Dead Code

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared talks with Kevlin Henney about the importance of immutability in software development, particularly as a strategy for reducing bugs related to state and concurrency. Kevlin explains that while many programming languages default to mutable state, treating state change as a privilege—not a right—can lead to more maintainable, less error-prone code. He discusses how immutability strengthens encapsulation, simplifies reasoning about systems, and avoids issues like race conditions and deadlocks, especially in multi-threaded environments. Kevlin also emphasizes that these design choices are architectural, not just implementation details, and that teams benefit from shared philosophies around state management. The conversation ties into broader programming culture and offers practical insights for developers, especially those working in languages like Ruby, where mutability is common but evolving.Links:Kevlin Henney’s article – “Restrict Mutability of State”Book – 97 Things Every Programmer Should KnowOpen source repo with contributionsOverflow collection curated by Shirish Padalkar (includes the “Restrict Mutability of State” essay)RubyConf Mini Providence Talk – Immutable Data StructuresRailsConf Talk – Immutable Objects in Practice@Kevlin on Bluesky@[email protected] Henney on LinkedInDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, journalist Joan Westenberg joins host Jared to explore the political and ethical consequences of our tech choices, advocating for decentralized, open-source platforms over corporate-controlled ecosystems like Google and Meta. Joan shares her path from tech journalism to founding The Index, a reader-supported publication free from ads and investor influence, driven by a DIY punk ethos inspired by bands like Fugazi. She critiques the monopolization of the internet, the erosion of data privacy (especially for EU users), and the complicity of tech giants in supporting authoritarian politics. Emphasizing the power of small, intentional decisions, Joan urges listeners to resist cynicism, adopt “pragmatic meliorism,” and choose tools and platforms that align with their values—even if it’s harder—because incremental change still matters.Links:The IndexJoan Westenberg’s WebsiteGhostMastodonPixelfedLemmyFairphoneMurena / /e/OSVivaldiQwantEcosiaWhere Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the InternetDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, host Jared Norman speaks with Jean Boussier, a key contributor to the Ruby community and Shopify engineer, about the challenges of concurrency in Ruby, particularly the Global VM Lock (GVL). Jean explains that while the GVL was originally implemented to simplify Ruby’s design, it now limits parallel execution, sparking debate on whether it should be removed. He argues that many Ruby applications are more CPU-bound than previously thought and suggests improving Ruby’s thread scheduler as a more practical short-term solution rather than eliminating the GVL entirely. The discussion also explores Ractors, Ruby’s experimental approach to parallelism, which remains unstable and impractical for most applications. Jean envisions a future where Ractors become more viable, gradually leading to broader concurrency improvements. The episode wraps up with insights on profiling tools and the evolving landscape of Ruby performance optimization.Links:Jean Boussier’s BlogJean’s GitHubIvo Anjo’s GVL Profiling Talk (RubyConf)Ivo Anjo’s GVL Profiling ToolJean’s Blog Post: “So, You Want to Remove the GVL?”Jean’s Blog Post: “The Mythical IO-Bound Rails App”Ruby Ractors DocumentationDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared interviews James Gayfer about data modeling and the challenges of structuring databases effectively. James, who prefers raw SQL over ORMs, explains how many database models merely mirror table structures, leading to inefficient APIs and excessive data fetching. He discusses the concept of complete versus incomplete data models, emphasizing that completeness depends on an application’s needs at a given time. They explore trade-offs between overly simplistic models that require frequent queries and overly complex ones that attempt to replicate real-world relationships in unnecessary detail. James advocates for designing domain models thoughtfully, using patterns like repositories to maintain consistency while keeping data retrieval manageable. Ultimately, he encourages developers to embrace iteration, rethink their models as needed, and accept that all models are wrong, but some are useful.Links:James Gayfer’s BlogJames Gayfer’s Mastodon profileSQLx library for RustRepository PatternHanami FrameworkPhoenix FrameworkEctoHotwireAll models are wrong, but some are usefulDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared explores the world of roguelike game development with guests Mark R. Johnson and Darren Grey from Roguelike Radio, discussing the history, appeal, and technical challenges of the genre. They dive into the upcoming Seven-Day Roguelike Challenge, where developers create a game in a week, emphasizing the importance of procedural generation, permadeath, and strategic mastery. The conversation covers how roguelikes have evolved from classic ASCII-based dungeon crawlers to modern iterations like FTL and The Binding of Isaac, attracting both players and programmers due to their complexity and emergent gameplay. Darren and Mark share advice for aspiring developers, urging them to keep their projects small and focused while embracing the creative possibilities of procedural content.Links:Seven-Day Roguelike Challenge (7DRL) on itch.ioRoguelike Radio PodcastRoguelike Dev Community on RedditRoguelikes Community on RedditMark R. Johnson’s Game (Ultima Ratio Regum)Mark R. Johnson’s Twitter (X)Mark R. Johnson’s BlueskyDarren Grey’s BlueskyDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronJared’s Newsletter & WebsiteEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared interviews Tim Riley about Hanami, an alternative Ruby web framework that prioritizes separation of concerns, modular components, and maintainability over Rails’ monolithic approach. Tim explains how Hanami’s repository pattern for database interactions reduces unintended ripple effects, while its built-in dependency injection improves testability and scalability. He shares the evolution of Hanami, its integration with dry-rb and ROM, and the project’s commitment to fostering an inclusive, sustainable community. With ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility and documentation, Hanami aims to offer Ruby developers a flexible, well-structured alternative for building applications while staying within the familiar Ruby ecosystem.Links:Hanami WebsiteTim Riley’s WebsiteTim Riley on MastodonHanami GitHub Repositorydry-rb GitHub RepositoryROM-rb GitHub RepositoryTilt (Ruby template engine support)Dead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronEpisode Transcript

In this Dead Code podcast episode, Cyrus Omar and Andrew Blinn discuss Hazel, an innovative programming language and editor designed to handle incomplete programs by providing continuous feedback and partial code execution, similar to dynamic languages, while maintaining a robust type system. Hazel’s unique graphical editor allows domain-specific visual representations, such as sliders for integers and playing cards for data manipulation, making programming more intuitive and tactile. The team highlights collaborations with climate scientists for interactive data work and explores Hazel’s potential across various domains like hardware design and mathematics. Future developments include “probes” for live runtime data visualization within code, with the hope that Hazel’s novel approach will inspire broader adoption in the programming community.Links:Hazel WebsiteAndrew Blinn’s WebsiteAndrew’s Balatro Cards DemoPROPL Workshop PaperDead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared interviews Ingy döt Net, co-creator of YAML, about its origins, unexpected rise in popularity—especially within the Ruby community—and its evolution into a widely used configuration language. Ingy shares insights into YAMLScript, a new programming language he developed to address YAML’s limitations, enabling more powerful configuration and data transformation through a Lisp-like approach. By leveraging Clojure and GraalVM, YAMLScript offers cross-language compatibility and improves YAML’s usability in environments like Kubernetes and Helm. The conversation explores broader industry trends in serialization, the challenges of maintaining a widely adopted format, and Ingy’s philosophy of acmeism, which promotes language-agnostic tooling. He also discusses YAMLScript’s warm reception at KubeCon and its inclusion in programming education platforms like Exercism.Links:YAMLScript Official WebsiteYAMLScript GitHub RepositoryExercismMake a LispKubeCon PrismHelmGraalVMMkDocs Material Dead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronEpisode Transcript

In this episode of Dead Code, Jared interviews software engineer Joel Drapper about his open-source projects in the Ruby ecosystem. They discuss Phlex, a view framework that allows developers to build HTML components using pure Ruby, eliminating the need for templating languages like ERB. Joel also introduces Literal, a library for reducing boilerplate in object creation with built-in type validation, and Quickdraw, an experimental test runner optimized for multi-core execution. The conversation concludes with Yippee, a SQLite-centric full-stack Ruby framework designed for simplicity and performance, challenging conventional Rails architectures. Joel shares insights on how these projects streamline development while embracing SQLite’s growing viability in production applications. Links:PhlexLiteralStephen Margheim (@fractaledmind on Bluesky)Joel Drapper (@joel.drapper.me on Bluesky)Dead Code Podcast Links:MastodonXJared’s Links:MastodonXtwitch.tv/jardonamronEpisode Transcript