Software

AI-based coding tools like Claude Code and its peers are changing the way we build software by making code dramatically cheaper to produce. There is a massive caveat however: AI has not made it any cheaper to manage or alter state. In this context, “state” emcompasses things like: Database Migrations: Modifying schemas and shifting data still takes the same careful planning and execution time. Infrastructure Changes: Provisioning and altering cloud resources haven’t inherently sped up. Code Deployment & Coordinated Releases: AI doesn’t magically accelerate a complex release involving multiple remote systems, backend services, and front-end clients. Changes in API contract are therefore just as taxing to deploy as ever, as you need to mutate state in multiple distinct remote processes. ...

2023 Used ChatGPT extensively for research and questions. 2024 Continues. 2025 Q1 Started using Cline on VS Code and Cursor. 2025 Q2 Claude Code lands. New apps and components start being built by Claude. 2025 Q4 Opus 4.5 lands, feels we have something that truly rivals a senior human programmer. 2026 Q1 Built a multi-agent workflow using GitHub as the collaborative & shared memory tool. What a year it has been. ...

As a software engineer and startup founder, I often ask: what makes software valuable? Code has no intrinsic value - its worth is entirely contextual. For instance, x = a + b isn’t inherently more valuable than x = a * b. However, we can measure its extrinsic value: how often the software runs. Or, put more formally: Number of times the software is run per unit time By this measure, Windows is far more valuable than macOS. And the Linux kernel, which powers the majority of web servers and every single Android device, might be the most valuable of all. ...

I rely on my MacBook Pro for both life and work. As such, I have a wide range of apps installed for business administration, software development, design, photography, and everything in between. Here’s a list of the apps I use heavily, regardless of the project I’m working on at the moment. Alfred 5 Alfred 5 is a powerful Spotlight replacement for Mac. It offers file search, shortcuts, dictionary, and recently, AI integration. The best thing about Alfred is its customisability. Some of the workflows I use the most are: ...

Recent departures at our company led to a lack of technical leadership, especially in the infra/backend. We had two choices. One is to scramble to hire a tech lead. Two is for me to assume the role temporarily while simultaneously functioning as the CEO. We went for the second option. This may seem like a red flag to some people. It is not ideal. Equally, I wasn’t ready to throw someone into a job where they faced technical obstacles while understanding the users, the team, and the codebase. I was not confident enough to complete the hire in a month. ...

I gave a talk at DjangoCongress JP 2018 named “Django in the age of AI - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. I have been somewhat distant from the local Python community since I helped run PyCon JP 2014 as a publicity team member. I hope my talk was interesting enough.

AI英会話アプリ「TerraTalk」のHeroku＋AWS活用法 I gave a talk at an AWS user conference. I spoke about the technical challenges of AI English learning app TerraTalk, the back-end configuration and our agility-first architecture. Thank you to everyone involved for the opportunity!