Dead Code

In this episode, Jared talks with security researcher Lyra Rebane about pushing CSS far beyond its reputation as a simple styling language, exploring how modern features like nesting, advanced selectors, and state-based logic enable complex interactivity without relying on JavaScript. Inspired by experiments on Cohost, Lyra created projects like a fully CSS-based clicker game and even an 8086 CPU emulator that can run compiled C code using CSS variables, animations, and clever workarounds. The conversation highlights how developers often overuse JavaScript for tasks CSS can handle more efficiently, while also challenging the industry’s tendency to dismiss CSS work as less valuable, arguing instead that treating CSS as a true programming language opens up both technical possibilities and greater respect for front-end expertise.

Links:

Cohost platform
CSS nesting
:has() selector
CSS variables (custom properties)
CSS animations
CSS container queries
Cookie Clicker (incremental game example)
x86 architecture overview
8086 CPU
C programming language
Content Security Policy (CSP)
Cross-site scripting (XSS)
SVG filters

Dead Code Podcast Links:

Mastodon
X

Jared’s Links:

Mastodon
X
twitch.tv/jardonamron
Jared’s Newsletter & Website

Episode Transcript

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared talks with developer Dave Copeland about his article “The Death of the Software Craftsman,” which reflects on how AI coding tools are reshaping the role of programmers. Copeland describes a personal reckoning with whether traditional programming skills still matter in a world where AI can generate large amounts of code. He outlines three possible responses for developers: refusing to use AI, going all in on AI-assisted development, or “embracing tradition” by positioning oneself as a craftsperson who writes higher-quality code by hand in areas where reliability and accountability matter. The conversation explores the tension between programmers who enjoy the craft of coding and businesses that primarily care about outcomes, suggesting that as AI becomes more common, developers may need to focus less on code elegance and more on measurable results like reliability, safety, and system performance while learning how to work effectively alongside AI tools.

Links:

The Death of the Software Craftsman
Dave Copeland
Brut Ruby Web Framework
Ruby Programming Language
Ruby on Rails
Software Craftsmanship Movement
SOLID Principles
Dependency Injection
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Agile Software Development
Observability in Software Systems
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Accidental Tech Podcast

Dead Code Podcast Links:

Mastodon
X

Jared’s Links:

Mastodon
X
twitch.tv/jardonamron
Jared’s Newsletter & Website

Episode Transcript
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean Goedecke contrasts generic design advice (principles and patterns not grounded in a specific codebase) with concrete design (decisions shaped by the real code, constraints, and existing “prior art”), arguing you can’t meaningfully design software you don’t work on because you lack the context to make implementable calls. Generic advice has its place (greenfield work, company-wide guardrails), but in large, messy systems consistency matters more than isolated “good design,” because teams survive by reusing known patterns and keeping the codebase coherent. He’s skeptical of architect handoffs where designs ignore practical timelines and incentives reward complexity, and he notes AI coding tools behave like smart outsiders—useful, but prone to reinventing what already exists unless humans with deep context guide them.

Links:

Sean Goedecke’s article: “You can’t design software you don’t work on”
SOLID principles (overview)
Single-responsibility principle (SRP)
GitHub Copilot (product page)
GitHub Copilot code review (docs)
Claude Code (Anthropic product page)
GitHub adding Claude + Codex agents (The Verge)

Dead Code Podcast Links:

Mastodon
X

Jared’s Links:

Mastodon
X
twitch.tv/jardonamron
Jared’s Newsletter & Website

Episode Transcript
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jared interviews veteran programmer and author Russ Olsen about updating Eloquent Ruby for the last 15-ish years of Ruby evolution, from how he discovered Ruby while trying to teach his young son to code (anything but Java) to how Rails suddenly made Ruby mainstream and pushed him into writing. They unpack what “eloquent” Ruby means: solving problems with minimal fuss, staying concise but clear, and treating code as both a working machine and readable literature, plus why the book is structured from tiny examples up to larger systems to help experienced programmers learn Ruby fluently. Russ discusses newer language features like keyword arguments and pattern matching (fun, but not widely used yet), argues for a more tempered, cost-benefit approach to metaprogramming, and shares skepticism about optional static typing in Ruby (RBS/Sorbet) except at key boundaries in very large codebases. The episode closes on Russ’s “Technology as if People Mattered” philosophy and how Ruby’s community culture, often credited to Matz, reflects that human-centered mindset.

Links:

Eloquent Ruby, Second Edition (beta/book page)
Pragmatic Bookshelf beta catalog
Russ Olsen’s blog: “Technology As If People Mattered”
Russ Olsen (about page)
Overdrive by Russ Olsen
RBS (Ruby type signatures) on GitHub
Sorbet (Ruby type checker) docs
Ruby pattern matching documentation
TruffleRuby documentation (GraalVM Ruby)
Ruby Regexp documentation
Dead Code Episode: “Pickaxe Resurrection (with Noel Rappin)”

Dead Code Podcast Links:

Mastodon
X

Jared’s Links:

Mastodon
X
twitch.tv/jardonamron
Jared’s Newsletter & Website

Episode Transcript
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jared interviews CS and cybersecurity grad student Daniel Fichtinger about “slopware” in open source. These are projects, often boosted by AI, that perform legitimacy with buzzwords, emoji feature lists, templates, donation links, and sweeping claims, while the underlying code is messy, over-scoped, or not actually delivering what the README promises. Daniel argues the issue is not simply “bad code” or “used AI,” but honesty, scope, and whether the maintainer can explain and maintain the work. Good projects make a strong first impression through humility, clear boundaries, and sometimes explicit limitations or alternatives. They reframe “gatekeeping” as community maintenance, a social contract of not wasting others’ time, using a gardening metaphor where slop spreads like weeds and harms beginners most by teaching bad patterns. Daniel describes stopslopware.net as a linkable educational response to repeated spammy posts and offers rehab steps: rewrite your README yourself, then incrementally replace AI-generated parts until you genuinely understand and can stand behind the whole project.

Links:

stopslopware.net
ficd.sh
Daniel’s blog
Lobsters
The XY Problem
Motherfucking Website
Crafting Interpreters
Codeberg

Dead Code Podcast Links:

Mastodon
X

Jared’s Links:

Mastodon
X
twitch.tv/jardonamron
Jared’s Newsletter & Website

Episode Transcript
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.