Writing
Essays on software engineering — building well, running lean, and making the most of what AI has changed. By Matt Tanner.
Most of a system is fine. The trouble concentrates in a handful of places where the structural decisions actually matter — and that is where attention belongs.
→ 14 May 2026The full rewrite is the most expensive decision a team can make, and usually the least examined. Most of the time the system is telling you something more precise.
→ 16 April 2026The patterns reproduced by AI tools are only as good as the code they were trained on — and most of that code contains accumulated compromises. Starting from the intrinsic nature of a problem is harder, but it's the only reliable path to a system that fits.
→ 12 March 2026AI tools have made it faster and cheaper to produce code than at any point in the history of the industry. The constraint has moved — and most software processes haven't caught up yet.
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