Reece Kenney

Unpopular Opinion: Experienced developers who '10x' themselves using AI are full of it. Sorry, I literally do not believe you. Of all the posts I've read of experienced SW developers who claim AI has made them '10x' more productive (and yes there are LOTs who literally say this) - not one has shown any evidence . The best I have seen is people who say "I finished this project in X days with AI and it WOULD HAVE taken me 10X days without AI'. Oh ? and how do you know that? One of the most important thing I have learned from 40+ years of SW development - 'we' suck at estimating how long things will take. Really Really Badly. Finally people have started doing scientific-ish studies to validate these claims. First result hot-off-the presses - 5+ year experienced SW developers given random real tasks performed 19% slower using AI then not. AND - most interesting, they believed they did it 20% faster. https://lnkd.in/gYSW4C8i

1,246

509 Comments

I've been working as a software engineer for the last 14 years. I've seen many brilliant engineers and I can tell you with 100% confidence: None of them were arrogant. None of them were loud. None of them were full of ego about their brilliance. Yes, they were confident. But never too proud. Every software engineer knows that making a product come to life is a team effort. You're not just writing code. You're reading others’ code. You’re reviewing, debugging, unblocking, collaborating, shipping. And that only works when you're easy to work with. → You communicate clearly → You stay curious → You ask when you're stuck → You teach without making people feel dumb → You don’t act like you're the smartest in the room (even if you are) Because the moment ego walks in, growth walks out. Arrogance might make you look good for a sprint. But humility and collaboration? That’s what makes you last for 10+ years in this field. So if you're a junior dev trying to grow or a senior dev mentoring others Just remember: Being brilliant is good. Being kind, humble, and reliable is even better.

6,509

113 Comments

First written in 2018 and now updated, Monzo's engineering principles encapsulate what we value and what we expect engineers to embody. What we value has evolved over time, and our principles should change to remain aligned with that – we don’t want these to be just words on a page, but a useful resource to guide decision making, inspire better systems, and be the foundation for a culture where engineers can thrive. https://lnkd.in/eKzXEJMi Proud of how they turned out.

186

Want to move to the UK as a software engineer – without a job offer? You actually can. And legally. The UK Global Talent visa is one of the most flexible relocation options out there. No employer sponsorship, no job offer required. If you’ve got a strong track record in tech – think GitHub contributions, leadership roles, awards, public work – you could qualify. 💡 Why this visa stands out: - Work for any company (or none at all) - Freelance or start your own thing - Skip the job offer and interview grind - Fast-track to permanent residency in as little as 3 years As long as you stay within your area of expertise, the UK Global Talent visa gives you serious freedom. Whether you’re looking to join a top UK tech team or build your own product from a London coffee shop – this is one of the few visas that lets you choose. Here’s the full guide 👉 https://lnkd.in/dYDTnhPs -- If you’re into content like this, be sure to follow The Global Move. That’s where I share everything about relocating for work, including handpicked relocation-friendly tech jobs.

254

15 Comments

Rites of passage for all devs: - Accidentally deleting a database of significant importance - The panic of committing without a message and finding yourself desperately locked in a vim prison of your own making - Forgetting to branch off master and not realising for a solid hour - Being personally victimised by Docker - Spending half a day trying to get something working that ends up being resolved by a restart

275

138 Comments

After discovering what 'vibe coding' truly meant earlier this week, it got me thinking... How much of an impact will it have on the role of a Software Engineer? One concern that was shared amongst the leaders I spoke to was how much it will affect junior/mid-level engineers coming into the industry now. There's a chance that hey won't have had to do the 'manual' work when it comes to building a product, as they'll rely on Cursor or something similar to do that for them. Is that okay considering AI is here to stay? Or do engineers still need to have the fundamental knowledge of how to build & write the code themselves, instead of relying on AI prompts? Keen to hear people's thoughts on this! PS - anyone else think vibe coding was more like an engineer sat listening to lofi music in a room with LED lights? Just me? Guys?

20

9 Comments

UK Software Engineers saved from the AI jobs carnage. At least, based on my reasoning. Follow me on this. You pay for £100 worth of code. For arguments sake, it's a CRUD service. Similar have already been created for the project. For £100 a UK Software Engineer gets 25% complete for £100 an overseas Software Engineer gets 50% complete for £100 UK Software Engineer AI assisted gets 75% complete For £100 overseas Software Engineer AI assisted gets 100% complete Result without AI: Overseas is 50% cheaper for the same work. Result with AI: Overseas is 25% cheaper for the same work. More AI = less advantage to Offshoring AI brings home Software Engineering and Testing which was previously outsourced or offshored. #recruitment #jobs #AIdoomsterschokeontheirflawedargument

34

13 Comments

Companies ask for a sheep with 5 legs, but decline a candidate because it has no wings 🙄 Last week, one of my developers had an interview. A beautiful frontend role asking for React, Typescript and Next.js. Of course, we introduced a strong profile that matched the techniques. There was a cultural fit as well, salary checked out and he lived just 10 minutes away by bike. Done deal, right? Rejected! Why? “Too little backend and data management experience.” But, HUH? This was a frontend vacancy. So how is it possible that someone gets judged on something that wasn’t asked for or something they’re not specialised in? You don’t judge an elephant on how it climbs a tree either. But this happens way more often than you’d think! Companies say they’re looking for one thing, but judge based on something completely different. This is often a major recruitment problem (and red flag) An internal policy that’s unclear, even if it seems clear at first and they realise it too late. I see this especially in small to mid-sized companies, where a single hire has a much bigger impact than in larger organisations. And yet, these are the exact companies where time gets wasted the most. Not because they can’t choose, but because they’re afraid to. They want certainty, they want the sheep that can fly and end up with nothing. I’ve lost count of the number of developers who called me, completely baffled by what just happened. That’s why my advice to companies is: map out your needs, make sure everyone’s on the same page and go through your own process as if you were the candidate. If your own process would frustrate you as a candidate... time to change 😉

37

19 Comments

Be the someone you needed when you first started!👊🏽 I’m sorry, but if you’re a tech leader and you’ve decided to drop juniors for the sake of AI.. I would seriously rethink that decision. You might be making a huge mistake. I genuinely feel for the current generation of junior engineers trying to break into an insane market! I was lucky enough to start my career at the right time, just before AI was emerging. By then, I had a few years of hands-on experience, which meant I could use AI as a copilot… rather than handing it the wheel completely. But being honest here…Your seniors, principals, and leaders didn’t just spawn out of a galaxy far, far away 😅. They were once juniors too! Breaking things, asking silly questions, seeking feedback on their pull requests, and looking for mentorship. AI won’t replace full software teams anytime soon and especially not seniors. What it is great at today, is building shiny solutions with horrible practices hidden underneath. If you cut juniors today, all you’re doing is creating a short-term cost saving while making senior engineers 10x more valuable tomorrow. Because you’re driving them to extinction 🦏 People retire, change careers, and take breaks. If you’re not investing in juniors, you’re starving your future pipeline. A great software team flourishes with a mix of experiences. Instead of cutting down on juniors and relying only on seniors + AI, train your juniors: ▶️ Show them how to use AI tools effectively. ▶️ Give them regular feedback. ▶️Help them reach the next stage efficiently. Think back to your own start, and be the person you needed when you first began your career! What do you think? Are juniors being overlooked in the AI wave, or do you see companies still investing in them? 👀 #Leadership #AI #Mentorship #SoftwareEngineering #FutureOfWork #EngineeringLeadership #Developers #CareerGrowth #TechLeadership

67

2 Comments

I’m contacted regularly by Software Engineers asking what can be done to help land a C++ job. From Graduates wanting their first break to Senior Engineers who have moved away from C++ but want to return. Here is some of the advice I share: 👉 Make sure your CV shows your passion for the language as this will help you stand out 👉 Ensure that you are following the C++ standards and staying ahead of the latest C++ releases (i.e. C++23 / C++26) 👉 Attend C++ meet-ups and get involved with a community such as ACCU to network and also learn from the best devs 👉 Complete hobby projects in C++ and list them on your CV 👉 Utilise social media and connect with the top 10 C++ voices 👉 Follow your local tech companies using C++ so you know when they are next hiring Essentially immerse yourself into C++ and your passion will eventually prevail. Any other tips that I have missed? #CPlusPlus #FindMeAJob #Recruitment

55

25 Comments

Big news for the Zero Knowledge space: Sindri have just released Explorer, dubbed 'The Hugging Face of ZK Apps'. For anyone not familiar with hugging face, this is a huge AI library where devs can share and use pre-built AI tools - this is exactly what Explorer is bringing to the ZK space. Explorer will allow teams to go from zero to ZK in minutes rather than months, building apps with ready made ZK components. With this, you have no code scaling via Sindri's integrations, and everything can be handled through a single API. Building this out will be a collaborative effort, for anyone interested in getting involved - Creator Rewards are on the way very soon. Very interested to see how this is adopted moving forward, lmk your thoughts! 👇 #zk #zeroknowledge #web3 #blockchain #web3jobs #blockchainjobs

33

1 Comment

Most 'portable' embedded code is nothing but engineering fiction that makes developers feel efficient while actually creating hidden dependencies and performance black holes. We've heard the promise: 'Write once, deploy anywhere!' But let's be brutally honest: in 90% of embedded projects, portability is like claiming a submarine can fly. The time spent creating abstraction layers could have been better spent optimizing for actual hardware constraints. And don't get me started on teams that discover their 'portable' code only works on one compiler family. I've seen 'platform-agnostic' drivers consume 40% more flash and run 3x slower than hardware-specific implementations. The most frustrating part? The portability myth ignores that embedded systems live in physical reality - your UART timing matters, your ADC characteristics matter, and your interrupt latency matters. What we genuinely need is targeted optimization: design clean interfaces, but embrace hardware-specific implementations where it counts. It's not 'anti-portability', it's engineering reality. When your microcontroller has 32KB flash, every unnecessary abstraction layer is a luxury you can't afford. The next time you're tempted to build that 'universal' driver, ask yourself: Am I actually saving development time, or am I just creating future maintenance nightmares? ⚙️ What's the most painful portability disaster you've encountered? Share your 'works on my dev board' horror stories below - bonus points for when you had to rewrite everything for production! #EmbeddedSystems #CodePortability #SoftwareEngineering #EngineeringReality #Firmware #HardwareDesign #Optimization #DeveloperExperience #Microcontrollers

265

30 Comments