Making Software is a podcast where engineers from across the tech world, backend, frontend, security, open source, and more share how real software gets built. Each episode features an informal conversation full of lessons, stories, and technical insight from people who design and ship the systems we all rely on. The show goes beyond tools and frameworks to explore the thinking, trade-offs, and creativity behind great engineering, offering listeners an authentic look into the craft of building better software.
Who are we actually building for anymore, and does the answer change everything about how we teach, learn, and ship software? James Quick is a Developer Educator at Cloudflare with 13 years in developer relations, starting as a technical evangelist at Microsoft before most people knew that was a job. He hasn't written a line of code in 8 months. In that time he has built more than ever: a Frame.io clone for his team, a QuickBooks replacement, a Descript alternative, and Dropcast, a tool that generates custom podcasts from links so he can keep learning while commuting. In this episode we talk about how the line between developer and builder is dissolving, what that means for the people creating educational content, how AI completely flipped James's take on build vs buy, and how companies like Cloudflare are thinking about being part of the conversation in a world where LLMs make the recommendations. If you are a developer, a builder, or someone creating content for either, this one is for you. What You'll Learn: Why the audience for developer content has shifted from developers to builders, and what that forces educators to change How James builds more than ever without writing a line of code, and why he does not miss it Why his opinion on build vs buy completely flipped, with real tools he built to prove it What AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is and why it matters more than SEO for developer tools right now How Cloudflare thinks about being recommended by AI agents when builders never ask which platform to use Why every app James builds now needs an MCP server, and how that changes the build decision- The one piece of advice James has given for 13 years that has not changed even with AI
Is Redis still mandatory for scaling background workflows, or can modern database disks handle millions of jobs per day? In this episode of Making Software, Rosa Gutierrez (Principal Programmer at 37 Signals) breaks down the creation of Solid Queue: the default background job adapter shipping with Rails 8. We dive deep into the technical decisions behind moving away from memory stores, the reality of maintaining infrastructure used by millions, and how AI agents are changing the culture of open-source contributions. What You'll Learn- The Death of Redis Multi-Gem Noise: Why Solid Queue was built to streamline a complex seven-gem setup in production. - Database vs. In-Memory: The architectural trade-offs, performance calculations, and transactional integrity advantages of database-backed queues. - The Human Tax of Open Source: The realities of maintaining critical framework code, handling community burnout, and guarding against repository noise. - The Rise of AI Agents on GitHub: Why LLMs are writing a massive wave of modern issues and PRs, and why they make surprisingly polite contributors. Solid-queue Repo: https://github.com/rails/solid_queueChapter Markers:00:00 - Introduction to Rosa Gutierrez & Making Software01:56 - Meet Rosa: 9+ Years at 37 Signals02:58 - The Ruby Bubble and Its Modern Comeback04:35 - Why AI Agents Love Ruby on Rails05:44 - The European Ruby Triathlon Infrastructure08:03 - The Origin Story of Solid Queue & Solid Cache10:48 - Moving Away From Memory Stores to Fast Relational Disks13:06 - Replacing 7 Gems and Testing Internally at HEY14:28 - Database Scalability Hardships & Transactional Integrity16:58 - Simplifying API Descriptors & Documentation for Rails 820:07 - Intentional Code Readability vs Legacy Gem Complexities22:09 - The Reality Shift of Mainstream Open Source Maintenance26:10 - GitHub Entitlement vs Polite AI Agents28:15 - Being a Founding member at the Rails Foundation30:37 - Organizing Rails World & Programming Committee Selection39:45 - Meticulous Advice for First-Time Open Source Contributors42:17 - Wrap-up
In today's episode, we explore the intersection of human psychology and engineering. Our guest, Dennis Henry , a Productivity Architect at Okta , shares how his Master’s degree in human factors —the study of how humans interact with systems and why they fail—has transformed his approach to building internal tools. In this episode, we discuss: The Myth of Human Error: Why "failure" in software is rarely about one person and more about the processes surrounding them. AI Enablement at Scale: How Dennis built a secure, multi-model AI gateway at Okta that allows employees to use Gemini, Claude, GPT, and more safely. Environmental Impact: The innovative "nudge" tool that shows developers the carbon footprint of their AI prompts. Redefining Productivity: Why vanity metrics like lines of code are "terrible" and why qualitative sentiment is the true measure of success. Servant Leadership: Why the best thing a leader can do today is simply talk to their people and ask, "What sucks about your job?"
In this episode of Making Software , Carla sits down with Matteo Ferrando who does Platform and Infrastructure at Fal.ai , to explore the complex world of infrastructure and platform engineering. Matteo shares his journey from backend engineering to architecting a leading generative media platform. The conversation dives deep into: The "Two-Way Door" Framework: How to decide between building a quick MVP and a long-term scalable solution. Latency-Sensitive AI: The infrastructure challenges of serving audio and video models with millisecond precision. Backend vs. Infra: Matteo’s "controversial" take on what backend engineering really means in a startup environment. The Future of Coding: Why computer science fundamentals are more important than ever in the age of AI-assisted development. Whether you're an engineer looking to transition into platform roles or curious about the "how" behind generative AI platforms, this episode is packed with practical architectural insights.
Is "Vibe Coding" a breakthrough for productivity or a security nightmare? In this episode of Making Software , Carla talks with Bobby Tiernay , Principal Architect at Auth0 , about the messy, exciting, and risky reality of building with AI. Bobby breaks down the evolution of "Vibe Coding"—using AI to prototype via intuition—and why the industry must shift toward Spec Coding to ensure long-term stability and security. In this episode, we discuss: The Vibe Coding Phenomenon: Why prototyping with AI feels like magic, but lacks the rigor of enterprise software. Security for AI Agents: How to avoid "YOLO mode" and implement sandboxing to protect your network and data. The Model Context Protocol (MCP): Using standard protocols to bridge the gap between AI and your local environment safely. The Future of the Engineer: Why being a "Master Communicator" is becoming more important than being a master of syntax. Building the "Right Thing": How AI can help reverse-engineer requirements and create better specifications.
Building products for other engineers is a unique challenge. Unlike consumer apps, developer tools (SDKs, APIs, and Open Source) require a deep focus on Developer Experience (DX) , idiomatic code, and long-term maintenance. In this episode of Making Software , Raghd Hamzeh (Senior Software Engineer at Okta and OpenFGA maintainer) breaks down how to balance community requests with platform health. What you’ll learn in this video: The Shift in Mindset: How your engineering process changes when your "users" are also engineers. Consistency vs. Idiomatic Code: Should a Ruby SDK look like a Go SDK, or should it feel native to the language? Handling Breaking Changes: Why saying "no" to a feature request can actually save your platform’s health. The Power of Automation: How to manage multiple languages and open-source contributions without losing your mind. Check Making Software's Website Learn more about OpenFGA
In this episode, Carla sits down with Sam Bellen (Principal Developer Advocate) to discuss the world of Developer Relations (DevRel). Sam shares his unique journey from writing day-to-day code to advocating for developers globally, and why he believes authenticity is the most powerful tool in any engineer's toolkit. In this episode, we discuss why DevRel is a bridge between engineering, product, and the community, how to help product teams prioritize developer feedback and much more! Check Making Software's Website
