What do JSON and conversational AI have in common? They are the glue behind ordering coffee, booking flights, and talking to support. In our tests, about 1 out of 3 replies missed the intent until we enforced structured JSON outputs. In this episode, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel break down how to move from “cool demo” to production systems that route, escalate, and self-audit reliably.

SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/

💡 Sponsor: Level Up Financial Planning

Changing careers or increasing your income? Get financial clarity with Level Up Financial Planning—helping early and mid-career tech professionals secure their financial future. Visit LevelUpFinancialPlanning.com for a free consultation!

https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

What you’ll learn

- Why freeform paragraphs fail backends and how JSON fields fix routing

- A simple schema pattern: department, sentiment, confidence, reply

- Confidence floors that trigger automatic retries before users ever see a response

- Context windows: why rules are read every call while context gets dropped

- MCP basics and how domain context avoids bad translations and metaphors

- Where voice agents work today (predictable conversations) and where they do not

- Practical tool choices for text, code, and voice workflows

- Real labor impacts, retention insights, and reskill advice

- Salary negotiation quick hits: the two lines that matter

Chapters

00:00 Cold open: JSON as the glue + the 1-in-3 miss

00:30 Show intro and promise

01:10 Quick definitions: JSON, NLG, NLU, MCP

03:00 Why structured JSON beats paragraphs

07:30 Confidence scores and auto-retries

10:30 Sponsor break

11:30 Prompts for image and video models that actually work

15:00 Context windows and durable rules

20:00 MCP in practice: local dialects and domain knowledge

26:00 Voice agents: predictable vs unpredictable conversations

33:00 Jobs, retention, and reskilling

40:00 Question of the Day: salary wiggle room

46:00 The Developers Guide To AI

Stop leaving tech conferences with just a free t-shirt and some stickers. It's time to leave with a job offer. 🚀

The difference between a successful conference and a waste of money isn't luck, it's strategy. In this episode, we break down the ultimate conference survival guide for software developers and tech professionals. Learn how to shift from a passive "Tourist Mindset" to a proactive "Architect Mindset" to build real opportunities.

SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/

💡 Sponsor: Level Up Financial Planning

Changing careers or increasing your income? Get financial clarity with Level Up Financial Planning—helping early and mid-career tech professionals secure their financial future. Visit LevelUpFinancialPlanning.com for a free consultation!

https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

We cover everything you need to know to turn your next conference badge into a massive career investment, including:

✅ The pre-conference blueprint: How to research, set measurable goals, and connect with speakers before you even arrive.

✅ On-site execution: Master the art of the three-minute conversation, ask questions that make you memorable, and build genuine connections.

✅ The follow-up formula that actually gets you a response and leads to interviews.

✅ Actionable advice for both extroverts and introverts to network with confidence.

Whether you're looking for your first tech job or your tenth, this is the playbook you'll want to reference time and time again.

YouTube Chapters

00:00 - Job Offer vs. Free T-Shirt: The Real Difference

01:41 - Turning Online Connections into Real Relationships

03:22 - What is Your "Why"? Defining Your Conference Goal

04:25 - The #1 Mistake: Don't Get Lost in the Hallway Track

05:52 - A Simple Trick to Connect With Any Speaker

07:32 - It's Not Luck, It's Strategy

08:15 - The "Tourist" vs. "Architect" Mindset

09:13 - Sponsor: Level Up Financial Planning

10:18 - The True Cost of Attending a Conference ($2,200?!)

12:27 - The Pre-Conference Blueprint for Job Seekers

13:40 - The Genius "Coffee Chat" Calendar Invite Strategy

15:25 - Champions Are Made in the Pre-Season

17:13 - How to Research Attendees (Not Just Speakers)

18:20 - Mastering the 3-Minute Conversation

20:04 - The Secret Magic of Tech Conferences

22:34 - Setting Measurable Goals for Your Conference

25:22 - How (and When) to Bravely Ask for a Referral

28:26 - The Psychology of Asking for a Favor

30:38 - How to Talk About Yourself Without Being Salesy

33:27 - The Long-Tail Game of Networking

34:26 - A Counterintuitive Tip: Don't Introduce Yourself First

35:22 - Questions That Make You Unforgettable

40:48 - Networking Tips for Introverts

43:51 - Pro Tip: Never Eat Alone

46:36 - The Most Valuable Part of a Conference: The Follow-Up

49:03 - Ask Us Anything: Following Up With a VIP You Met

One phishy email to an npm maintainer set off a supply-chain scare that could’ve torched the web—yet the real on-chain damage was… cents. In this episode, we break down how a fake npm 2FA reset (from npmjs.help) led to malicious releases of popular packages like chalk and debug, how the payload hijacked browser crypto flows (monkey-patching window.ethereum, fetch, and XHR), why the blast radius stayed small, and what teams did right (shoutout to Aikido & Vercel).We finish with a rapid “Career Corner” on how to follow up after an interview—with copy-ready lines you can use.SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/Stay in Touch:📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!Danny Thompsonhttps://x.com/DThompsonDevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDevwww.DThompsonDev.comLeon Noelhttps://x.com/leonnoelhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/https://100devs.org/📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!You’ll learn:- Spotting modern phishing (look-alike TLDs, urgency cues)- What the malware did and why front-end focus limited impact- The minute-by-minute timeline from phish → publish → takedown- Practical defenses: pin versions, lockfiles, audits, password managers, least-privilege tokens- How to write a follow-up email that closesIf this helps, hit 👍 and share with a teammate.Chapters0:00 – The phish that “almost destroyed the internet” (cold open)0:24 – Who clicked: maintainer behind big OSS (chalk, debug)0:44 – Payload in plain English (browser wallet-drainer)1:04 – Actual impact vs. potential blast radius1:20 – Intro + what we’ll cover2:23 – Why this story is everywhere & our plan3:43 – What you’ll know by the end (safety + lessons)4:20 – Act 1: The Email — npmjs.help and urgency tactics6:08 – Phishing 101: quick checks before you click8:25 – Psychology of scams (filtering + anecdotes)12:17 – Act 2: The Payload — monkey-patching fetch/XHR/window.ethereum14:44 – Why front-end focus limited the damage16:41 – How it was caught (Node fetch ReferenceErrors)17:52 – Six–eight hours to fix: containment recap20:04 – Magic links & password managers (practical wins)22:15 – Act 3: The Timeline — 18 packages, what happened when23:39 – Minutes matter: publish → detection → takedown25:12 – Community/GitHub issues light up; npm intervenes26:48 – Root-cause analysis & related accounts28:32 – “System worked” takeaways (+ why that’s good)31:18 – Dev hygiene: pin versions, audits, reduce deps33:10 – Myths debunked (no, every machine wasn’t “fully owned”)35:04 – Shout-outs: Aikido, Vercel, others that responded fast38:22 – Career Corner: following up after interviews (templates)53:22 – Wrap-up & next stepsHelpful links (add your URLs)Aikido write-up / detection notesVercel incident summary + cache purge notesnpm/GitHub advisories for affected packagesPassword manager recommendations / setup guide

Two devs. Same stack. Same years in. One gets three on-sites a week; the other gets ghosted. The difference isn’t talent—it’s process. We audit your job hunt like production: inputs & controls, bottlenecks, scripts that actually get replies, and the one KPI (MC/W) that predicts interviews.

SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

What you’ll learn:

- Build a targeted, local-first company list (even if there’s no open req)

- Warm outreach that prints: one-to-many LinkedIn, comments → DMs, “6-minute call” & 11:02 invites

- Remove bottlenecks: Resume → Recruiter, Phone screen → Behavioral (STAR/CAR), Recruiter → Manager

- The THRIVE framework to turn interrogations into conversations

- Why proof vs promises (and why you shouldn’t sign exclusive recruiter agreements)

- The audit loop: track MC/W, notes, weekly reviews, tiny improvements

- If this helped, drop MC/W in the comments so others find it. 👇

Chapters

00:00 Two devs, same stack—process beats talent

02:13 Act I: Inputs & Control (ideal companies, local-first, research, coffee chat prep)

05:15 Activity vs quality (don’t just click apply)

08:00 Burnout fix: focus on controllables

09:35 Don’t sign exclusive recruiter agreements

10:48 Warm vs cold outreach; break the pattern

14:02 One-to-many on LinkedIn (comments that warm leads)

15:54 DM makeovers that get replies

17:58 Pattern breakers: 6-minute call, 11:02 invite

21:03 Comment → DM handoff without bait-and-switch

22:41 Great question → instant referral story

24:54 Anti-DMs to avoid (“pick your brain?”, resume dump)

27:34 Act II: Bottlenecks in your pipeline

28:44 Resume → Recruiter (lead with outcomes, not fluff)

33:03 Cut jargon the recruiter can’t repeat

34:22 Phone screen → Behavioral (STAR/CAR)

37:28 Recruiter → Manager (narrative + “tell me about yourself”)

40:32 Act III: The Metric—MC/W (meaningful conversations per week)

43:32 Networking beats blind applying

45:10 Act IV: Playbook & Audit (THRIVE recap)

47:26 Practice w/ AI voice role-play (recruiter, EM, meetup)

50:27 Small improvements compound

51:04 Tracking system: spreadsheet, notes, weekly reviews

53:02 Systems vs motivation (James Clear callback)

55:38 Listener Q: “The Chosen One” progress explained

1:02:01 Technical skills ≠ job-getting skills

1:04:13 Wrap

49,000 developers just crowned Full-Stack the #1 software developer role of 2025. We dig into the Stack Overflow Developer Survey (2025) and turn the data into an actionable career roadmap: what to learn, what to ignore, and how AI actually fits into your workflow.

NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

💡 Sponsor: Level Up Financial Planning

Changing careers or increasing your income? Get financial clarity with Level Up Financial Planning—helping early and mid-career tech professionals secure their financial future. Visit LevelUpFinancialPlanning.com for a free consultation!

https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

We break down:

- Why Full-Stack leads (and what skills to stack to stay hireable)

- The SQL vs NoSQL reality (Postgres on top) and how to pivot if you’re Mongo-first

- Languages & frameworks that matter in 2025 (JS/TS, React/Next, .NET/Spring)

- Tools to master: Docker (near-universal) + AWS (still the gap)

- IDE reality: VS Code dominance, Cursor surge, where JetBrains fits

- LLMs in practice: GPT usage, Claude’s rise, and smart model-routing

- Agents, “vibe coding,” and where AI saves real time (tests, data, docs)

- Pay & jobs snapshot + a blunt Q&A: CSS fundamentals vs Tailwind

Chapters

00:00 Cold open — the #1 role reveal

00:36 Why this survey still matters (and its biases)

01:55 Intros + Commit Your Code plug

03:14 Who answered: 49k respondents, pros, age, country

07:03 How devs learn in 2025: docs, AI tools, videos, bootcamps

11:07 The reveal: Full-Stack is #1

12:42 What that means for careers (front-end-only is shrinking)

14:28 Languages: JS/TS, Python, C#/Java — what to prioritize

17:29 Sponsor — Level Up Financial Planning (levelupfinancialplanning.com)

18:34 Databases: SQL dominance (Postgres first) + Mongo in context

20:27 Cloud & dev tools: Docker as default, the AWS gap

21:41 Web frameworks: React/Next, jQuery still huge, .NET & Spring

23:11 IDEs: VS Code, Cursor surge, JetBrains, Vim/Neovim

24:42 LLMs in practice: GPT vs Claude + model routing

29:00 Team tools: GitHub/Jira/Miro + new Git alternatives

30:24 OS choices: Windows vs macOS, WSL split

31:16 Admired vs used: Rust/Elixir, Supabase, reality check

37:02 AI adoption & where it helps most (search, tests, data, docs)

41:41 Accuracy, complex tasks, and human-in-the-loop

44:20 Dealing with “almost right” outputs (mindset shift)

46:40 Agents & “vibe coding” + the Goose demo story

50:32 Jobs, remote, US pay snapshot

51:34 Q&A: CSS fundamentals → then Tailwind

55:12 Outro

On this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel unpack the biggest programming myths that confuse developers at every level. From “AI will take all dev jobs” to “DRY at all costs,” they separate hype from reality and share hard-won lessons from real teams in production.You will hear why paper Big-O is not the whole story, how cache behavior and data size impact real performance, and why map/reduce vs for loops is a wash on modern engines. We get into testing culture too: why E2E does not replace unit tests, how to use AI for test scaffolding without losing your engineering brain, and what actually improves product reliability. Danny also tackles the myths that Java is slow and GC is always bad, and both hosts talk about the cost curve where cloud is not cheaper than on-prem.The conversation closes with an “Ask Danny and Leon” mailbag on what really separates junior, mid, and senior engineers: independence, guardrails, impact, and the quality of questions you ask.If this helped, drop a comment with a myth you want us to tackle next, and subscribe for more practical, no-fluff engineering talk.Topics include:AI as a productivity tool vs one-click magicBig-O vs real-world performance and memory behaviorjQuery, Deno, Bun, and the hype cycleJavaScript the language vs browser APIsmap/reduce vs for loops on modern enginesUnit tests, integration tests, E2E, and using AI wiselyJava performance and garbage collection tuningDRY vs duplication and over-abstractionAccessibility as a defaultCloud costs vs on-prem at scaleCareer ladder: junior, mid, senior traitsHosts: Danny Thompson (Director of Technology, This Dot Labs; Commit Your Code Conference) and Leon Noel (Managing Director of Engineering, Resilient Coders; instructor at 100Devs)Chapters00:00 Intro and why myths still persist00:58 Host intros and setup for “Gem City” episode02:00 Myth 1: “AI is taking all dev jobs”03:33 When AI image gen goes sideways and why it is a tool, not a replacement06:03 Leon’s motion-blur trick for more believable AI images07:08 Myth 2: Big-O vs real performance in the wild09:52 Cache misses, allocation, data size, and why paper math can mislead11:30 Myth 3: “jQuery is dead” and the reality in legacy estates12:23 Deno and Bun hype vs actual employer adoption13:32 Why jQuery still ships and what we lost chasing complexity15:30 JavaScript the language vs DOM and host environment APIs16:58 Myth 4: “map/reduce are slower than for loops” on modern engines18:11 Myth 5: “E2E replaces unit tests”20:57 When testing cultures go wrong and how to course-correct22:46 Using AI for tests without losing critical thinking25:03 The 80-20 way to use AI on tickets and test suites27:01 Danny gets baited, Leon laughs28:01 Myth 6: “Java is slow” and “GC is always bad”30:30 Region and concurrent collectors, and why allocation patterns matter31:02 Engine differences and mental models across stacks31:58 Myth 7: “Everything must be DRY” vs useful duplication33:01 Strong opinions held weekly and leaving dogma behind34:22 How dev opinions evolve with experience34:52 Accessibility as a default, not a later task36:29 Myth 8: “Cloud is always cheaper than on-prem”37:17 Real-world cost surprises and pulling workloads back38:30 Hype cycles, Jamstack memories, and maintenance pain41:56 On-prem done right and budget realities43:49 Mailbag: junior vs mid vs senior, company variance45:25 Danny’s framework for levels: guardrails, impact, and ownership51:10 The power of high-quality questions at senior and staff levels52:10 Leveling up from mid: own initiatives and become the firefighter53:31 Wrap-up and sign-off

6,000 Applications. 0 Jobs. What Went Wrong?

In this episode, Danny & Leon break down the recent New York Times article about the collapse of $165,000 tech jobs — and why so many new computer science graduates are struggling to find work.

This one gets personal. We dig into salary expectations, the rise of AI coding tools, offshoring, and the real reasons grads are stuck. Plus, we share how bad advice keeps job seekers trapped, and why networking + projects matter more than ever.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This episode is heavier than usual. We felt deeply for the people featured in this article — so much so that we reached out to one of them, Zach, who applied to nearly 6,000 jobs, and spent 90 minutes helping him reframe his job search strategy. Our goal isn’t to mock, but to help anyone who feels stuck right now.

If you’re in the middle of the job hunt, or just want to understand what’s happening in tech careers in 2025 — this is a must-listen.

NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Disclaimer & why this episode is different

03:19 – Why we reacted to the NYT article live

05:25 – Setting the stage: “Goodbye $165K tech jobs”

06:59 – The salary inflation problem

08:03 – Networking: why tech is no longer a free pass

10:10 – Purdue grad struggles despite strong background

15:23 – The promise (and failure) of the CS degree

18:18 – The “learn to code = six figures” myth

20:22 – FANG vs. reality: most jobs aren’t like that

22:01 – Is AI really taking developer jobs? (spoiler: no)

23:53 – Offshoring is the real threat

25:39 – Headcount growth vs. layoff panic

26:32 – Unemployment rates: myth vs. reality

29:20 – The hidden flaw in applying to 6,000 jobs

32:21 – “Clickers” & why mass-applying doesn’t work

34:02 – Bootcamps & the cycle of bad advice

35:38 – Ghosting, coding assessments & job search burnout

39:02 – Zach’s story: 5,762 applications, 0 jobs

41:01 – Why customizing your resume matters

43:08 – The wrong vs. right way to job hunt

46:13 – Reddit resumes & bad job hunt advice

47:23 – Misreporting AI tools (CodeRabbit example)

49:24 – The AI doom loop in job search

52:12 – Government jobs, hiring freezes & policy shifts

53:00 – The Purdue grad pivots to tech sales

55:03 – Why the article fails its own subjects

57:22 – Offshoring vs. AI (the real culprit)

58:00 – What job seekers should be doing now

59:32 – Listener Q&A: networking while still learning

01:03:46 – The power of small, intentional networking

01:06:11 – Balancing a non-tech job & coding journey

01:09:49 – Final advice & episode wrap-up

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Leon Noel and Danny Thompson dive deep into the wild, twist-filled journey of Figma, from a college side project that almost became a meme generator to a $58 billion IPO.We break Figma’s story into five acts, uncovering the pivotal moments, technical breakthroughs, and business decisions that made it one of the most beloved design tools in the world. From WebGL wizardry to multiplayer design magic, early skepticism to industry adoption by giants like Uber and Notion, we explore how Dylan Field and Evan Wallace built a browser-based platform that changed design forever.NEW SITE https://www.programmingpodcast.com/Stay in Touch:📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!💡 Sponsor: Level Up Financial PlanningChanging careers or increasing your income? Get financial clarity with Level Up Financial Planning—helping early and mid-career tech professionals secure their financial future. Visit LevelUpFinancialPlanning.com for a free consultation!https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/Danny Thompsonhttps://x.com/DThompsonDevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDevwww.DThompsonDev.comLeon Noelhttps://x.com/leonnoelhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/https://100devs.org/📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at dannyandleonspodcast@gmail.com!You’ll hear about:- The origin story and near-misses (drones, memes, and more)- Technical innovations with WebGL, WebAssembly, and real-time collaboration- The leadership and hiring lessons learned the hard way- Figma’s breakout moments during Adobe Fireworks’ demise and the pandemic- The $20 billion Adobe acquisition that never happened — and the $1 billion breakup fee- How Figma stayed true to its vision and went public with massive momentumWhether you’re a designer, developer, startup founder, or just curious about how tech products scale from scrappy beginnings to global dominance, this is a masterclass in perseverance, timing, and execution.🎧 Listen in, drop a like, and let us know in the comments if you use Figma!Chapters00:00 – Intro & Setting the Stage01:14 – Figma in Five Acts02:54 – Act 1: The Idea Maze – Drones, Memes, and Crossroads06:13 – The Best Meme Generator Nobody Needed08:56 – WebGL Breakthroughs and Browser-Based Design12:29 – The Power of GPU Rendering & WebAssembly15:53 – Key Performance Tricks – Batch & Delta Rendering17:57 – Building a Custom Text Engine & Multiplayer Vision27:00 – The Adobe Fireworks Discontinuation Moment29:12 – Naming the Product – Why “Figma” Stayed31:13 – Act 2: Building and Struggling with Perseverance33:40 – Early Management Struggles and Leadership Pivot36:33 – Choosing Urgency Over Perfection37:14 – Early Launch Without Multiplayer39:18 – Harsh Early Feedback and User Skepticism40:59 – Securing New Funding & Preparing for Multiplayer41:23 – Act 3: Unlocking Multiplayer Design42:41 – Design Parties and Winning Over Skeptics44:27 – Big-Name Adoption: Uber, Notion, and Market Validation46:44 – Series B & C Fundraising Momentum46:50 – Act 4: Scale and Impact47:04 – Engineers Handling Support for Deep Empathy48:22 – Browser-Based Updates and Rapid Iteration49:43 – Monetization Debate & Investor Pushback51:44 – Act 5: The Pandemic Changes Everything52:57 – Figma’s Remote Collaboration Advantage54:37 – The Launch of FigJam55:39 – Capitalizing on Two Key Market Moments56:39 – Adobe’s $20B Acquisition Attempt58:08 – Regulatory Block & $1B Breakup Fee59:31 – Secondary Funding and IPO Readiness1:00:41 – Dylan Field’s Final Lessons & Closing Thoughts1:02:02 – Outro