Episode 17 - AI Won't Replace Developers — But It Will Replace Some Jobs

The AI replacement debate continues. James provides a nuanced take on which jobs are safe and which might be at risk.

Episode 16 - Observability Is Not Optional Anymore

In modern systems, observability is essential. James discusses why you can't afford to skip proper monitoring and tracing.

Episode 15 - Why Your Cloud Bill Keeps Going Up

Cloud costs spiral out of control for many organizations. James explores the common reasons and what you can do about it.

Episode 14 - APIs Are Products — Start Treating Them Like It

APIs are often an afterthought, but they're products that developers consume. James discusses why API design deserves more attention.

Episode 13 - The Death of "Clean Architecture" Dogma

Clean Architecture became a religion for some developers. James challenges the dogmatic adherence to architectural patterns.

Episode 12 - Monoliths Are Back (Because They Never Left)

The pendulum is swinging back to monoliths. James discusses why monolithic architectures are making a comeback and why they were never really a bad id...

Episode 11 - Event-Driven Everything — Do You Actually Need It?

Event-driven architecture is everywhere now. But is it always the right choice? James examines when to use it and when to avoid it.

Episode 10 - The Rise (and Abuse) of Serverless

Episode 9 - Microservices Were a Mistake (For Most Teams)

Episode 8 - Meetings Stink!

Too many meetings, too little work getting done. James rants about the meeting culture plaguing software teams.

Episode 7 - Technical Debt: Who Creates It and Who Pays

Technical debt accumulates in every codebase. James discusses who's responsible for creating it and who ultimately pays the price.

Episode 6 - Why most software estimates are fiction, not fact

Software estimates are notoriously unreliable. James explores why this is the case and what we can do about it.

Episode 5 - The Difference Between Busy Teams and Effective Teams

Being busy isn't the same as being effective. James discusses what separates truly productive teams from those just spinning their wheels.

Episode 4 - Is AI going to make us all 10x Developers?

Everyone's talking about AI making developers more productive. But what's the reality? James dives into the hype vs. reality of AI-assisted developmen...

Episode 3 - Agile Is Not the Problem — Leadership Is

Agile gets blamed for a lot of failures, but is Agile really the problem? James argues that leadership failures are often the real culprit.

Episode 2 - Why "Senior Developer" Doesn't Mean What You Think

What does it really mean to be a senior developer? James explores the disconnect between titles and actual skills in the industry.

Episode 1 - The State of Software in 2026: What's Actually Broken

James takes a cynical look at the current state of software development in 2026. What's working, what's broken, and what needs to change?

Episode 0 - We are back!

Welcome back to The Cynical Developer! In this episode, James introduces Season 2 and discusses what's coming up in the new season.

Episode 159 - JetBrains Space

In this episode we talk about JetBrains Space, with Valerie Andrianova.
 
Contacting Valerie Andrianova
Website: https://www.jetbrai...

Episode 158 - Code Reviews

In this episode we talk about Code Reviews with Jordan Ambra   Contacting Jordan Ambra   Website: https://www.serenity.software
Twitter: http...

Episode 157 - Developer Life Cycle

In This episode we talk with Lee Mallon about the Developer Life cycle   Contacting Lee Mallon   Website: http://www.rarely.io/
Twitter: https...

Episode 156 - Deep Fakes

In this episode we talk with Nigel Cannings about Deep fakes... or do we... is this even us, are you even you?
Contacting Nigel Cannings
W...

Episode 155 - Changes in OSS

In this returning episode we introduce a returning guest Matt Yonkovit, who was on the show back in November 2019, on episode 127 about Automation lea...

Episode 154 - Pause for thought

In this episode of the Cynical Developer, I wanted to pause for a thought, and make an announcement about the show...
 
Contacting James S...

Episode 153 - PayPal

In this episode we talk about PayPal with Drew Angell
 
Contacting Drew Angell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/angelleye
Linke...

Episode 152 - Spring Time

In this episode with talk about Spring with Laurentiu Spilca
 
Contacting Laurentiu Spilca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurspilca<...

Episode 151 - Svelte

In this episode we talk about Svelte with Mark Volkmann.
 
 
Contacting Mark Volkmann Website: https://mvolkmann.github.io/
...

Episode 150 - More than Coding

In this episode we talk to Benjamin Harding about the fact that being a developer is more the coding.
 
 
Contacting Benjamin Hardin...

Episode 149 - Leadership for developers

In this episode we talk to Sam Schutte about leadership for developers.
 
Contacting Sam Schutte Website: https://samuelschutte.com/
...

Episode 148 - Letters to a new dev

In this episode we talk about some truths that new developers should be aware of with Dan Moore.
 
Contacting Dan Moore Website: https://l...

Episode 147 - Cassandra 4.0

In this episode we talk about Cassandra 4.0 with Patrick McFadin.
 
Contacting Patrick McFadin Website: https://cassandra.apache.org/

Episode 146 - Microservices

In this episode we talking about Microservices with Christian Horsdal
WIN A COPY OF MICROSERVICES IN .NET 2nd EDITION
To win a copy enter...

Episode 145 - Developer Estimates

In this episode we talking about developer estimates with Aaron Upright
 
Contacting Aaron Upright
Website: https://www.zenhub.com/...

Episode 144 - Writing for Developers

In this episode we talking about authoring books for developers with Philip Keily
 
Contact Philip Keily
Twitter: https://twitter.co...

Episode 143 - Augmented Reality

In this episode we talk about Augmented Reality with Connell Gauld
 
Contact Connell Gauld
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/con...

Episode 142 - Grafana

In this episode we talk about dashboards and grafana with Raj Dutt.
 
Contact Raj Dutt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radutt/...

Episode 141 - OpenStack

In this episode we talk about OpenStack with Tytus Kurek
 
Contact Tytus Kurek
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tkurek/
 ...

Episode 140 - Software and the Apocolypse

In this episode we talk about Software and the Apocolypse, with Ian Reynolds
 
Contact Ian Reynolds
Website: https://www.zibtek.com/...

Episode 139 - Modern Development for Mordern Developers

In this episode we speak with Todd Gardner about Modern Development for Modern Developers
 
Contact Todd Gardner
Website: https://to...

Episode 138 - Piloting .Net Prosthetics pt.2

In this episode we talk about Pilots, Prothetics and Programming with Cliff Agius, this is part 2 of 2
Find part one here: Episode 137 - Pilotin...