Backend Banter

Boot.dev
  • 5.0 (23)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Backend Banter

The only podcast dedicated to backend development, technologies, and careers. Lane Wagner, the founder of Boot.dev, interviews successful backend engineers to get their takes on various trends, technologies, and career tips for new backend developers. Golang, Python, JavaScript, and Rust are the programming languages most commonly discussed, but speakers dabble in all sorts.

  1. Programming Music with Sonic Pi feat. Sam Aaron | S02 E06

    4 DAYS AGO

    Programming Music with Sonic Pi feat. Sam Aaron | S02 E06

    Today we bring Sam Aaron, the creator of Sonic Pi, a free code-based music creation and performance tool that lets you use simple code to turn your computer into a fully networked live coding music studio! It is also used to engage students in computer science and programming through music creation! In this episode, we explore the origins of Sonic Pi, its deep connection with Raspberry Pi, and how it enables live coding for music creation, starting from it's Ruby-based language features, we discuss how Sonic Pi has evolved, the challenges of maintaining it as a sustainable open-source project and if you’re curious about coding, music, or both—this one’s for you! Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Sonic Pi - https://sonic-pi.net/ Sam's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/samaaron Sam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samaaron/ Sam's X/Twitter: https://x.com/samaaron DJ Dave: https://www.youtube.com/@dj_dave____ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:11 - Sonic Pi Origin Story 03:03 - Connection To Raspberry Pi 04:23 - But What Is Sonic Pi? 06:25 - Is Ruby The Primary Language Used In Sonic Pi? 10:25 - A Small Sonic Pi Showcase 17:53 - Collaboration through Git 23:12 - How Did Sam Get Involved In All Of This? 25:14 - The Feedback Loop of Sonic Pi 26:56 - How Does The Live Coding Experience Work In Sonic Pi? 32:01 - The Two Different Working Modes Of Sonic Pi 33:42 - How Does Debugging Work In Sonic Pi 38:55 - How Do The Different Components Fit Into The Architecture Of The Project 51:33 - Has Sam Been Full-Time On Sonic Pi Since Its Inception? 53:25 - Does Sam Want To Try Something Different? 56:25 - How Is Sam Finding More Sustainable Revenue?

    1h 5m
  2. KRAZAM Unfiltered feat. Ben Burke | S2 E05

    FEB 10

    KRAZAM Unfiltered feat. Ben Burke | S2 E05

    Today, we bring a very special guest, one whose face you might recognise, one that appears on your homepages with a sporadic video and seemingly disappears. His name is Benjamin Burke, or simply Ben, he’s the co-creator of KRAZAM, a channel that consists of sketches that combine grotesque and absurdist humor with technological anxiety, satirizing the tech industry and the modern alienation of the corporate life in general. In this episode, which admittedly is a bit different from the usual, we’ll focus on KRAZAM and its origins, creative process, and what future plans and ambitions the duo has. Both Ben and Shiva started in software engineering, met in college and started doing sketches just for fun, not expecting this project to explode in popularity in the way it did. Ben will also share their unique approach to content and why KRAZAM prioritizes loyal viewers over virality, comedic inspirations. Stay tuned! Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm KRAZAM'S Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KRAZAM/videos KRAZAM's X/Twitter: https://x.com/krazamtv KRAZAM'S Website: https://www.krazam.tv/ Krazam's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/KRAZAM Ben's X/Twitter: https://x.com/bb_fresh Ben's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnjmnbrk/ Shiva's X/Twitter: https://x.com/shivakilaru Shiva's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivakilaru/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:58 - KRAZAM Origin Story 03:59 - How Much More Footage Is Left After the Recordings? 05:12 - Are Both Ben and Shiva Programmers? 06:46 - Inspiration Behind "The Hustle" 08:47 - Has Ben Read Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations"? 09:25 - The Actual Introduction to KRAZAM 10:49 - Microservices 14:04 - Sending Birthday Messages Is HARD 19:06 - On Shiva Not Being in the Microservices Video 20:48 - Favorite KRAZAM Videos 22:22 - Most Underrated KRAZAM Video 32:00 - KRAZAM's Viewers Are Very Loyal 36:03 - Ambitions for the KRAZAM Channel 39:04 - How Did You Know KRAZAM Had Product-Market Fit? 40:59 - Ben's Comedic Inspirations 43:08 - KRAZAM Does Not Aim for Virality 46:47 - Was It Stressful to Do a Live Talk? 49:40 - KRAZAM's Video Release Frequency 51:46 - Competitive Excel 55:34 - Site Reliability Engineer Video 57:50 - AI Bots on Spotify 01:00:27 - Self-Hosting and The Good Old Days 01:02:31 - What's the Churn in the Industry? 01:05:21 - Where to Find Ben and KRAZAM

    1h 7m
  3. Does ADHD really make programming harder? ft. Chris Ferdinandi | S2 E04

    FEB 3

    Does ADHD really make programming harder? ft. Chris Ferdinandi | S2 E04

    Lane chats with Chris Ferdinandi—creator of Go Make Things and ADHD for the Win—a frontend dev, educator, and all-around expert in making JavaScript (and learning) simpler. Chris has built a career helping devs cut through the noise, level up their skills, and embrace ADHD-friendly ways to stay focused and productive. We dive into his journey from discovering his own ADHD to reshaping how people learn to code. We talk about why so many devs have ADHD, how gamification can actually help (when done right), and how today’s tech is messing with our attention spans. Plus, we get into the psychology of learning and what actually works when it comes to staying engaged and motivated. Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm ADHD ftw! : https://adhdftw.com/backend-banter/ Go Make Things: https://gomakethings.com/ https://bsky.app/profile/cferdinandi.bsky.social https://mastodon.social/@cferdinandi 00:00 - Intro 01:58 - Why so many devs have ADHD 03:21 - Quick explanation of ADHD 07:10 - Is ADHD actually more common now? 17:41 - ADHD, dopamine, and why we can’t put our phones down 20:50 - Trying meds for ADHD – what’s it like? 22:34 - How ADHDftw got started 24:21 - Why finishing big projects is so damn hard 25:54 - Best content styles for ADHD brains 28:40 - Gamification: What works and what’s just hype? 34:16 - Which gamer type fits ADHD folks best? 39:27 - Is TikTok basically junk food for your brain? 41:45 - Must-read books on focus and getting stuff done 43:43 - Where to find Chris and his content 46:26 - Is ADHD a gift or a curse? 59:30 - Brutally honest feedback for Boot.dev 01:18:58 - Outro Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!

    1h 20m
  4. Why You Need To Stop Worrying About AI feat. Danny Thompson | S2 E03

    JAN 27

    Why You Need To Stop Worrying About AI feat. Danny Thompson | S2 E03

    We’re joined by Danny Thompson, currently Director of Technology at This Dot Labs and technical leader and organizer of the Dallas Software Developers Group, where he fosters vibrant local tech ecosystem through workshops, cohorts, and meetups. With a passion to help others learn and find jobs, Danny shares his stories and insights that he gained throughout his extensive and fascinating career! From working as a cashier to now giving talks and organizing meetups for which people fly out to attend, Danny talks about how he got into coding in the first place and his progression, his advice to new developers, how does AI impact jobs now and his perspective on how it will change in the future and a lot more! Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player - https://www.backendbanter.fm Danny's X/Twitter: https://x.com/DThompsonDev Danny's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dthompsondev/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 02:14 - How Danny Got Into Coding 05:08 - Meetups and Affordable Conferences 23:37 - Overview of This Dot Labs 29:28 - Building Apps on Top of Stripe 30:30 - Businesses Focus on Functionality Over Aesthetics 33:00 - Danny's Career Progression 38:39 - Pros and Cons of Product vs. Consulting 43:12 - This Dot Labs Regarding AI 46:46 - Interest Rates &. AI: Impact on Developer Jobs 55:31 - The Pressure to Perform at a High Level 57:51 - Why Recruiters Do Not Call You Back 01:03:41 - Getting Feedback After Interviews 01:04:49 - Danny's LinkedIn Courses and Where to Find Him

    1h 10m
  5. Everyone is doing memory management wrong. feat. Ryan Fleury | S2 E02

    JAN 20

    Everyone is doing memory management wrong. feat. Ryan Fleury | S2 E02

    This week on Backend Banter, we’re joined by Ryan Fleury, a talented game developer currently working with Epic Games on their Rad Debugger project. Ryan shares his journey from building games to creating powerful developer tools, offering insights into arenas, memory management, and the fascinating world of programming from the ground up. In this episode, we dive deep into memory management, exploring the differences between stack, heap, and arenas, and how they shape modern development. We discuss the trade-offs of various allocation strategies, the magic of pointer stability, and how arenas simplify managing lifetimes in both games and other applications. Along the way, Ryan shares his approach to developing tools, insights into game development workflows, and practical tips for clean and efficient programming. Learn back-end development: https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Ryan's Socials: Rad Debugger: https://github.com/EpicGamesExt/raddebugger Website: https://www.rfleury.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanjfleury Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Ryan Fleury's Path to Game Development 02:49 - From Engines to Debugging Tools 06:51 - Arenas Explained: Memory Management Basics 16:51 - Arenas vs. Garbage Collectors 27:40 - Real-World Applications of Arenas 31:39 - Why Pointer Stability Matters 42:57 - Dynamic Allocation Made Simple 48:48 - How Arenas Streamline Development 01:01:38 - Debugging Tools and the Rad Debugger 01:09:43 - Where to find Ryan

    1h 12m
  6. Is Elixir the Future? feat. José Valim | S2 E01

    JAN 13

    Is Elixir the Future? feat. José Valim | S2 E01

    We're back for Backend Banter Season 2, and we bring a very special guest, José Valim, the creator of the Elixir Programming Language, one of the most popular and loved functional programming languages of today. (Fun fact: it's used in production at Discord). We cover the nitty-gritty of the language, ranging from simple topics such as the decision behind not making Elixir be statically typed, into the more complex cross-machine communication. We go over how Elixir's features compare with those of other languages, work habits of today's developers, José's own day-to-day development, and a lot more! Today's talk encompasses a great variety of themes, so grab your coffee and tune in! Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Livebook & Elixir Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pas9WdWIBHs Elixir Programming Language: https://elixir-lang.org/ Livebook: https://livebook.dev/ Elixir In Action Book: https://www.manning.com/books/elixir-in-action-third-edition José's Socials: X/Twitter: https://x.com/josevalim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josevalim GitHub: https://github.com/josevalim Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:06 - Embarrassing Stories with Foreign Languages 02:58 - Who is José Valim? (and Elixir's Popularity) 06:51 - Does José Use Phoenix a Lot? 08:28 - Why Isn't Elixir Statically Typed? 16:51 - External Input vs. Internal Code Logic 28:16 - Quick Overview of BEAM languages 31:23 - Elixir’s Equivalent to Golang’s Goroutines & Channels 42:43 - Cross-Machine Communication in Standard Libraries 49:15 - Do You Need RabbitMQ When Writing Elixir? 54:53 - Built-In Features in the Standard Library 01:01:52 - Why People Are Too Used To Work The Hard Way 01:04:22 - José and DHH 01:08:01 - Favorite Elixir Features & Immutability 01:17:49 - Purity in Functional Programming 01:21:35 - Where to find José

    1h 23m

  7. 09/02/2024

    #069 - Season Finale: The Boot.dev Origin Story w/ Allan

    Today, we bring you the final episode of the first season of Backend Banter! It’s a wrap up for now. With 69 episodes behind us, we want to tell you the story of Boot Dev and how far we’ve come from our beginnings, and for that, we bring Allan Lires, the first official employee and the second person to work on our platform! We’re going to cover our entire timeline, achievements, hardships, how Lane and Allan were able to go all-in on building Boot Dev and our visions and plans for the future. Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Allan's X/Twitter: https://x.com/AllanLires Boot.Dev Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EEkFwbv Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:01 Last episode of Season 1 of Backend Banter 01:45 Boot.dev Story and what this episode will be about 02:26 How and when Allan was hired to work at Boot.dev 05:33 Timeline on Boot.dev 08:53 Guessing game 10:34 The Rebranding Process 12:43 Going Full-time 14:56 What was the curriculum in the beginning? 18:38 What was the original vision for Boot.dev 19:17 Being honest about how long it'll take you to learn to code 22:48 Setting expectations for difficulty 29:55 On learning the fundamentals 34:42 The Long Term vision of Boot.dev 41:30 Old gamification features and why we changed them 50:26 The Track is Never Complete 55:01 We cover a lot of the basics that traditional colleges don't cover 01:00:06 Why do we want to remove JavaScript from the learning course 01:06:12 Million Lessons Completed in a single month 01:08:28 You got to be comfortable being uncomfortable 01:13:25 Where to find Allan

    1h 15m

  8. 08/26/2024

    #068 - Should you trust tech influencers? feat. Charles The III

    Today we welcome Chuck Carpenter aka Charles The 3rd, co-host at Whiskey Web and Whatnot. As two content creators in the tech scene, we discuss if and how celebrity developers and tech influencers are a good thing for the community, how we should be careful when choosing technologies based on influencers’ opinions, why so many people nowadays want to speedrun their whole career and how that could be self-sabotage, and a lot more! Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm Whiskey Web and Whatnot: https://whiskey.fm/ Charles' X/Twitter: https://x.com/charleswthe3rd Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:27 Does Charles listen to his own podcast episodes? 03:33 Are celebrity developers a good thing? 09:11 Podcasts are usually centered around a business 10:06 We are essentially entertainers 14:04 Tech choices being influenced by creators 17:37 Why ThePrimeagen stood out from other tech influencers 20:26 Career speedrunning 23:44 The biggest miss when starting something 24:51 What is wrong with Full-Stack application frameworks? 29:03 How Frankenstein is the Boot.dev web application stack 37:41 Rolling your own stuff vs using a provider 46:01 It's easy to screw up your architecture 50:53 What is Charles building with in 2024 and what is his preferred stack 56:39 Does it seem like people don't talk about security anymore? 01:00:30 Accessibility 01:02:02 The amount of people that are "kinda" interested in cybersecurity 01:11:03 Have some patience 01:11:37 Where to find Charles

    1h 13m
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5
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

The only podcast dedicated to backend development, technologies, and careers. Lane Wagner, the founder of Boot.dev, interviews successful backend engineers to get their takes on various trends, technologies, and career tips for new backend developers. Golang, Python, JavaScript, and Rust are the programming languages most commonly discussed, but speakers dabble in all sorts.

Information

  • Creator
    Boot.dev
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    76
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Boot.dev
  • Show Website
    Backend Banter

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