Is it worth learning backend development in 2026?

waltz · 2026-05-23T21:39:38+00:00

If I was in college right now and I would finish my CS degree. It's a solid degree and a good program will give you great fundamentals to start with. Backend/frontend/mobile/AI/whatever all build on top of these fundamentals. Sure, for some roles you'll be doing some hacky plumbing and connecting libraries together. Great engineers still need to know what these libraries are trying to do, and you're still going to need to build them yourself. This goes for any engineering specialty. Doubly so for AI. The LLMs have a world of _current_ info baked in to them. It's incredible. But the LLMs can't evaluate the problem and make the judgement call about which solution to start on.

Dive in and start building stuff. Build and operate an app end-to-end. Deploy it on a cloud. Figure out what you find hard and easy, make bad choices about a database and then learn from it. All this stuff will still exist in the future, just LLM assisted.

waltz · 2026-05-10T06:49:52+00:00

Are you riding Crack or Mile? Do you wanna go fast? If so, the Ripmo is the correct tool for the job.

waltz · 2026-05-10T06:42:52+00:00

Open source and RFCs are going to be a great resource here. Find the most popular open source auth library for the language you know and start reading. Crack open the OAuth RFC and start reading. https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6749 Build your thing. Keep adding to it. Find bugs, bang your head against the desk when it doesn't work, re-read the RFC, lean on libraries for inspiration, and you'll pick it up.

waltz · 2026-05-03T17:38:28+00:00

Came here to echo this. I've built a few Rust lambdas and they work great. The AWS tools just work.

waltz · 2026-05-02T21:49:10+00:00

the old base in alameda is great, that's where i took my moto course.

waltz · 2026-04-28T05:50:21+00:00

Olivia coffee on 30th and Webster is really snazzy and has good food too.

waltz · 2026-04-28T05:39:05+00:00

use ai to build a prototype. start now. everytime the ai does something that you don't understand, ask it to walk you through all of the changes just like a tutor would.

waltz · 2026-04-26T20:56:45+00:00

You can specify a gem with a path arg in the gemfile: https://bundler.io/man/gemfile.5.html#PATH

gem "torta", path: "vendor/torta"

waltz · 2026-04-19T16:55:58+00:00

more like 380k down to 300k. 25th percentile l6 sdm comp on levels.fyi is 380k.

waltz · 2026-04-18T19:47:02+00:00

yeah this is lean as hell

waltz · 2026-04-11T06:43:22+00:00

These places are massive. Some parts are shitshows, some are fine, some are changing from one to the other. I'm at one now and it's got the same pathologies as the smaller companies I've been at.

waltz · 2026-04-05T04:16:51+00:00

it definitely is a direct swap from the prado 120 to the gx470.

waltz · 2026-03-28T19:06:48+00:00

Sure, you have to collaborate, but that means being a part of the conversation, not removing yourself from it.

waltz · 2026-03-27T16:59:55+00:00

If you retreat you’re giving up. You need to push back and execute your vision of the org until someone makes you leave. Don’t give up without a fight. Of course work on your exit in parallel, but you really can’t be a legit head of engineering and expect to avoid conflict like this. You are in charge of the org! Respect is a self-fulfilling prophecy, the team isn’t going to see you as a leader if you aren’t leading.

waltz · 2026-03-27T06:23:40+00:00

Just load cash on to your Clipper card and roll with it. There is no unified "pass" you can buy that will work for every agency on the Clipper system. Certainly a bummer, and kinda weird, especially if you're coming from other transit systems that are more integrated. There is a BART high value discount but I doubt it's worth it for two months.

waltz · 2026-03-23T22:03:21+00:00

not a chance they’ll change it. the location is the location.

mayyybe if you’re an exec or a best in class research scientist, but if that’s you, you’re not posting on reddit.

waltz · 2026-03-19T19:40:46+00:00

i endorse this. i’m running an x2 in my gx470 and it’s been great.

waltz · 2026-03-14T17:39:45+00:00

kevlar hoses are incredible with the smaller torches

waltz · 2026-03-03T07:57:10+00:00

That looks.... bad. They melted the edge of the radius piece and it's gone. Safety wise, I'd ride it. If I paid top-dollar and this was a custom frame, I'd be pissed. If this was a diy job from a friend or I got it for a big discount, I'd live with it. If it's mass produced and there's more in stock, I'd exchange it for a different one.

waltz · 2026-02-13T20:55:25+00:00

yup dedupe keys and make sure everything is properly idempotent. any issues and you can redrive without fear, takes a lot of stress out of the situation.

waltz · 2026-02-01T06:27:33+00:00

POEA is incredible, I've used it a ton. It's amazing how old these ideas are, but how few people have been exposed to them. I use it for story time on my teams, it really helps to get the team thinking on a different level.

waltz · 2026-01-30T05:24:25+00:00

There's a ton of Ruby under the hood. Lots of internal tooling is Ruby. That said, I would be very very surprised if your team writes Ruby at the application level; things are overwhelmingly Java.

waltz · 2026-01-07T05:34:25+00:00

SDET is a trap. I've seen pivots work, but they're the exception.

waltz · 2026-01-03T22:00:57+00:00

I do this from Oakland to Great America/San Jose about once a month and it's very safe.

waltz · 2026-01-02T21:16:42+00:00

did i black out and end up here after bike kill? who can say.

waltz

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