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RedwoodJS, Developer Experience, and Developing for Scale with Tom Preston-Werner
RedwoodJS, Developer Experience, and Developing for Scale with Tom Preston-Werner
ratings:
Length:
59 minutes
Released:
Dec 2, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Every developer straddles the fine line between creating a unique space and reinventing the wheel. Tom Preston-Werner has lived between those two lines for much of his career, most recently while developing an app framework for startups, RedwoodJS.
Tom has always pushed himself to think outside the box rather than follow competitors. This aversion to groupthink kickstarted the creation of Redwood. It also helped Tom with the second-hardest part of app development: choosing a name. Tired of the physics names flooding the React world, Tom turned to nature for his framework. Not just a staple of the Bay Area, Redwoods start as tiny acorns and grow into enormous trees – a fitting analogy for an app designed to grow alongside expanding ventures.
In this episode, Robbie, Chuck, and Tom discuss the other ways Tom’s outsider thought-process contributes to his creativity, the importance of helping users through the upgrade process, and his tried and true philosophy as a software developer.
Key Takeaways
[16:46] - The origins of RedwoodJS.
[22:02] - Tom’s approach to the upgrade process.
[24:26] - The dangers of reinventing the wheel.
[29:25] - What developers should stop focusing on.
[30:55] - The relationship between apps and scale.
[36:14] - Tom’s philosophy as a developer.
[41:18] - How RedwoodJS got its name.
[51:35] - Tom’s creative outlet outside of software development.
Quotes
[19:24] - “Stay a bit naive of how everyone else does it just so that your solutions really are as novel as they can be. I think the risk of being boring and repetitive is way higher if you’re spending a lot of time with the competitive things.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
[22:01] - “That’s one thing that we’re not gonna do. We’re not gonna stop innovating, we’re not gonna stop trying new things, bringing in better things that we’ve found. We can’t. We may as well give up now if that’s the case.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
[38:10] - “Most people who are building stuff, their primary concern is not eeking every last ounce of render speed out of their app, it’s getting something built quickly that the users are going to take advantage of. And so that’s been the bulk of our focus so far. That’s really where the bar is.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
Links
Tom Preston-Werner
Redwood JS
Lagavulin Scotch 8
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Mythbusters
Laphroaig Scotch
Octomore Whisky
Next.js
React Podcast Episode 117: Tom Preston-Werner on RedwoodJS
Meteor
Ruby on Rails
Ember.js
Svelte
React
Prisma
Jest
Storybook
Create a New React App
Active Record
Blitz.js
Remix
Bedrock
webpack
Erlang
GitHub
Elixir
Rust
WebAssembly
Vercel
Netlify
Apollo Client
Django
Redwood’s Read Me
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Hacker News
Hammer.js
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Meta
Oculus
Second Life
LinkedIn
Twitter
JavaScript
Ship Shape on Twitter
Connect with our hosts
Robbie Wagner
Chuck Carpenter
Ship Shape
Subscribe and stay in touch
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Whiskey Web and Whatnot
Top-Tier, Full-Stack Software Consultants
This show is brought to you by Ship Shape. Ship Shape’s software consultants solve complex software and app development problems with top-tier coding expertise, superior service, and speed. In a sea of choices, our senior-level development crew rises above the rest by delivering the best solutions for fintech, cybersecurity, and other fast-growing industries. Check us out at shipshape.io.
Tom has always pushed himself to think outside the box rather than follow competitors. This aversion to groupthink kickstarted the creation of Redwood. It also helped Tom with the second-hardest part of app development: choosing a name. Tired of the physics names flooding the React world, Tom turned to nature for his framework. Not just a staple of the Bay Area, Redwoods start as tiny acorns and grow into enormous trees – a fitting analogy for an app designed to grow alongside expanding ventures.
In this episode, Robbie, Chuck, and Tom discuss the other ways Tom’s outsider thought-process contributes to his creativity, the importance of helping users through the upgrade process, and his tried and true philosophy as a software developer.
Key Takeaways
[16:46] - The origins of RedwoodJS.
[22:02] - Tom’s approach to the upgrade process.
[24:26] - The dangers of reinventing the wheel.
[29:25] - What developers should stop focusing on.
[30:55] - The relationship between apps and scale.
[36:14] - Tom’s philosophy as a developer.
[41:18] - How RedwoodJS got its name.
[51:35] - Tom’s creative outlet outside of software development.
Quotes
[19:24] - “Stay a bit naive of how everyone else does it just so that your solutions really are as novel as they can be. I think the risk of being boring and repetitive is way higher if you’re spending a lot of time with the competitive things.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
[22:01] - “That’s one thing that we’re not gonna do. We’re not gonna stop innovating, we’re not gonna stop trying new things, bringing in better things that we’ve found. We can’t. We may as well give up now if that’s the case.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
[38:10] - “Most people who are building stuff, their primary concern is not eeking every last ounce of render speed out of their app, it’s getting something built quickly that the users are going to take advantage of. And so that’s been the bulk of our focus so far. That’s really where the bar is.” ~ Tom Preston-Werner
Links
Tom Preston-Werner
Redwood JS
Lagavulin Scotch 8
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Mythbusters
Laphroaig Scotch
Octomore Whisky
Next.js
React Podcast Episode 117: Tom Preston-Werner on RedwoodJS
Meteor
Ruby on Rails
Ember.js
Svelte
React
Prisma
Jest
Storybook
Create a New React App
Active Record
Blitz.js
Remix
Bedrock
webpack
Erlang
GitHub
Elixir
Rust
WebAssembly
Vercel
Netlify
Apollo Client
Django
Redwood’s Read Me
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Hacker News
Hammer.js
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Meta
Oculus
Second Life
JavaScript
Ship Shape on Twitter
Connect with our hosts
Robbie Wagner
Chuck Carpenter
Ship Shape
Subscribe and stay in touch
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Whiskey Web and Whatnot
Top-Tier, Full-Stack Software Consultants
This show is brought to you by Ship Shape. Ship Shape’s software consultants solve complex software and app development problems with top-tier coding expertise, superior service, and speed. In a sea of choices, our senior-level development crew rises above the rest by delivering the best solutions for fintech, cybersecurity, and other fast-growing industries. Check us out at shipshape.io.
Released:
Dec 2, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
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