I recently re-watched Dave Smith s proposal and demo on making the WordPress editing experience simple, and it resonated with me. I ve been using WordPress for well over a decade, so a lot of its terminology feels natural to me now. But that’s probably because I’ve internalised the relationship between the UI and the underlying architecture. [ ]
Engineers have always strived to write less code. We ve created paradigms, principles and ways of working to help us with this. DRY, utility functions, abstractions, shared sources of truth to help us build mature, stable solutions. Writing less code wasn t the motivation but it did become the side effect. But now code is cheap to [ ]
The complaints about LLMs on open-source projects I believe are well documented by now. Slop PRs, automated issue spam, unmanageable review backlogs solving issues that aren t really problems. But I m interested in what happens when you use LLMs on the flip side of community driven, open source projects. What happens when the maintainers just become [ ]
Six months ago, I wrote a post saying goodbye to Automattic after five incredible years. It felt like the right time to try something new, stretch different muscles, and see how engineering looked from a completely different vantage point. My time away was incredibly valuable, and I m grateful for the experience and the brilliant people [ ]
I ve been watching a trend in engineering cultures, where shipping unreviewed, LLM-generated code isn t just a shortcut people take in secret anymore, it s not only openly allowed but actively encouraged. When you ask users to pay for your software, integrate it into their daily workflows, personal lives, or build their own businesses on top of [ ]
I recently caught myself giving a rushed approval, and it forced me to realize that these rubber-stamp reviews aren t just a lapse they are a systemic risk. AI tools increasingly assist in writing our code, the ability to perform deep, intentional code reviews is becoming the most critical skill. We are entering a world where [ ]
As software engineers, our most valuable currency isn t lines of code, it s focus. We all know the flow state: holding a complex mental model in your head, connecting the dots between systems. Then, a calendar notification pops up. Synchronous video meetings are often the unintended enemy of this flow. They require three rigid things: a specific [ ]
We glorify adaptability in tech. Pivot fast, learn faster, ship faster. But every change taxes the same systems you use to think clearly and make good decisions. Starting a new job as a software engineer is peak change. New codebase, new tooling, new rituals, new acronyms, new people. Your brain is building fresh predictions for [ ]
After five incredible years, I m moving on from Automattic. It s been absolutely class. I started working on WordPress.com, which was a brilliant introduction to the company. After a year, I moved to WooCommerce and never looked back. Over the next five years, I bounced between five different teams, each one giving me the chance to [ ]
When users duplicate records in a database, tracking whether copies have diverged from their source becomes challenging. A content hash provides a simple mechanism to detect when duplicates no longer match their parent. The Problem Consider an email_templates table: User A creates a template (id: 1, parent_id: null). Then User B duplicates this template (id: [ ]
