Backend Banter

Mar 31 2025 82 ep. 60 mins 347
Backend Banter Podcast artwork

The only podcast dedicated to backend development, technologies, and careers. Lane Wagner, the founder of Boot.dev, interviews successful backend engineers to get their takes on various trends, technologies, and career tips for new backend developers. Golang, Python, JavaScript, and Rust are the programming languages most commonly discussed, but speakers dabble in all sorts.

  Technology
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The Tools Are Smarter. Are You? ft. YK Sugi | S02 E12

Mar 31 2025 68 mins  
Today we welcome YK Sugi—engineer, educator, and the mind behind CSS Dojo—for the final episode of season two.We talk about his journey from YouTube dev tutorials to building one of Sourcegraph’s most-used AI tools, and how the role of DevRel has changed (and in some cases, disappeared). YK also breaks down how senior engineers are actually using AI, why fundamentals still ma

How to Win at Learning ft. Quincy Larson | S02 E11

Mar 24 2025 73 mins  
In this episode, we sit down with Quincy Larson, founder of Free Code Camp, to explore his incredible path from high school dropout to influential tech educator. Quincy shares his unconventional journey — from living in his car and working fast food jobs to building one of the most impactful coding education platforms in the world.We discuss the power of self-learning, the evolut

Mitchell Hashimoto: From Terraform to Ghostty | S02 E10

Mar 17 2025 64 mins  
Today we welcome Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp and creator of Ghostty, a new terminal emulator built in Zig. In this episode, Mitchell shares the story behind Ghostty, how his curiosity about terminals evolved into a full-fledged project, and why Zig became his language of choice.We also dive into Ghostty’s unique features, the role of libghostty, and why Mitchell b

Vercel’s Big AI Bet. ft. Malte Ubl | S02 E09

Mar 10 2025 47 mins  
Today we welcome Malte Ubl, CTO of Vercel, to discuss the evolution of frontend development and the role of AI in shaping modern engineering workflows. Malte dives into V0, Vercel's innovative tool for generating frontend code using AI, and explains how it empowers developers—especially backend engineers—to build full-stack applications. We also explore the concept of verticali

Build skills, not degrees. ft. Madison Kanna | S02 E08

Mar 03 2025 54 mins  
Today we welcome Madison Kana—a self-taught dev who defied the traditional path. From dropping out and navigating a world of homeschooling to launching the Code Book Club, Madison transformed her unconventional journey into a thriving community of coders. In this episode, she shares how bypassing the typical education route fueled her passion, the real challenges of learning on y

Roll your own auth or you’re ngmi. ft. Dreams of Code | S02 E07

Feb 24 2025 73 mins  
This time Elliot from @dreamsofcode joins us to talk about building his own course platform we dive into why he chose to go custom, the tech stack behind his platform, and the philosophy of building vs. buying in software. We also discuss the challenges of teaching programming, the role of AI in development, and what it really takes to create a great online course. If you're into

Programming Music with Sonic Pi feat. Sam Aaron | S02 E06

Feb 17 2025 65 mins  
Today we bring Sam Aaron, the creator of Sonic Pi, a free code-based music creation and performance tool that lets you use simple code to turn your computer into a fully networked live coding music studio! It is also used to engage students in computer science and programming through music creation!In this episode, we explore the origins of Sonic Pi, its deep connection with Raspbe

KRAZAM Unfiltered feat. Ben Burke | S2 E05

Feb 10 2025 66 mins  
Today, we bring a very special guest, one whose face you might recognise, one that appears on your homepages with a sporadic video and seemingly disappears. His name is Benjamin Burke, or simply Ben, he’s the co-creator of KRAZAM, a channel that consists of sketches that combine grotesque and absurdist humor with technological anxiety, satirizing the tech industry and the modern

Does ADHD really make programming harder? ft. Chris Ferdinandi | S2 E04

Feb 03 2025 80 mins  
Lane chats with Chris Ferdinandi—creator of Go Make Things and ADHD for the Win—a frontend dev, educator, and all-around expert in making JavaScript (and learning) simpler. Chris has built a career helping devs cut through the noise, level up their skills, and embrace ADHD-friendly ways to stay focused and productive. We dive into his journey from discovering his own ADHD to r

Why You Need To Stop Worrying About AI feat. Danny Thompson | S2 E03

Jan 27 2025 69 mins  
We’re joined by Danny Thompson, currently Director of Technology at This Dot Labs and technical leader and organizer of the Dallas Software Developers Group, where he fosters vibrant local tech ecosystem through workshops, cohorts, and meetups. With a passion to help others learn and find jobs, Danny shares his stories and insights that he gained throughout his extensive and fas