# essay Published articles for essay. This is one page of public article previews, not the complete archive. Follow Next page to continue. Summaries are not the original full articles. ## Match Software Quality Controls to Customer Impact and Technical Risk DevFeed: [Match Software Quality Controls to Customer Impact and Technical Risk]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Luca Rossi Published: 2026-09-07T07:03:38Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Refactoring]() Topics: [Risk](), [Software](), [Architecture & Design]() Tags: [essay](), [risk](), [software]() ### AI overview This commentary argues that software quality controls should reflect a change's customer impact and technical risk. It describes a maturity path from individual quality advocacy to team-wide principles and processes. ### Source excerpt Monday Ideas -- Edition #224 ## How software engineering is changing: an essay challenge DevFeed: [How software engineering is changing: an essay challenge]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Gergely Orosz Published: 2026-09-01T16:06:50Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [The Pragmatic Engineer]() Topics: [future of software](), [AI Development](), [Large Language Model](), [Software Engineering]() Tags: [ai](), [competition](), [essay](), [llms](), [software-engineering](), [tooling]() ### AI overview The Pragmatic Engineer announces an essay competition about how software engineering is changing as companies adopt LLMs, AI tooling, and AI infrastructure. It invites software engineers to submit 3,000-10,000-word essays about changes in engineering practices, culture, and workflows, with selected entries to be published and prizes of up to $10,000. ### Source excerpt The pace of change in software engineering is only accelerating, especially since January of this year. This is all to do with the industry-wide adoption of LLMs, AI tooling, and AI infrastructure. At The Pragmatic Engineer, we always want to capture as much of what's going on ## We Became Editors-in-Chief, and Nobody Trained Us DevFeed: [We Became Editors-in-Chief, and Nobody Trained Us]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Freek Van der Herten (freek@spatie.be) Published: 2026-08-03T14:56:25Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [freek.dev - all blogposts]() Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](), [Development](), [Code]() Tags: [ai](), [career](), [code](), [code-review](), [developer-experience](), [development](), [essay](), [soft-skills](), [writing-code]() ### AI overview An essay examines how AI-assisted development shifts engineers from writing code toward reviewing AI-generated diffs. It argues that this change creates cognitive fatigue and may widen the gap between senior and junior engineers. ### Source excerpt An essay on how AI-assisted development turns engineers into full-time reviewers. We spend our days evaluating AI-generated diffs instead of writing code, and that shift carries a new cognitive fatigue and may widen the senior/junior gap. Read more ## Chatting with an AI Won't Make You a Top Programmer DevFeed: [Chatting with an AI Won't Make You a Top Programmer]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Daniel Lemire Published: 2026-06-21T17:51:16Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Daniel Lemire]() Topics: [Programming](), [Artificial Intelligence](), [Code](), [Tooling]() Tags: [ai](), [code](), [essay](), [programming](), [tooling](), [typescript]() ### AI overview This opinion argues that chatting with AI will not by itself make someone a top programmer. Reading and writing code develops deeper understanding, and future tools should help engineers understand code rather than only generate it. ### Source excerpt When I was a kid, most people did not know how to type. We took typing class. The final exam was a speed test: words per minute. Today, you will not impress anyone by saying you can type. In fact, cursive writing is fading. Kids increasingly cannot read or write it. We type constantly. We ... Continue reading Chatting with an AI Won't Make You a Top Programmer ## AI generated code is slop, and that's a good thing DevFeed: [AI generated code is slop, and that's a good thing]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2025-10-19T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Tim Kellogg]() Topics: [Code](), [Software](), [Artificial Intelligence]() Tags: [code](), [essay](), [software]() ### AI overview The article argues that "slop" is an appropriate ideal for code, including both AI-generated and human-written code. It connects this idea to longstanding software engineering advice favoring boring, clear, predictable technology and code. ### Source excerpt In his recent Dwarkesh podcast interview, Andrej Karpathy (now) notoriously said: ## My Graduate Career in Math DevFeed: [My Graduate Career in Math]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2025-05-12T18:35:57Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Jeremy Kun]() Topics: [Mathematics](), [Computer science](), [graph theory]() Tags: [computer-science](), [education](), [essay](), [essays](), [game-theory](), [graph-theory](), [group-theory](), [linear-algebra](), [math](), [mathematics](), [retrospective](), [topology](), [university]() ### AI overview An autobiographical essay about the author's transition from computer science to mathematics at Cal Poly, including university coursework, study abroad in Budapest, and reflections on the intellectual environment and an early group theory project. ### Source excerpt Editor's note: This essay was originally published on Medium on 2016-03-05. I have made minor edits in this republishing and added a few small retrospective notes. 2010-2011 (Year 0) I had just switched my major at Cal Poly State University from computer science to math. I wanted to double major but California was in a budget crisis and a few weeks before I tried submitting my double-major request the Provost for the CSU system put a blanket ban on double majors. ## Celebrating Cerebration: ON CREATIVITY - by Isaac Asimov DevFeed: [Celebrating Cerebration: ON CREATIVITY - by Isaac Asimov]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2023-03-13T08:13:10Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Bert Hubert's writings]() Topics: [Isaac](), [context]() Tags: [article](), [essay](), [innovation](), [isaac](), [pdf](), [science]() ### AI overview This article preserves and contextualizes Isaac Asimov's 1959 essay on cerebration and the difficulty of generating genuinely new ideas. It discusses the essay's historical context, changing social norms, and the possible continuing value of Asimov's techniques for encouraging innovation. ### Source excerpt "The history of human thought would make it seem that there is difficulty in thinking of an idea even when all the facts are on the table" - Isaac Asimov In 2014, MIT's Technology Review wrote a very interesting article about an attempt to have Isaac Asimov be part of a group of scientists attempting to think outside of the box. In this article they included a 1959 essay that Asimov wrote instead of continuing to taking part in this (classified) government work. ## 'EFAIL' Is Why We Can't Have Golden Keys DevFeed: ['EFAIL' Is Why We Can't Have Golden Keys]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Adam Published: 2018-06-11T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Shostack & Friends Blog]() Topics: [Encryption](), [Security](), [systems](), [HTML]() Tags: [encryption](), [essay](), [html](), [security]() ### AI overview This commentary presents EFAIL as evidence against creating golden keys. It says the issues reduce the security of PGP and S/MIME email through problems involving HTML email parsing and CBC encryption, illustrating the difficulty of securing systems made from components with disparate design goals. ### Source excerpt [no description provided] ## From boiling lead and black art: An essay on the history of mathematical typography DevFeed: [From boiling lead and black art: An essay on the history of mathematical typography]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Eddie Smith Published: 2017-10-13T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Eddie Smith]() Topics: [Mathematics](), [Data visualization](), [LaTeX](), [Microsoft]() Tags: [data-visualization](), [essay](), [history](), [latex](), [microsoft](), [typography]() ### AI overview An essay on the history and craft of mathematical typography, explaining why mathematical typesetting is more difficult than ordinary text and reflecting on the advantages and limitations of modern tools such as Microsoft Word and LaTeX. ### Source excerpt Math fonts from six different type systems, courtesy Chalkdust I've always felt like constructing printed math was much more of an art form than regular typesetting. Someone typesetting mathematics is less a "typist" and more an artist attempting to render abstract data on a two-dimensional surface. Mathematical symbols are themselves a language, but they are fundamentally a visual representation of human-conceived knowledge--knowledge that would be too inefficient to convey through verbal explanations. This brings the typesetting of mathematics closer to a form of data visualization than regular printed text. No matter how hard it's ever been to create printed text, creating printed math has always been even harder. In pre-digital times, equation-laden texts were known as "penalty copy" because of the significant additional time and expense it took to set math notation for printing presses. Even when modern word processors like Microsoft Word include equation editors, they tend to be difficult to use and often produce unpleasing results. While LaTeX and similar variants produce the highest quality digital math type, these frameworks also have much more of a learning barrier than general word processing. But these modern quibbles are much more the fault of hedonic adaption than any of the tools available to us today. We have it vastly easier than any previous stage of civilization, and I think it's critically important for those of us that write math to have at least a basic awareness of the history of mathematical typesetting. For me, knowing this history has had several practical benefits. It's made me more grateful for the writing tools I have today--tools that I can use to simplify and improve the presentation of quantitative concepts to other actuaries. It's also motivated me to continue to strive for elegance in the presentation of math--something I feel like my profession has largely neglected in the Microsoft Office era of the last twenty years. Most importantl ## Why Clojure's Simplicity Can Make It Accessible and Practical DevFeed: [Why Clojure's Simplicity Can Make It Accessible and Practical]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2014-11-24T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Adam Bard]() Topics: [Clojure](), [syntax](), [Lisp]() Tags: [article](), [clojure](), [essay](), [language](), [languages](), [practical](), [simplicity]() ### AI overview This essay argues that Clojure's regular syntax and emphasis on simplicity can make the language easier to read, write, and understand. It focuses on accessibility and practical use rather than advanced Lisp concepts, and includes a brief syntax primer. ### Source excerpt The inspiration for the article I wrote last week entitled Clojure is not for geniuses was inspired by Tommy Hall's talk at Euroclojure 2014, wherein he made an offhand joke about preferring Clojure for its minimal syntax, as he possesses a small brain (both his blog and his head suggest this assertion is false). I had intended to bring this up with the original article, but got sidetracked talking about immutable things and never got back around to it. Here I'd like to address that, along with some discussion that arose in various forums after the first article. ## Privilege, Opportunity, and Inequality in Programming DevFeed: [Privilege, Opportunity, and Inequality in Programming]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2013-01-03T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Robin Ward]() Topics: [Programming]() Tags: [blog](), [essay](), [programming]() ### AI overview This commentary explains that privilege can provide unequal advantages without diminishing a person's accomplishments. Using programming and a comparison with filmmaker Sofia Coppola, it argues that recognizing unequal opportunities is important for addressing injustice. ### Source excerpt Recently, I wrote a short essay on privilege and programming. It was quite popular on /r/programming and generated hundreds of comments, both there and on this blog. I was surprised and flattered to see the majority of the comments agreed with my post, however a few people brought up a concern which I'd like to address: Why this is person trying to convince me that I should regretful for being able to use a computer at a young age just because others couldn't? ## On Chomsky and the Two Cultures of Statistical Learning DevFeed: [On Chomsky and the Two Cultures of Statistical Learning]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2011-05-27T00:00:00Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Peter Norvig]() Topics: [Statistics](), [Language models](), [Machine learning](), [syntax]() Tags: [essay](), [history-of-science](), [language-models](), [probabilistic](), [science](), [statistics]() ### AI overview This essay responds to Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky on the role and success of statistical and probabilistic models in language. It argues that interpreting success as approximating unanalyzed data is not novel, and uses examples from language modeling, communication, gravitation, and statistical mechanics to distinguish trained, probabilistic, continuous, and quantitative models. ### Source excerpt At the MIT 150 symposium, Chomsky said that the notion of success used by statistical language models (namely, that they successfully predict the world and allow programs to accomplish tasks) was "very novel ... I don't know of anything like it in the history of science." This essay argues that it is not novel at all, but perfectly commonplace. ## Warning Signs in Experimental Design and Interpretation DevFeed: [Warning Signs in Experimental Design and Interpretation]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2007-07-09T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Peter Norvig]() Topics: [test]() Tags: [essay](), [experiment](), [results]() ### AI overview This essay explains why statistically significant experimental results do not necessarily establish that a treatment will work for an individual. It identifies warning signs in experimental design and interpretation that can reduce a study's credibility, while noting that one warning sign does not invalidate a study. ### Source excerpt An update to my essay on experiment design; it now stresses warning signs rather than clear-cut mistakes and urges the reader to consider the factors that dilute the credibility of an experiment. ## Norwegian translation of Teach Yourself Programming DevFeed: [Norwegian translation of Teach Yourself Programming]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2006-07-23T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: no Sources: [Peter Norvig]() Topics: [Programming]() Tags: [essay](), [programming](), [translation]() ### AI overview This page identifies a Norwegian translation of the essay "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years." ### Source excerpt Norwegian translation of my Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years essay ## Romanian Translation of "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years" DevFeed: [Romanian Translation of "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years"]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2006-05-11T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: ro Sources: [Peter Norvig]() Topics: [Programming]() Tags: [essay](), [programming](), [translation]() ### AI overview A Romanian translation of the essay "Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years." The supplied evidence does not include the essay's substantive content. ### Source excerpt Romanian translation of this essay done by Ştefan Lazăr ## Teach Yourself Programming in 10 Years DevFeed: [Teach Yourself Programming in 10 Years]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2005-08-08T00:00:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Peter Norvig]() Topics: [Programming](), [Code]() Tags: [essay](), [learn](), [learn-to-program](), [program](), [programming]() ### AI overview An essay argues that learning to program requires far more than 21 days and examines the long-term process of becoming proficient. ### Source excerpt Essay describing why you really can't learn to program in 21 days.