Developer Tea
1,314 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 395 ratingsDeveloper Tea exists to help driven developers connect to their ultimate purpose and excel at their work so that they can positively impact the people they influence.
With over 13 million downloads to date, Developer Tea is a short podcast hosted by Jonathan Cutrell (@jcutrell), co-founder of Spec and Director of Engineering at PBS. We hope you'll take the topics from this podcast and continue the conversation, either online or in person with your peers. Twitter: @developertea :: Email: [email protected]
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Episodes
Scott Belsky, Part One
May 04, 2015 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBScott Belsky is the VP Products & Community at Adobe and cofounder of Behance. Scott is also a successful investor in major tech companies such as Periscope and Uber. Scott and I talk about the fundamental nature of creativity, why he created Behance, staying focused, the value of formal education, and what he wishes more people would ask him. Finally, at the end of the second part of the interview, Scott shares specific advice for developers who are wanting to work better with visionaries. ...
Answering Front-end Developer Interview Questions: Explaining the Importance of Standards for the Web
May 01, 2015 11:00 - 8 minutes - 5.54 MBIn today's episode, we discuss the importance of standards and standards bodies for web technologies, specifically for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript specs. Today's episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean. Go to https://digitalocean.com to get started, and use the promo code "DeveloperTea" on the billing page after you create your account to get a $10 credit!
Answering Listener Questions: Devin, a Non-Developer, Asks About Grasping Things That Go Over His Head, and Finding Starting Points
April 30, 2015 11:00 - 11 minutes - 7.72 MBIn this episode, long-time listener Devin asks about how to grasp things that go over his head. You're not alone, Devin! In this episode, I give you (and others just like you) encouragement in the midst of your confusion, as well as some more practical advice for learning something new. Today's sponsor is OneMonth.com - go to OneMonth.com/developertea and enroll today to get 25% off your first month!
Hampton Catlin, Part Two: Speedy Sass with libsass, Wordset.org and Open-Sourcing Our Words
April 29, 2015 11:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MBIn today's episode, I talk with Hampton Catlin about fast Sass compilation with libsass, and then we discuss his latest project, Wordset, and why we need a truly open source dictionary. Further show notes can be found at http://developertea.com! This episode is sponsored by Intuit. Check out the developer sandbox and API explorer at http://intuit.me/DevTea
Hampton Catlin, Part One: Sass, the W3C, and (not) Being Data-Driven
April 27, 2015 11:00 - 26 minutes - 18.5 MBIn this episode, I sat down with Hampton Catlin to talk about his Ruby survey, the implications of the data, and about the evolution (and naming) of Sass. Show notes can be found at http://developertea.com
Weekly Inspiration - Happiness and Doing Our Best Work: 3 Practical Steps to Getting The Right Things Done and Finding Focus State Faster
April 24, 2015 11:00 - 11 minutes - 8.13 MBIn today's inspiration episode, I discuss the importance of removing barriers between you and your most important work, and why that is such an important thing to do. I then discuss 3 practical steps you can try that have helped me get to my focus state, and get more meaningful work done every day. Today's episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean. Go to https://digitalocean.com to get started, and use the promo code "DeveloperTea" on the billing page after you create your account to get a $10 cr...
Part Two: Culture and Connecting to Our Work with Pamela Vickers
April 23, 2015 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.64 MBPamela Vickers and I sat down at Ancient City Ruby to talk about culture, conferences, and ping pong. And it was awesome. RailsGirls Atlanta PERMA MINSWAN Ruby Dramas (Avoiding) Ruby Drama Hampton's Ruby Survey
Part One: Culture and Connecting to Our Work with Pamela Vickers
April 22, 2015 11:00 - 10 minutes - 7.51 MBPamela Vickers and I sat down at Ancient City Ruby to talk about culture, conferences, and ping pong. And it was awesome. @pwnela RailsGirls Atlanta PERMA MINSWAN Ruby Dramas (Avoiding) Ruby Drama Hampton's Ruby Survey
Answering Listener Questions - Clyde Asks About Learning to Code while on the Road
April 20, 2015 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.16 MBIn today's episode, Clyde asks about learning to code while on the road. If you've ever tried to focus in a new environment, or if you are learning to code while changing locations, this episode is for you!
Part 2: Ben Lesh on Reactive Programming at Netflix, Massive Data, and the Threadsafe Future
April 17, 2015 11:00 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBBen Lesh is a senior UI engineer at Netflix, where he works on projects that use reactive programming in JavaScript to manage massive amounts of data. Ben talks with me about a variety of topics, focusing on reactive programming and data stream processing. Ben also gives his advice to you, whether you are a young developer or well into your career. Make sure you Tweet at Ben at https://twitter.com/benlesh and thank him for coming on the show! Today's episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean. Go ...
Part 1: Ben Lesh on Reactive Programming at Netflix, Massive Data, and the Threadsafe Future
April 15, 2015 11:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBBen Lesh is a senior UI engineer at Netflix, where he works on projects that use reactive programming in JavaScript to manage massive amounts of data. Ben talks with me about a variety of topics, focusing on reactive programming and data stream processing. Ben also gives his advice to you, whether you are a young developer or well into your career. Make sure you Tweet at Ben at https://twitter.com/benlesh and thank him for coming on the show!
How We Spend Our Days, How We Spend Our Lives, and One Way To Get a Better Grasp On Time
April 14, 2015 11:00 - 9 minutes - 6.32 MBHow we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. But how can we get a better grasp on time? In this episode, I share a simple tip that exploits our brain's natural tendency to take shortcuts to help you better experience time and avoid the feeling of "time flying by" faster than you'd like. Today's episode is sponsored by OneMonth.com - go to http://onemonth.com/developertea to get 25% off your first month!
Taking Best Practices and Advice with a Grain of Salt
April 13, 2015 11:00 - 9 minutes - 6.32 MBIn this episode, we talk about "best practices" and advice, and what you should do with those things in your day to day life. Today's episode sponsored by Intuit! Head over to http://intuit.me/DevTea to get started!
Ernie Miller and Human Development, Part Two (at Ancient City Ruby)
April 10, 2015 11:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBI had the pleasure of attending Ancient City Ruby and interviewing a few folks while I was there. Ernie Miller was a speaker at ACR, and also sat down with me to talk about agile, humane development, and the implications of technically oriented people making a track switch to management. Thanks, Ernie! Don't forget to follow @erniemiller on Twitter and let him know you enjoyed hearing him on @DeveloperTea! Today's episode is sponsored by Intuit Developer. Get started developing applications ...
Estimating Sandwiches: Why the Gut Doesn't Work, and How Small Is Better
April 09, 2015 11:00 - 8 minutes - 6.19 MBThis episode is all about estimation, and how important it is to focus on estimating small things, and understand the implications of scale on your estimations. This episode is sponsored by Digital Ocean, cloud SSD hosting that you can deploy in just 55 seconds. Use the code "DeveloperTea" to get $10 off today at http://digitalocean.com - plans start at just $5/month!
Ernie Miller and Human Development, Part One (at Ancient City Ruby)
April 08, 2015 11:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBI had the pleasure of attending Ancient City Ruby and interviewing a few folks while I was there. Ernie Miller was a speaker at ACR, and also sat down with me to talk about agile, humane development, and the implications of technically oriented people making a track switch to management. Thanks, Ernie! Don't forget to follow @erniemiller on Twitter and let him know you enjoyed hearing him on @DeveloperTea!
Inspiration Episode #6: 4 Tips for Starting from Ground Zero, and Celebrating 500k listens!
April 06, 2015 11:00 - 8 minutes - 5.86 MBIn today's episode, I'm ecstatic to announce 500k unique listens! That's half of a million, if you didn't already pick up on that. I'm looking forward to the 1 million mark with all of you! I also discuss a few tips for starting from ground zero. Thank you for your support! If you'd like to give back to Developer Tea, head over to http://developertea.com/donate - every donation is a huge help to making this show a reality 4 days a week!
32: Rebecca Murphey on Scoutfiles, Hardware Hacking, and Chickens
April 03, 2015 11:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBToday I interview Rebecca Murphey, one of the JavaScript community's most memorable voices and a genuine, kind person. Rebecca has been doing JavaScript for quite a few years, and you might know her from yayQuery and other jQuery-related things, her work at Bocoup, or her writing on rmurphey.com. Rebecca now works at BazaarVoice. In this interview, we discuss a myriad of things, including the difficulties of writing third-party JavaScript, working with hardware, and her open source efforts on...
32: Rebecca Murphey on Third-party JavaScript Distribution at BazaarVoice
April 02, 2015 11:40 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBToday I interview Rebecca Murphey, one of the JavaScript community's most memorable voices and a genuine, kind person. Rebecca has been doing JavaScript for quite a few years, and you might know her from yayQuery and other jQuery-related things, her work at Bocoup, or her writing on rmurphey.com. Rebecca now works at BazaarVoice. In this interview, we discuss a myriad of things, including the difficulties of writing third-party JavaScript, working with hardware, and her open source efforts on...
Special News Episode: Spartan, ES8, and Apple Watch Retro
April 01, 2015 04:01 - 11 minutes - 7.7 MBIn today's episode, I share some (insider) news with you that I think you'll find to be exciting.
31: Listener Question from Jessica - "What exactly is a full-stack developer anyway?"
March 30, 2015 11:00 - 11 minutes - 8.04 MBIn today's episode, listener Jessica asks what a full stack developer is.
30: Dan Denney, Part Two: Sending 1,000,000 HTML Emails for Code School and Memories from Front-End Design Conference
March 27, 2015 11:00 - 12 minutes - 8.81 MBDont forget, you can support the show by donating at https://developertea.com/donate Dan Denney is a wealth of knowledge, and in today's episode, he's joined me to share some of that knowledge with you. Dan is an HTML email craftsman at Code School. On today's episode, we talk all about HTML email and Dan's experience with Front End Design Conference. Make sure you follow Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dandenney. Full show notes can be found at https://developertea.com.
Inspiration Episode #5: Software Is Not a Printing Press
March 26, 2015 11:00 - 5 minutes - 3.69 MBIn today's inspiration episode, I talk about the non-permanence of our work, and how that empowers us to make faster decisions.
30: Dan Denney, Part One: Sending 1,000,000 HTML Emails for Code School and Memories from Front-End Design Conference
March 25, 2015 11:00 - 24 minutes - 16.8 MBDont forget, you can support the show by donating at https://developertea.com/donate. Dan Denney is a wealth of knowledge, and in today's episode, he's joined me to share some of that knowledge with you. Dan is an HTML email craftsman at Code School. On today's episode, we talk all about HTML email. Make sure you follow Dan on Twitter: @dandenney. Full show notes can be found at https://developertea.com
29: Listener Questions - Eric Asks How to Keep Up with Dev News, and When (and Why) Should I Get a Masters Degree
March 23, 2015 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBIn this episode, I answer listener Eric's questions about how to keep up with the news, and when to get a masters degree. Further resources/links can be found at DeveloperTea.com!
28: Richard Schneeman, Part Two - How to Start Contributing to Open Source, and Testing Refrigerators
March 20, 2015 11:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBRichard Schneeman, Ruby developer at Heroku and awesome guy, joins me for the longest episode to date. Follow Richard on Twitter, @schneems! (Show notes can be found at https://DeveloperTea.com)
28: Richard Schneeman, Part One - How to Start Contributing to Open Source, and Testing Refrigerators
March 18, 2015 11:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBRichard Schneeman, Ruby developer at Heroku and awesome guy, joins me for the longest episode to date. Follow Richard on Twitter, @schneems! (Show notes can be found at https://DeveloperTea.com)
Inspiration Episode #4: Learning Like Children through Play
March 17, 2015 11:00 - 7 minutes - 5.45 MBChildren learn at an incredible rate. They also play significantly more than the average adult. Many studies have shown the importance of play for children in the learning process - so the question is, why don't we practice "play" as adults? "Episode 4: Learning about Learning": http://developertea.com/episodes/6530 Support Developer Tea: https://developertea.com/donate
27: Ensuring Professionalism - Rules I Practice
March 16, 2015 11:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBIn this episode, I discuss some of my personal rules for maintaining a reputation of professionalism. Support Developer Tea: https://developertea.com/donate
26: To Generalize, or to Specialize, that is the Question... Part Two
March 13, 2015 11:00 - 10 minutes - 7.3 MBShould you be a generalized programmer or a specialized programmer? Generalized programmers learn a wide range of languages and/or frameworks, while a specialized programmer becomes an expert in something very specific. There are pros and cons to both, and in this episode, we'll discuss both.
Inspiration Episode #3: The Day the Beatles Were Rejected
March 12, 2015 11:00 - 6 minutes - 4.44 MBUnless you're extraordinarily lucky, you'll be rejected multiple times in your life. Whether in your personal or professional life, rejection is a normal part of life, even for the best of the best (like the Beatles). In this episode, I encourage you to move past your rejection.
26: To Generalize, or to Specialize, that is the Question... Part One
March 11, 2015 11:00 - 12 minutes - 8.38 MBShould you be a generalized programmer or a specialized programmer? Generalized programmers learn a wide range of languages and/or frameworks, while a specialized programmer becomes an expert in something very specific. There are pros and cons to both, and in this episode, we'll discuss both.
25: "What Should I Build?" - 5 Tips for Better Idea Generation
March 09, 2015 11:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBIn this episode, I answer a question I've received from many listeners: How do I come up with an idea for something to build? This question is somewhat complex, but we'll cover 5 basic tips for idea generation.
24: Scott Jehl on Responsible Responsive Design and Progressive Enhancement, Part Two
March 06, 2015 12:15 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBScott Jehl is a designer and developer working at Filament Group. Scott is also an author and speaks regularly at conferences like An Event Apart. In this interview, Scott and I discuss progressive enhancement and his book, Responsible Responsive Design.
Inspiration Episode #2: Coding for Humans
March 05, 2015 12:00 - 3 minutes - 2.54 MBToday, I talk about coding for humans in this special Inspiration episode. Remember, computers are only what you tell them to be!
24: Scott Jehl on Responsible Responsive Design and Progressive Enhancement, Part One
March 04, 2015 12:15 - 23 minutes - 16 MBScott Jehl is a designer and developer working at Filament Group. Scott is also an author and speaks regularly at conferences like An Event Apart. In this interview, Scott and I discuss progressive enhancement and his book, Responsible Responsive Design.
23: When to Adopt New Technology: A Simple Value-based Rubric
March 02, 2015 12:15 - 14 minutes - 9.68 MBIn today's episode, at the request of a listener I discuss the tradeoffs of choosing to adopt a new technology versus using what you already know, even when what you already know might not be the best tool for the job. Don't forget to subscribe to hear more Developer Tea!
22: Why Should Developers Build Their Own "Brand"?
February 27, 2015 12:15 - 19 minutes - 9.11 MBIn today's episode, I discuss why it's important to create a brand for yourself. Make sure you check out my interview with John Sonmez to hear more about building your own personal brand, and to participate in John's giveaway: https://www.developertea.com/episodes/7976
Bonus Weekly Inspiration #1: Functionality Versus Elegance
February 24, 2015 12:15 - 4 minutes - 2.11 MBToday's bonus episode is the first weekly inspiration mini-episode! Today's quote comes from Steve McConnell, author of Code Complete. Thank you for supporting Developer Tea with your listens! We just reached the 200k unique listens mark, and that's thanks to you! If you'd like to become a monthly supporter, head over to http://developertea.com/donate
20: Thoughts on Unicorns: Answering a Listener Question
February 23, 2015 12:45 - 13 minutes - 6.17 MBIn this episode, I answer a listener question about what route he should take in his technical education. Spoiler: I actually DO have an opinion and recommendation to this question. For a significant part of this episode, I discuss the concept of the famed "unicorn" developer, and why they're in such high demand. Note: I accidentally called the listener a "guest" - probably because I consider everyone who listens to the show my personal guests 3 times a week. :)
19: Ben Orenstein from Thoughtbot, Part Two
February 20, 2015 12:50 - 29 minutes - 13.4 MBI'm excited to be interviewing Ben Orenstein from Thoughtbot. Ben is a brilliant craftsman of a developer, and in this episode we discuss what it takes to be a craftsman. This is the second part of the interview, so be sure to check out the previous episode for the first part! Become a Supporter of Developer Tea -Giant Robots Smashing into Other Giant Robots podcast: http://giantrobots.fm/ - Upcase: https://upcase.com/join - Vim for Rails Developers: https://www.codeschool.com/screencasts/t...
19: Ben Orenstein from Thoughtbot, Part One
February 18, 2015 12:50 - 14 minutes - 6.87 MBI'm excited to be interviewing Ben Orenstein from Thoughtbot. Ben is a brilliant craftsman of a developer, and in this episode we discuss what it takes to be a craftsman. This interview is split into two parts, so be sure to check out the next episode for the second part! Become a Supporter of Developer Tea -Giant Robots Smashing into Other Giant Robots podcast: http://giantrobots.fm/ - Upcase: https://upcase.com/join - Vim for Rails Developers: https://www.codeschool.com/screencasts/though...
18: Listener Questions
February 16, 2015 12:50 - 11 minutes - 5.48 MBAround 1:00, Brett asks how to become an “advanced developer.” Programming Paradigms Stanford Course: https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/programming-paradigms/id495054064 Paul Graham’s essays on Lisp: http://paulgraham.com/articles.html Python: https://www.python.org/ Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/ Whiteboard: http://whiteboard.is Around 8:10, Daniel asks how to make writing tests less boring and more joyful. Justin Weiss's article about adding tests to a non-TDD app: http://www.ju...
17: Volt and Isomorphism with Ryan Stout, part two
February 13, 2015 13:30 - 12 minutes - 5.57 MBToday I'm joined once again by Ryan Stout, the developer behind the powerful new Ruby web framework Volt. Ryan and I continue discussing why he created Volt, and some of the motivations for developers to move towards "isomorphic development". Check out Volt: http://voltframework.com Support Developer Tea: http://www.developertea.com/buy-me-tea
17: Volt and Isomorphism with Ryan Stout, part one
February 11, 2015 12:50 - 11 minutes - 5.45 MBToday I'm joined by Ryan Stout, the developer behind the powerful new Ruby web framework Volt. Ryan and I discuss why he created Volt, and some of the motivations for developers to move towards "isomorphic development". Check out Volt: http://voltframework.com Support Developer Tea: http://www.developertea.com/buy-me-tea
16: Stigmas, Stereotypes, and Pizza
February 09, 2015 13:15 - 10 minutes - 4.79 MBIn this episode, we talk about stigmas and stereotypes. As developers, and as humans, we have a responsibility to treat each other fairly. We also have a responsibility to our craft. In this episode, I discuss the one thing that developers should be measured by.
Bonus Episode: Thank you for a GREAT first month!
February 07, 2015 04:10 - 12 minutes - 5.6 MBThe first month of Developer Tea was officially marked yesterday, and in this episode, I'd like to thank you. I also challenge you towards the end of the episode. Thank you so much for listening to the show!
15: Code Kata - A Practice Arena for Becoming a Better Programmer
February 06, 2015 13:20 - 8 minutes - 3.83 MBWhat was the last time you practiced writing code? Any expertise arguably requires an intentional, focused effort on practicing a set of exercises. Kata acts as the practice exercises for programming. In this episode, I talk about code kata, and I also talk about the danger of being addicted to problems, and making sure we keep our kata efforts separate from our real problem-solving efforts. codekata.com If you enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me some tea: http://www.developert...
14: Daniel Kao - Self Control: Cutting Sugar for a Year, and Starting a Career in Something You Have No Experience in, On Purpose
February 04, 2015 13:15 - 16 minutes - 7.52 MBIn this episode, I interview front-end developer Daniel Kao. Daniel has been running his site, Diplateevo.com, since his freshman year in high school. Daniel is a brilliant individual, and happens to be only 20 years old. He has already had a chance to meet some of his heroes, like Chase Jarvis, Ramit Sethi, Peter Thiel, Randy Komisar, and more. This past year, Daniel did something that took a lot of self control: He cut sugar for a whole year. In our interview Daniel tells me why he made t...
13: Flexibility
February 02, 2015 13:15 - 10 minutes - 4.96 MBIn this episode, I discuss flexibility. Why is flexibility important, and what can you do to make your code and your workflow more flexible? I'll share something I did recently that made creating this podcast a bit easier to accomplish. If you are enjoying the show, please consider buying me some tea: http://www.developertea.com/buy-me-tea