Log inSign up
Dave Thomas
6,347 posts
Image
user avatar
Dave Thomas
@pragdave
Programmer turned publisher (but mostly programmer)
Dallas, Texas
articles.pragdave.me
Joined May 2007
105
Following
32.1K
Followers
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Aug 17, 2022
    Dear programming tool developers: JSON is a program-to-program data transfer mechanism. If you make users of your tool configure it using JSON files, it means you're placing your convenience over theirs.
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Apr 26, 2019
    If you haven't seen it, here's the announcement: media.pragprog.com/newsletters/20… The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th Anniversary Edition, real soon now. A whole bunch of new content, a whole bunch of revised content, but no change to the common sense.
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Oct 21, 2025
    "Code reuse is a myth, and most abstractions rot faster than they’re shared." from an upcoming book on Functional Programming in Elixir
    40K
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Aug 17, 2022
    Replying to @pragdave
    What's wrong with JSON for configuration? 1. no ability to comment things out 2. no trailing commas make maintaining lists more cumbersome 3. quotes around keys are just silly 4. no ability to inherit defaults
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Mar 11, 2014
    Time to recognize the inevitable. The work "agile" is now dead—let's move on. pragdave.me/blog/2014/03/0…
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Jun 24, 2020
    Switched from using the fancy JavaScript build tools back to using a simple Makefile. Not only is it now reliable, but I can actually reason about what it is doing, and adding one new resource format doesn't incur a day's worth of dependency negotiation.
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Jun 16, 2022
    So, programmer pals. It seems like a lot of developers are great programmers, but at the same time are a bit shaky when it comes to some of fundamentals: stuff down at the machine and operating system level. If I did a course covering that stuff, would there be interest?
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Sep 20, 2021
    Some folks talk about ending the day with a clean checkin. I'm increasingly finding it better to end with a failing test; it helps we regain context the next morning.
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Nov 11, 2018
    Installing react, react-dom, and reason-scripts... + [email protected] + [email protected] + [email protected] added 1694 packages from 659 contributors and audited 32802 packages in 79.021s found 0 vulnerabilities *1694* packages. This Hello World test is *solid*
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Jul 22, 2021
    I've been wanting to write a little about how practices from 50 years ago are influencing developers today. As an experiment, I'm starting a series over on Medium: medium.com/@pragdave/weir… Please let me know what you think.
    Image
    Programmers Deal With the Legacy of Paper Tape Every Day
    From medium.com
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Sep 30, 2016
    This, at every level of a system.
    Image
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    May 17, 2018
    I'm so glad we could do this. The ebook of Programming Elixir ≥ 1.6 (yes, the latest version) is now free to students and teachers. pragprog.com/promotions
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    Sep 24, 2023
    I'm starting to explore Elixir's @AshFramework (ash-hq.org). It's a seriously impressive piece of work and looks like a well-thought out way of both modeling and exposing your domain. I'm going to spend a few days trying to model a subset of the PragProg backend;
    ash-hq.org
    Ash Framework
    Model your domain, derive the rest.
    34K
  • user avatar
    Dave Thomas
    @pragdave
    May 6, 2016
    Pragdave 2.0—turning the page. pragdave.me/blog/2016/05/0…

New to X?

Sign up now to get your own personalized timeline!

Create account

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, including Cookie Use.

Terms·Privacy·Cookies·Accessibility·Ads Info·© 2026 X Corp.
Don't miss what's happening
People on X are the first to know.
Log inSign up
Advertisement
Advertisement