Senior Developer Advocate at Atlassian | Co-Host of The Programming Podcast | Founder of @commityourcode | Prev Google, AutoZone, and A Local Gas Station.
Dallas, TX
Joined January 2019
- Tweets28.4K
- Following2.8K
- Followers301K
- Likes14K
Danny Thompson retweeted
Critical thinking and ability to effectively communicate processes is an essential skill requirement that cuts across different disciplines.
One of the biggest mistakes developers are making in the 2026 job market is confusing a finished project with proof of engineering ability.
Y'all need to understand something:
Nobody is hiring you because your portfolio has a cool application. They ARE hiring you because of the engineering conversations that application allows you to have.
Think about two candidates walking into an interview with the exact same AI-powered project.
- Candidate #1 explains what the application does, which AI tools they used, and shows off the features.
- Candidate #2 explains WHY they designed it the way they did. Where they used deterministic logic instead of AI. How they handle unreliable model outputs. What happens when the system fails. What tradeoffs they made and WHY.
Same exact project. Two completely different interviews.
One demonstrated that they could produce software.
The other demonstrated that they understood how to engineer it.
And this is why I keep pushing developers to understand the decisions they're generating with AI.
I don't really care if AI wrote 100% of your code. But if you can't explain the architectural decisions, defend your tradeoffs, or identify where things could go wrong, you've missed one of the biggest opportunities that project was supposed to give you.
AI lowered the barrier to building software. It did NOT lower the bar for understanding it and making the right decisions.
We got into this on the latest episode of The Programming Podcast because I think developers need to fundamentally rethink what they're trying to accomplish with portfolio projects.
#code #coding #programming #softwareengineering
Danny Thompson retweeted
You should read and watch this...!!!
One of the biggest mistakes developers are making in the 2026 job market is confusing a finished project with proof of engineering ability.
Y'all need to understand something:
Nobody is hiring you because your portfolio has a cool application. They ARE hiring you because of the engineering conversations that application allows you to have.
Think about two candidates walking into an interview with the exact same AI-powered project.
- Candidate #1 explains what the application does, which AI tools they used, and shows off the features.
- Candidate #2 explains WHY they designed it the way they did. Where they used deterministic logic instead of AI. How they handle unreliable model outputs. What happens when the system fails. What tradeoffs they made and WHY.
Same exact project. Two completely different interviews.
One demonstrated that they could produce software.
The other demonstrated that they understood how to engineer it.
And this is why I keep pushing developers to understand the decisions they're generating with AI.
I don't really care if AI wrote 100% of your code. But if you can't explain the architectural decisions, defend your tradeoffs, or identify where things could go wrong, you've missed one of the biggest opportunities that project was supposed to give you.
AI lowered the barrier to building software. It did NOT lower the bar for understanding it and making the right decisions.
We got into this on the latest episode of The Programming Podcast because I think developers need to fundamentally rethink what they're trying to accomplish with portfolio projects.
#code #coding #programming #softwareengineering
Danny Thompson retweeted
💯 Judgements and decisions are now the moats
One of the biggest mistakes developers are making in the 2026 job market is confusing a finished project with proof of engineering ability.
Y'all need to understand something:
Nobody is hiring you because your portfolio has a cool application. They ARE hiring you because of the engineering conversations that application allows you to have.
Think about two candidates walking into an interview with the exact same AI-powered project.
- Candidate #1 explains what the application does, which AI tools they used, and shows off the features.
- Candidate #2 explains WHY they designed it the way they did. Where they used deterministic logic instead of AI. How they handle unreliable model outputs. What happens when the system fails. What tradeoffs they made and WHY.
Same exact project. Two completely different interviews.
One demonstrated that they could produce software.
The other demonstrated that they understood how to engineer it.
And this is why I keep pushing developers to understand the decisions they're generating with AI.
I don't really care if AI wrote 100% of your code. But if you can't explain the architectural decisions, defend your tradeoffs, or identify where things could go wrong, you've missed one of the biggest opportunities that project was supposed to give you.
AI lowered the barrier to building software. It did NOT lower the bar for understanding it and making the right decisions.
We got into this on the latest episode of The Programming Podcast because I think developers need to fundamentally rethink what they're trying to accomplish with portfolio projects.
#code #coding #programming #softwareengineering
Danny Thompson retweeted
Learn how to become a better software engineer from an Apple veteran with over 12 years of experience building products.
This The Programming Podcast episode is with @RayFernando1337 and @leonnoel!
00:00 Meet Ray Fernando: 12 Years at Apple
01:51 How Ray Uses AI Agents to Build Software
05:24 The Real Cost of AI Agent Workflows
07:25 Automating Email with AI
10:52 A Word from Our Sponsors
13:13 Building Reliable AI Agents and Verification Systems
18:31 How to Keep Up with AI as a Software Engineer
21:01 Skill Chaining: Building Better AI Workflows
24:05 CSV vs. JSON and Why AI Constraints Matter
26:32 Claude vs. Codex vs. Gemini: Choosing the Right Model
31:17 Leon's AI Workflow for Shipping Code Faster
35:41 Behind the Scenes of Undersold AI
39:01 When Is an AI Product Ready to Launch?
43:04 Why Danny Walked Away from Two Software Projects
48:40 Fail, Pivot, Grow: Turning Failure into Progress
49:13 From Wedding DJ to Apple Engineer
53:09 How to Build Relationships and Network in Tech
58:19 What It Takes to Succeed as an Engineer at Apple
1:02:56 What Separates Great Engineers from Average Engineers?
1:06:50 Listener Q&A: What AI Portfolio Project Should You Build?
1:10:52 Why Most Developers Build the Wrong Portfolio Projects
1:14:41 Final Thoughts and Outro
Danny Thompson retweeted
Super hyped for this episode. Got into pstack & Grok Bot plus lots of alpha.
Learn how to become a better software engineer from an Apple veteran with over 12 years of experience building products.
This The Programming Podcast episode is with @RayFernando1337 and @leonnoel!
00:00 Meet Ray Fernando: 12 Years at Apple
01:51 How Ray Uses AI Agents to Build Software
05:24 The Real Cost of AI Agent Workflows
07:25 Automating Email with AI
10:52 A Word from Our Sponsors
13:13 Building Reliable AI Agents and Verification Systems
18:31 How to Keep Up with AI as a Software Engineer
21:01 Skill Chaining: Building Better AI Workflows
24:05 CSV vs. JSON and Why AI Constraints Matter
26:32 Claude vs. Codex vs. Gemini: Choosing the Right Model
31:17 Leon's AI Workflow for Shipping Code Faster
35:41 Behind the Scenes of Undersold AI
39:01 When Is an AI Product Ready to Launch?
43:04 Why Danny Walked Away from Two Software Projects
48:40 Fail, Pivot, Grow: Turning Failure into Progress
49:13 From Wedding DJ to Apple Engineer
53:09 How to Build Relationships and Network in Tech
58:19 What It Takes to Succeed as an Engineer at Apple
1:02:56 What Separates Great Engineers from Average Engineers?
1:06:50 Listener Q&A: What AI Portfolio Project Should You Build?
1:10:52 Why Most Developers Build the Wrong Portfolio Projects
1:14:41 Final Thoughts and Outro
Danny Thompson retweeted
I recommend watching The Programming Pod with @leonnoel @DThompsonDev and @RayFernando1337 talk about skill chaining, token efficiency and other cool agentic things 🔥🔥🔥 youtu.be/y-Kb3RSk0bo?si=SHsO…
Danny Thompson retweeted
Will we still have a job in five years? On Nov 13, JetBrains AI.js Day puts frontend's scariest AI questions on air, live, online, and free.
Kent C. Dodds, Marina Wyss, Danny Thompson, and more.
Register now: lp.jetbrains.com/ai-js-day-2…
Danny Thompson retweeted
Be completely honest software developers. When is the last time you actually touched code instead of just prompting AI? – at Frisco, TX
43%in the last week
11%over a month ago
23%within the last 6 months
23%over a year
230 votes • Final results Danny Thompson retweeted
225 rsvps. our biggest community meetup ever.
new @torcdotdev vlog: 36 hours in dallas for @commityourcode
what @dthompsondev has built for the dallas community is special. always grateful to be apart.
Danny Thompson retweeted
This actually makes sense.
ALT The image is a humorous comic strip with the following steps on "How to become a gardener": 1. **Step 1**: "Learn PHP and become a Senior Dev" - The illustration shows a happy person holding a certificate. 2. **Step 2**: "Burn out" - The illustration shows the same person looking exhausted and stressed while working on a laptop. 3. **Step 3**: "Become a gardener" - The illustration shows the person happily tending to plants. The comic strip humorously suggests that the path to becoming a gardener involves first becoming a senior developer, experiencing burnout, and then choosing a more peaceful profession.
Danny Thompson retweeted
There is something special about a room full of software developers who just want to hang out with other software developers.
No big pitch. No forced networking. No pretending everybody has it all figured out.
Just people talking shop, sharing ideas, laughing, debating, teaching, learning, and probably arguing about something unnecessarily specific.
That is what I love about Dallas Software Developers Group!
We get to build a place where people who spend all day thinking about weird technical problems can walk into a room and immediately feel like they found their people.
Sometimes community is not about where it takes you.
Sometimes it is just really good to be around people who get it.
Another great night with the Dallas dev community. ❤️ – at Frisco, TX
Danny Thompson retweeted
Love this insight from @DThompsonDev
Everyone online screams "MERN stack, MERN stack." He researched the industry, saw the entry-level demand, and bet on Java instead. The career move nobody advised him to make. 🎙️ #Java #DevCareers
Danny Thompson retweeted
Today at 2:30pm EST, @DThompsonDev is live reviewing resumes and profiles w/ @RoxanaCodes. They're here to help you, so bring every version you've got!
RSVP: luma.com/torcdo-vpak
#TechCommunity #Careertips
Danny Thompson retweeted
Join @RoxanaCodes and THE @DThompsonDev , where they are going to b̶a̶r̶b̶e̶c̶u̶e̶ review the resumes and portfolios only on @torcdotdev ! Join us for an insightful session full of valuable information! Register here for the joining link:
luma.com/torcdo-vpak?tk=lB5N…
Danny Thompson retweeted
I felt so at home at @CommitYourCode 2026, despite being one of the few non-devs there. Got to see some of my lovely friends give talks and met some very kind strangers :)
I am beyond excited to plan for CYC 2027!