When I first tried to learn JavaScript, I hated it so much I told myself I’d just be an HTML and CSS developer and never touch it again. Of course, my first job threw me straight into Angular, C#, SQL, and a mountain of JavaScript I wasn’t ready for. In this episode, I share what made JavaScript so brutal for me (and for almost every student I’ve worked with), the mistakes that keep people stuck, and the science-backed strategies that actually helped me go from totally lost to confident...

When your only tool is a hammer - everything looks like a nail. 2 of these database I'm sure you've heard and 2 might be completely new to you. Let's go past MongoDB and SQL to learn what tool is best for what job and what's the database choice for AI in 2025. If you're interested in learning SQL, check out this episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/69BHCbRAl6rHT9LlNhFWUy Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ Got a quest...

Every year, Stack Overflow surveys nearly a 100,000 developers to learn what technologies, languages and tools are trending. The answers here might surprise you, especially when it comes to AI tools. You can check out the survey here: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/developers/ Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here Zubin's LinkedIn (ex-lawyer, former Googl...

Maybe I'm just coping. Maybe. I’ve been pretty vocal about the over-hype of AI coding tools and I always get the same responses from AI bros: “YoU gOtta PrOmpt bEtteR!” “This iz a skillz issue dawg”“I’m using [x] and it works perfectly” “I’m a super duper senior architect and I’ve replaced my entire team with AI agents. You’re coping.” I’d be lying if I said I didn’t doubt myself. Maybe they’re right, maybe I’m just not using these tools correctly. Let’s take a look at some big fax and sma...

If I lost everything today—no job, no network, no portfolio—and had to start over in 2025 as a software developer, I wouldn’t be looking for a 3-month miracle. I’d be planning for 12 months. That’s how long it really takes now. We cover: what tech stack you should learnnetworking as a developer using BFSa capstone project that is actually impressivean interviewing strategy3 books I'd read as a new developerAt Parsity, we cover all this and much more. Apply here. Send us a te...

Five years ago, during an interview for a senior dev role, I had a panic attack. It was one of my worst interview experiences. It also taught me a lot about what I was doing wrong. In this episode, I'll break down the process that took me from under-paid developer to passing interviews and 4x'ing my salary. Here's your worksheet to help you create a solid story for an interview: worksheet If you know you suck at interviews - I'll be working with a few people to help them crush their next int...

Harish, former lead engineer at MongoDB and current co-founder of Flaire, takes us on a journey through his unusual career path—one that didn’t involve grinding LeetCode or chasing FAANG. Instead, he got deep into cybersecurity, built large-scale systems, and eventually started his own company that’s redefining how small businesses use software. We talk about: What it’s actually like to work on database internals and secure infrastructureWhy most engineers shouldn’t become founders—and why he...

Are junior devs cooked? How can I scaffold a solid MERN stack app? What's the best way to stick with a tutorial? We got some great questions this episode and my answers might surprise you. Got a question you want answered? Drop it here: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q499M9kl Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here Zubin's LinkedIn (ex-lawyer, former Googler, Brian-lo...

Learning JS is tough. And you're probably making some of the same mistakes I did in the past. In this episode you'll get a path and a small project to make to teach you the minimum effective dose of JavaScript necessary to move forward in your learning journey. Here's the challenge I mentioned which includes some short videos: Your Form Challenge Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ Got a question you want answered ...

A junior developer who got hired at a startup used AI non-stop to keep up. It worked for weeks until he crashed and burned. He'd built a house of cards that he couldn't keep up. The AI tools went in doom loops or just added more sloppy code that his team wouldn't accept. Turns out they hired a prompt engineer instead of a coder. We're in uncharted territory my friends. You can't just NOT use AI but when should you start? How much is too much? Let's explore a path to learning code with AI that...

3 traps to avoid in your career, that I nearly fell for: 1. The Framework Developer Trap 2. The Developer in a Hoodie Trap (might be the most surprising revelation for many aspiring programmers) 3. The Hype-Driven Development Trap Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q499M9kl Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ Got a question you want answered on the pod? Drop it here ...

Matt Watson, who scaled VIN Solutions to a $150 million exit, shares his journey from coding to building products that make a real impact in the business world. We talk about: Why most developers fail at launching productsWhat it means to be a product-minded engineerHow AI is exposing weak developersThe importance of sales, customer empathy, and learning in public“Your code isn’t the product. Solving real problems is.” “If I have to write requirements down to the detail… I might as well just ...

This episode introduces a weekend project that will give you authentic experience working with existing code—a crucial skill that most tutorials and coding platforms simply don't teach. Using Kyle Simpson's YouPeriod GitHub repository, you'll learn to navigate a codebase written by someone else, which is exactly what you'll do in your first development job. This particular project is perfect for beginners because it uses fundamental web technologies (HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript) r...

Have you ever wondered what data scientists and engineers actually do all day? Forget what you've seen in movies – it's not all neural networks and fancy algorithms. Ryan Varley, Engineering Fellow at Magnite and experienced data leader, pulls back the curtain on the rapidly evolving world of data science and engineering. The real work often involves what he colorfully describes as "really complex plumbing" – making processes more efficient, reliable, and scalable in ways that directly...

Interviewing is arguably the highest paying skill you can have as a developer. I don't think this is fair but it is reality. I've taken part in well over 100 interviews both as an interviewee and interviewer. I've worked with dozens of developers to ace their interviews and increase their salaries by tens of thousands of dollars. This is not for developers looking to get into Big Tech. This episode is for the 99%. We're going to cover the 4 most common stages of the tech interview from recrui...

These principles don't just create pretty code—they reduce bugs, simplify updates, and prevent real-world problems like the $10,000 mistake I made early in my career. Yeah, that was not a fun one. Check out https://www.dofactory.com/javascript/design-patterns/adapter if you want to learn more patterns. PS - I write unfiltered advice for early career developers here: 👉 Real Talk JS Send us a text Shameless Plugs 🧑‍💻 Join Parsity - For career changers who want to pivot into software. ✉️ ...

In this Office Hours Q&A, I got some pretty interesting questions: Should you lie on your resume to trick the ATS and get more interviews?If you’re building websites with tools like Squarespace, does it count as real experience—or are you cheating yourself?Is a master’s degree in computer science worth it if you already have some tech skills?I also share thoughts on how to get experience that actually helps you land a dev job and why every learner should have a side project that they cont...

The software development market didn't die, it's just unrecognizable. Let's go over 8 harsh pieces of advice that will help you as a career changer to make a successful switch into a career as a software developer. PS. If you're a front-end developer looking to expand your skills, grab the Node Express Starter Kit here. Have a question for the Friday Q&A show? Submit it through the form in the show notes, and I'll shout you out or keep you anonymous. Send us a text Shameless Plugs ...

Whatever you do, don’t learn to code. The market is over-saturated. AI took your job. There is no hope. But then you meet someone like Jacob, a young dad who was delivering food a year ago and just landed his first dev job without submitting a single application. Is his story typical? No. But then few stories are. At Parsity.io, we've seen CS grads take up to a year to get hired. We've seen people go from zero to hired in 6 months or less. There is no formula. What works for one pe...

Got a question you want answered on the show? Drop it here: Ask Your Question On today's show: "I’m currently a mid-level product manager thinking of switching to software engineering. Is that too ambitious?" “Where do I get good at interview practice? Leetcode seems unrealistic. Is there something more practical?” “Should I go all in on C# or .NET instead? Or maybe get a CS degree from WGU?” “As an early career dev, should I be building side projects with AI tools like Cursor—or is that risk...