Programming Throwdown

125 - Object Caching Systems

Download We are sponsored by audible! http://www.audibletrial.com/programmingthrowdown We are on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/programmingthrowdown T-Shirts! http://www.cafepress.com/programmingthrowdown/13590693 Join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/r4V2zpC Object Caching Systems Many people have heard the names "redis" or "memcached" but fewer people know what these tools are good for or why we need them so badly.  In this show, Patrick and I explain why caching is so im...

124 - Holiday Episode 2021!

In this holiday episode, Jason and Patrick answer questions from listeners. They also look back at the past year’s challenges and victories. 00:15:35 (Kevin) What's been the biggest thing that pushed you to learn more during your career? Was it taking a new job and moving somewhere, doing stuff in your spare time or something like a new hobby or anything else? 00:29:38 (Kevin) Favorite city to live in or visit? 00:31:29 First Winner (James B.) 00:32:21 (Clever Clover/James) N...

123 - Project Planning

How do you stay focused when working on large projects that span many months?  In this duo episode, we talk about Project Planning techniques and trends!  We also cover solving personal data storage problems and building CNC machines & printers.  00:00:15 Introduction 00:01:33 UML 00:05:22 Home NAS and other personal storage solutions 00:18:09 Homebrew CNC machine 00:29:37 Raft (Consensus Algorithm) 00:36:54 The Mathematics of 2048 00:45:44 Book of the Show 00:45:57 Manager ...

122 - Building Conversational AI's with Joe Bradley

When you ask Alexa or Google a question and it responds, how does that actually work?  Could we have  more in-depth conversations and what would that look like?  Today we dive into conversational AI with Joe Bradley and answer these questions and many more. Thanks for supporting the show! 00:00:15 Introduction 00:01:24 Introducing Joe Bradley 00:04:44 How Joe got into Conversation AI 00:21:35 Zork and WordNet 00:27:48 Automatic Image Detection/Captioning 00:39:31 MuZero 00:4...

121 - Edge Computing with Jaxon Repp

What is "The Edge"?  The answer is that it means different things to different people, but it always involves lifting logic, data, and processing load off of your backend servers and onto other machines.  Sometimes those machines are spread out over many small datacenters, or sometimes they are in the hands of your customers.  In all cases, computing on the edge is a different paradigm that requires new ways of thinking about coding.  We're super lucky to have Jaxon on the show to s...

Machine Learning Embeddings with Edo Liberty

00:00:24 Introduction 00:02:19 Edo's Background 00:08:20 What are Embeddings? 00:14:00 Self-Organizing Maps & how humans store data 00:22:27 The lifecycle of a machine learning system 00:34:40 The weirdness of high-dimensional spaces 00:42:20 How to manage a vector database 00:47:01 Pinecone the company ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Art of Vacations

We are sponsored by audible! http://www.audibletrial.com/programmingthrowdown We are on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/programmingthrowdown T-Shirts! http://www.cafepress.com/programmingthrowdown/13590693 Join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/r4V2zpC The Art of Vacations Taking a good vacation is as important as getting a good night's sleep (*very important*).  It may sound silly on its face, but planning a vacation and planning around your vacation is extremely important to...

Building a Robotics Software Platform with Abhay Venkatesh

You’ve seen the dancing Boston Dynamics dogs, Honda’s ASIMO greeting people at malls, and the half-court-shooting robot at the Olympics, among other awe-inspiring robot stories that nowadays are getting increasingly more common. But equally fascinating, especially for us programmers, is the amount of programming and structure needed to make sure these robots work as intended. In this episode, we talk with Abhay Venkatesh, Software Engineer at Anduril Industries, about Platforms for ...

117 - Authentication with Aviad Mizrachi

Brief Summary: Authentication has become a necessity in a digital world that’s ever-increasing in complexity. What can you do to arm yourself against the constant threat of data breaches and hacks? In this episode Jason sits down with Aviad Mizrachi, CTO and Co-Founder of Frontegg, to give us valuable insight into how Authentication works, and how these help you become more defensible against attacks. This episode touches on the following key topics and ideas: 00:00:24 Introducti...

Hash Maps

In this duo episode, Jason and Patrick introduce us to the world of hash maps, from buckets and hash functions, to differences between open and closed addressing, to minimal perfect hashes and locality sensitive hashing. A familiarity with hash maps is an oft-overlooked but highly sought-after skill, and it can be a valuable asset for those eyeing a career in programming. Along with the main topic, Jason and Patrick also talk about some of their latest interests: books, gadgets, to...

Route Planning with Parker Woodward

Ever wondered how route planning apps, well, plan routes? In this episode, we navigate through this fascinating topic, a field as data-driven and systemic as it is magical and compelling.  Joining us is Parker Woodward, Route Expert and Marketing Director for Route4Me. We discuss how route planning works, the intricacies behind it, and how services like Route4Me perform complex balancing acts between machine learning and user-generated feedback. This episode touches on the followi...

Code Documentation with Omer Rosenbaum and Tim Post

What makes for good documentation? In this episode, we dive into one of the most important yet overlooked facets of coding. With us are Omer Rosenbaum and Tim Post of Swimm.io. Swimm is an app that allows you to create docs coupled with your code, which are auto-synced and integrated into your workflow. It makes for much more efficient, elegant, and accessible documentation.  Omer is the CTO of Swimm, and Tim is Principal Development Relations and User Advocate. They are the expert...

Episode 113 - Full Stack Web Apps Using Only Python with Meredydd Luff

In this episode, we’re excited to have Meredydd Luff, the founder of Anvil. Anvil is a powerful tool that allows you to build full stack web apps with just Python. Without the need to be fluent in Javascript or other languages, Anvil is easy enough for beginners, but robust enough for professional work. We talk to Meredydd about Anvil and its features, as well as delve into the importance of making programming more accessible to more people. This episode touches on the following ke...

Trees

In another duo episode, Jason and Patrick give an in-depth introduction to trees, their many types, approaches and functions, and their importance in modern programming. Also, peppered throughout the episode are the games, books, tools, and ideas that have currently piqued their interest. This episode touches on the following key topics and ideas: 00:00:17 Avoiding drama at work 00:07:10 News: C++20 (7:10) 00:09:37 News: Play Co-op Diablo II in the browser 00:12:58 Wreckfest 0...

Episode 111: Real-time Data Streaming with Frank McSherry

In this episode, we talk with Frank McSherry, Gödel Prize-winning data scientist, and Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Materialize, Inc. Frank shares expert viewpoints drawn from his years as an academic, as well as personal insights on helping run a company at the cutting edge of real-time data streaming. Show Notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2021/05/episode-111-real-time-data-streaming.html  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Episode 110: Security with Dotan Nahum

Programming Throwdown talks cybersecurity with Dotan Nahum, CEO and Co-founder of Spectral. Dotan provides us with a high-level overview of the role of cybersecurity, its definition, evolution, and current challenges. He also shares tips for small- and medium-sized ventures on how to develop best practices. The episode touches on the following key topics and ideas: 00:01:12 Evolution of modern cybersecurity  00:06:06 When to integrate security in a design 00:11:54 Shadow IT 00:...

Digital Marketing with Kevin Urrutia

We chat with Kevin Urrutia about why marketing is so important to any project, how digital marketing is different than traditional marketing, and what tools we can use to market our ideas.  Thanks for listening! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2021/03/episode-109-digital-marketing-with.html ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Kotlin

We’re having a duo episode for this month! Patrick and I discuss the relevance of Kotlin, a JVM language used for web backends and android development, and why you should look into it. Also we are testing out adding transcripts to the show notes. Let us know what you think! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2021/03/episode-108-kotlin.html ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Holiday 2020!

Happy Holidays! In this show we make predictions about 2021 and take questions from YOU, our loyal fans! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2021/01/episode-107-holiday-episode-2020.html ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Augmented Reality

This month we are speaking with Connel Gauld from Zappar about Augmented Reality. Connel is an AR genius and blows our mind with details on how AR works under the hood and how it's easy for anyone to make AR apps and websites. AR is the next great platform, so it's good to get in early. Give it a listen and tell us what you built! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2020/11/episode-106-augmented-reality-with.html Teamistry: https://link.chtbl.com/teamistry?sid=podcast.t...

A Chatbot with a Brain

The September episode did arrive.... somewhat delayed, but it's worth the wait!! We have NEW INTRO MUSIC by amazing recording artist Eric Barndollar. We have a NEW PODCAST DEPLOYMENT SCRIPT which means the podcast timestamp will be correct and people won't have to hunt for our latest episodes. Last but not least, we have an AMAZING EPISODE where we interview Peter Voss, founder and CEO of aigo.ai and inventor of the term "Artificial General Intelligence", to discuss chatbots and gen...

DevOps and Site Reliability

How do the most popular websites stay online? How do mobile app developers release new versions safely and monitor them? Today we have Matt Watson from Stackify on the show to talk about Developer Operations (DevOps) and site reliability. These two areas are critical for writing software that people depend on. DevOps is both a software exercise but also an exercise in process creation and process management. In this episode, we unpack these topics and do a deep dive to explain how t...

Working From Home

Many of us have found ourselves working from home due to current events. In this show, we chat with Adam Bell who has been working from home for the past decade. We also do the show interactive on Twitch.tv and take your questions! Give it a listen for a ton of great advice on working from home and some pitfalls to avoid. Thanks again for your donations in these tough times. We really appreciate your support! Feel free to continue the discussion on Discord (link in the show notes)! ...

Episode 103: Working From Home

Episode 102: Bayesian Thinking

Bayesian Thinking

Many people have asked us for more content on machine learning and artificial intelligence. This episode covers probability and Bayesian math. Understanding random numbers is key to so many different technologies and solutions. Max and I dive deep and try to give as many pointers as possible. Give it a listen and let us know what you think! Max also has an awesome podcast, The Local Maximum. Check out his show on any podcast app or using the link in the show notes! Show notes: https...

ReactJS

Hey all! In this episode we chat with Guillermo Rauch, co-founder of Next.js, about ReactJS. ReactJS is an amazing framework for web development that I've been a huge fan of for years. We dive deep into how ReactJS works and why it can lead to clean, structured development. We Introduce Next.js, a ReactJS framework that supercharges web development at scale. I recently built a site using Next.js and loved the developer experience! Check out the show notes for links to learn more abo...

Episode 101: ReactJS

One Hundredth Episode

I hope everyone out there is safe and healthy during these crazy times. The silver lining on all of this is that many of us have more time. Time is one of the greatest gifts that one can get. I hope you are able to spend more time with family and learning new skills. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the amazing innovations that people create when the world is back open for business. This is our 100th episode!!! In this milestone show, we reflect on our early episodes and how the...

Squashing bugs using AI and Machine Learning

The best part of hosting Programming Throwdown is reading emails from people who listened to this show before they had any coding experience and went on to land jobs in tech. Thanks so much for inspiring us with your stories. My second favorite part of hosting the show is hearing about so many awesome programming tools and resources, often when they are just starting out. DeepCode is one of these amazing resources. DeepCode is a static analysis tool that looks at your code and, usin...

Agile Thinking With ZenHub

One of the most exciting but also overwhelming feelings in software engineering is starting a new project. Staring at an empty main.py file is intimidating for everyone. A great way to keep motivated and stay on course is to start by making a list of tasks. This is the first step to project management, and Agile is a set of methodologies for great project management. In this episode, we talk with Aaron Upright, cofounder of ZenHub, about Agile and project management. ZenHub is a qui...

Christmas Episode

Hey all! Patrick and I are so lucky to be spending another year with you all. In this episode, we answer a bunch of listener questions and give away some great prizes. Thanks to all of our listeners for helping us bring the power of programming to so many people. We have some super exciting content coming up in 2020, so stay tuned! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Continuous Integration

Most developers that I know use CircleCI every single day. It's both an honor and an amazing experience to learn about continuous integration and continuous deployment from Rob Zuber, CTO of CircleCI. We also cover a range of topics from staying motivated to working remotely. If you ever plan on writing software with a team of folks, you need to give this episode a listen! Also, I'm super excited to announce our partnership with Educative! Educative is an interactive way to learn ho...

WebRTC

Everyone has used programs that talk to a server: Uber, podcast apps, etc.. Most people also know about peer-to-peer applications such as bittorrent, but did you know that video chat programs such as Skype and Google Hangouts are also peer-to-peer? You can even write your own peer-to-peer applications to communicate or share information without the need for a server to relay everything. In this episode, we sit down with Sean DuBois, creator of Pion, to talk about WebRTC: a specifica...

Search at Etsy

What actually happens when you type something in the search bar at the top of etsy.com and hit enter? This awesome interview with Liangjie Hong, Director of Data Science and Machine Learning, answers that question all the way from the philosophical (what should we show first?) to the inner workings (what is a reverse index and how does it work?). We also dive into what it's like to intern at a tech company. Happy Hacking! Show Notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2019/10/epis...

A Journey to Programming Mastery

Every interview we do is such an exciting and unique experience. Patrick and I had great pleasure in hosting Andy and Dave, authors of "The Pragmatic Programmer". We pick their brains on a variety of topics including rapid prototyping, the 10x engineer, tech leadership, and how to get your first coding job. Their new book, "The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition" comes out today! I hope that this interview inspires you all to grab their new book; it will definitely be a ...

Basics of UI Design for Engineers

Surprise! Weekend episode :-D Every piece of code you write is either going to be for computer-to-computer interaction, or for human-machine interaction. For the latter, how do you make your interface easy to understand and use? Erik Kennedy, independent UX/UI designer, dives into user interface (UI) design. We cover the best tools for making quick prototypes, common design mistakes, and his journey from software engineer to freelance designer. This episode is a great way to get exc...

Functional Programming

Hey all! Since episode 82, we received a ton of email asking for more info on functional programming (FP). To cover FP in great detail we are thrilled to chat with Adam Bell. Adam is the host of the Corecursive podcast and an engineer with many years of experience in FP. In this episode, we dive into what FP is all about, when it's useful, static/dynamic typing (our favorite topic), and other areas of FP. Thanks again for all of your emails and support. It is a treasure to hear your...

Terminal and Shells

Hey all!! Ask and ye shall receive! Someone in the Programming Throwdown discord suggested that we cover terminals and shells, so here we are! Despite sounding simple on the surface, there's decades of complexity around terminal emulators and system shells. Patrick and I unpack this and more in today's episode! Thanks so much for all of your emails and support on Patreon! It's your enthusiasm and financial support that enable us to teach so many people, and we are eternally grateful...

From Combat to Code

Hey all!! Today we are sitting down with Jerome Hardaway. Jerome is an Air Force Veteran and the founder of Vets Who Code: a non-profit dedicated to training Veterans in web development and connecting Veterans to hiring managers around the World. Whether you have served in the military or not, this inspiring podcast gives us all a glimpse into the boots of someone who rotated into a career in software development after school, and is full of great advice for newcomers to the field. ...

Typescript

While the web is one of the easiest platforms for deploying software, it can also be one of the trickiest to debug. People have many different browsers, and some have plugins or settings that restrict functionality. It may be extremely difficult to reproduce errors on your development machine. As a result, we want to discover as many errors as possible before we launch a new site. With node.js and people running javascript on the server, static checks become even more important. Ent...

Wolfram Language and Mathematica

Happy New Year! Today we are sitting down with Stephen Wolfram, inventor of Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, and Wolfram Language! In this super interesting episode, Stephen talks us through his journey as a mathematician, software architect, and language inventor. It was truly an honor to talk to Stephen and hear about his decades of experience. Check this interview out and give us feedback! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2019/01/episode-86-wolfram-language-and.html ...

Holiday Party

Hey all! This is our annual holiday show! We give away prizes and talk about random news stories :-D. Thanks to everyone who chatted with us on Discord, and looking forward to a super exciting 2019! I'll be sending an email to all prize winners later today! Show notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2019/01/episode-85-holiday-party.html ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Customer Bug Handling

Hey all! How do you find and triage bugs on other people's machines when they don't have the source code (or the knowledge to build it)? That's what we explain in today's episode! It's one of the topics that's rarely spoken about but extremely important to get right before shipping any software product. Happy hacking! This is the last episode before our Christmas special! If you are a patron, make sure Patreon has your up to date address so we can mail prizes! If you aren't on Patre...

Teaching Kids to Code

Hey all! First of all, sorry for the delay in publishing Oct's episode. There are some pretty intense wildfires close to where we live, but it looks like things are getting under control. Huge thanks to all the firefighters! In this episode Patrick and I talk about teaching kids to code! We discuss how we learned to code and what are ways to build logic and reasoning skills in kids of all ages. Also we talk about ways to get kids excited about the fundamentals behind coding and solv...

Reactive programming and the Actor model

Hey everyone! This episode is an absolutely fascinating interview with Jonas Bonér, creator of Akka. We dive into reactive programming, the actor model, and the Akka toolkit. Jonas also describes his journey as a developer that led him to create Akka and found Lightbend with Martin Odersky, the creator of Scala. Jonas brings a ton of in-depth technical discussion, so buckle up! :-) Show Notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2018/09/episode-82-reactive-programming-and.html ★...

2018 Mailbag

Hey all! Since setting up the #questions channel in discord, a lot of you have written some phenominal and thought-provoking questions both there and via email, so this is a great time to go back through our favorites and answer them in a Mailbag episode! Thanks for your support by checking out our Books of the Show links and our audible and patreon links! I was able to send out all the domestic Christmas gifts (email me if you haven't gotten yours!) but we could not ship them Inter...

Concurrency

What is a thread/process? How can you speed up a program that requires a lot of compute resources? How can you have a single machine serve web pages to 100s of people, some of whom have slow connections? Patrick and I answer these questions on today's show: Concurrency! We have also set up a discord channel! We will be posting news stories as we find them and also record the show live! Check out our channel here: https://discord.gg/r4V2zpC Show Notes: https://www.programmingthrowdow...

Technical Arguments

Sunday is a non-traditional day for a new episode and this is definitely a non-traditional episode! Today we are talking about Technical Arguments. We cover the most common arguments/debates you will have on the job as a software engineer and how to make the best arguments to reach the best decisions with the least amount of friction. Patrick and I tried not to inject our own opinions, but it's hard not to add our two cents (yes, spaces really are better). This episode is the first ...

Building and Testing Web Services with Postman

Web services are for much more than building websites: they are one of the most common techniques for passing information among programs. Creating a web API for your program is a great way to access it from a browser, another program, or a mobile app. Today we chat with Abhinav Asthana, CEO of Postman, about building, scaling, and testing web services! Show Notes: https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/2018/05/episode-78-building-and-testing-web.html ★ Support this podcast on Patre...