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Dead Code

Dead Code

By: Jared Norman
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The software industry has a short memory. It warps good ideas, quickly obfuscating their context and intent. Dead Code seeks to extract the good ideas from the chaos of modern software development.

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Jared Norman
Episodes
  • Altars of Append (with Ted M. Young)

    Altars of Append (with Ted M. Young)
    Jun 23 2026

    Ted M. Young joins Jared to discuss Extreme Programming, predictive test-driven development, event sourcing, and teaching software practices through board games. Ted explains how predictive TDD encourages developers to anticipate exactly how a test will fail, leading to deeper understanding, faster feedback, and smaller development steps. He also argues for thinking about tests as either I/O-free or I/O-dependent rather than unit or integration tests, a distinction that naturally supports cleaner architectures and more maintainable code. The conversation explores Ted’s growing enthusiasm for event sourcing, which he sees as a simpler way to model state changes, preserve history, and reduce complexity around persistence and caching. They also discuss his TDD board game, which has become an effective tool for teaching collaboration, pairing, and software development concepts. The episode closes with a look at AI’s impact on software craftsmanship, with Ted expressing concern that developers may learn less by outsourcing problem-solving to LLMs, while remaining optimistic that core XP practices like small steps, clear goals, and rapid feedback will continue to matter—and may be more relevant than ever.


    Links:


    Ted M. Young⁠

    Predictive TDD⁠

    Extreme Programming (XP)⁠

    Test-Driven Development (Kent Beck)⁠

    Hexagonal Architecture⁠

    Event Sourcing⁠

    Domain-Driven Design⁠

    TDD Game⁠

    JitterTed on Twitch

    ⁠

    Dead Code Podcast Links:


    Mastodon

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    Jared’s Links:


    Mastodon

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    twitch.tv/jardonamron

    Jared’s Newsletter & Website


    Episode Transcript

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    51 mins
  • Toxic Deluge (with Joan Westenberg)

    Toxic Deluge (with Joan Westenberg)
    Jun 9 2026
    Jared talks with Joan Westenberg about her essay “The Hacker News Tar Pit” and the misconception that AI-powered vibe coding can easily replace established products. Joan argues that while AI can generate software, it cannot recreate the communities, culture, trust, moderation systems, shared history, and network effects that make platforms like Hacker News valuable. The conversation explores how online communities form organically, why moderation and human labor matter more than code alone, and how AI-generated spam is changing the nature of internet communities. They also discuss open source software, the flood of vibe-coded projects, and the psychological effects of constantly comparing your work to what others are building online. Joan ultimately argues that developers should build things because they genuinely want them to exist, not because they expect to disrupt incumbents, while Jared closes by reflecting on an AI-generated compiler he built that worked technically but failed to inspire the long-term interest needed to turn it into a real project.Links:The Hacker News Tar Pit (Joan Westenberg)Hacker NewsLobstersSchelling PointRubyKaigiYukihiro “Matz” Matsumotochorus.fmSomething AwfulDiggCal.comLove2DLuaHindley–Milner Type SystemStudio SelfJoan WestenbergDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    28 mins
  • Seeds of Devastation (with Kasper Timm Hansen)

    Seeds of Devastation (with Kasper Timm Hansen)
    Apr 21 2026
    In this episode of Dead Code, Kasper Timm Hansen shares how his post–Rails Core work focuses on small, high-impact Ruby gems built around clear “concepts” rather than loose abstractions, helping developers model domains more effectively and avoid bloated ActiveRecord models. He discusses tools like Associated Objects and ActiveJob::Performs, which simplify structuring data and background jobs while reducing boilerplate, and Oaken, a testing approach that blends fixtures and factories into fast, scenario-driven data scripts. Across all his work, Kasper emphasizes keeping code minimal, readable, and easy to maintain, using constraints like line count to guide design. He also touches on his current project, Peak and gem.coop, where he’s exploring improvements to the Ruby ecosystem such as namespaced gems, dependency cooldowns for security, and better ways to manage and trust dependencies, all driven by an experimental mindset aimed at making development more intuitive and efficient.Links:I quit Rails core 4 years ago, here’s what I’ve been up toKasper Timm HansenRuby on RailsAssociated Objects gemActiveJob::Performs gemOakenActive RecordActive JobFactory BotRails fixturesDelayed JobSingleton classes in Rubygem.coopPeak (gem.coop project)RubyGemsBundler compact indexSupply chain security (overview)Dead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    39 mins
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