AI Makes You Think Like a Tech Lead

This morning I spent a few hours debugging an issue where Neovim would throw errors every time I opened a Markdown file with code blocks. The error message was: attempt to call method 'range' (a nil value) Markdown in nvim is essential to my workflow, so I had to figure the issues out! The Problem The error message wasn’t particularly helpful at first glance. “attempt to call method ‘range’ (a nil value)” doesn’t exactly tell you where to look. But after some digging, I realized this was breaking my render-markdown.nvim plugin. ...

Metamorphosis is a fascinating study into human nature. Our protagonist Gregor wakes up transformed into an insect and the novel details his family life after the fact, exploring the question of whether our relationships can ever be truly selfless. Note: I encourage you to read the book before this codex entry. I will be divulging major plot points (and it’s a short read anyways)! Do human beings only form relationships based on mutual gain? Over the course of the book, we see how Gregor’s family relationships unravel as they care for him in his new, incomprehensible, state. Although his parents are initially too shocked with his transformation to even face him, his sister takes the effort to help him as best she can. She cares for her brother. Not only does she try to discover what food his new form will accept, but she takes responsibility for looking after her brother when no one else can. But she becomes resentful of this position. Even though Gregor is internally grateful for her service, he is not capable of expressing his gratitude. Without this feedback, it seems the duty of helping a family member becomes a thankless burden, which everyone becomes annoyed with. They are performing a service out of respect to his former position, not for him now… It’s interesting to explore the idea that maybe if Gregor was able to express his gratitude, his family would provide his care with joy. ...

When travelling across India, I caught the bug for riding. On returning to the UK, I managed to get my full license. I decided not to renew the insurance on my car, leaning fully into the biker lifestyle. Here are some of the ways owning a bike affected my life. My trusty metal steed I Ride Much More Owning a car in Central London is not fun. It’s difficult to park anywhere, you have to spend money just for driving in the city, and you are 100% going to get stuck in traffic. Because of these reasons, I just didn’t use my car. It ended up being more expensive and inconvenient to get to most of the places I go to. ...

Soon enough, I’ll embark on a journey. I have had a dream of becoming a digital nomad for a few years, so I have committed to making it happen. I’ve got just under a year until I actually leave my home country and start on this new journey. I wanted to have some time to adjust and prepare for such a massive lifestyle change. By the time I leave, I would have been out of traditional employment for just over a year and a half. ...

Although working for yourself has a myriad of benefits, there is a large hurdle that one must overcome to avoid wasting such an amazing opportunity: lack of structure. When you work a regular job, you have to show up at the same time everyday. Your routine becomes forced upon you, but nonetheless, you have a routine. But when you start taking your own path, such restrictions don’t exist. You can book client meetings at any time you like, start work at 4am or 4pm, and can work intermittently throughout the day. As long as you are making enough to satisfy your income requirements and goals, you can work 1 hour a day or 20. Here are some difficulties I have had with managing this new lifestyle and some insight into how I manage this. ...

Even though I had seen the movie as a kid, The Shining only existed in my memories as a few flashes of unintelligible panic and fear. Now, as an adult, I had the opportunity to see the film in the type of venue it deserves, an IMAX screening. This movie had such a profound effect on me and my peers, and although the vague memory of the film is now fully fleshed out, the emotions underneath remain the same. ...

There is seemingly and endless stream of AI models to choose from. Not only is the choice overwhelming, but I was constantly left with the thought that I’m missing out on some super model that would make me more efficient, but as someone with inertia to change when it comes to certain things, I had put off experimenting. But, I eventually did run some test. I defined 4 of my main coding styles , and tried to find the best models for each. ...

Today, there are many ways to achieve the same goal. When writing code, for example, one can use a fully equipped IDE like IntelliJ, something super lightweight like Vim, or, if you are really mad, Notepad++. You could dedicate hundreds or thousands of hours switching between different tools, experimenting and starting from scratch every time, and still not find something that really works for you. I believe that a true craftsman of any discipline needs to invest in their tools. Here are a few reasons why. ...

AI has democratised writing code. Pretty much anyone can pull up ChatGPT or Claude and build basic apps and websites. What people fail to realise is that writing code is just a small part of being a developer. Indeed, in most software engineer roles, writing code is one of the things you spend the least time on! While AI now means anyone can write code, there is fundamental software development knowledge still missing, and you don’t know what you don’t know. ...

Some of my favourite moments from this year are directly because of ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. Not only did I find the novel thoughtful and inspiring, but it truly gave me better perspective on the world around me, what I want from my life, and the person I want to be. Although the text itself on the surface is straightforward, for me, it triggered emotions that I hope to capture in my writing. ...