference; application of laws is debatable. Offers resources like eBooks, podcasts, and links to projects. More information and contributions welcomed.

https://hacker-laws.com/

Preface

TLDR: The book aims to teach Python developers architectural patterns for managing complexity in software development, emphasizing Test-Driven Development (TDD), Domain-Driven Design (DDD), and event-driven architecture. Authors Harry and Bob, experienced in building applications for an ecommerce company, use practical examples to demonstrate these concepts, focusing on maintaining clean code architecture while solving real-world business problems. The book encourages hands-on coding, structured around a single project, using various Python frameworks and aiming to offer insights applicable to both monolithic and microservices architectures.

https://www.cosmicpython.com/book/preface.html

Automated Visual Regression Testing With Playwright

Automated visual regression testing with Playwright allows for easier comparison of visual artifacts on websites. The author aims to refactor CSS for better structure and dark mode functionality while fearing bugs from large changes. Playwright's snapshot testing can facilitate this by taking screenshots to compare against a baseline, though it can be slow and sensitive to various factors. The setup involves configuring Playwright and creating a dedicated test directory, with a focus on capturing the entire page rather than just the viewport. A site map generator allows for dynamic test creation, and custom CSS can help mitigate flakiness in visual comparisons. Overall, while the process is complex, it addresses the need for reliable testing during development.

https://css-tricks.com/automated-visual-regression-testing-with-playwright/

How to Write Blog Posts That Developers Read

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Summary:
To write engaging blog posts for developers, focus on clarity and brevity. Address your audience's interests quickly, using familiar language. Consider expanding your audience by simplifying technical jargon and addressing broader themes. Ensure your content is easily discoverable by evaluating its potential reach on platforms like Google, Hacker News, and relevant subreddits. Use visuals to enhance understanding and attract skimmers, breaking up text with images and headings. Adjust content based on past success to maximize reader engagement.

https://refactoringenglish.com/chapters/write-blog-posts-developers-read/

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