Hacker News: kondov

New comment by kondov in "Programming Still Sucks"

kondov — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:53:39 +0000

I'm doing my best to mimic enthusiasm, but it's becoming harder and harder to do so. I was afraid I was turning into a dinosaur, so I tried to be excited about AI. We can do more with computers, we can build faster, we can prototype, etc. But when you have automation you get people with spreadsheets running the business and this is a little bit too close to an assembly line for my liking.

I guess I'll be in the industry until it eventually spits me out, but if the rippling effects of software being devaluated can be so big that I don't know what I'll even do once this chapter of my life is over.

AI Fatigue

kondov — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 22:47:23 +0000

Article URL: https://thethinkingbuilder.substack.com/p/on-ai-fatigue

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47461784

Points: 4

# Comments: 0

New comment by kondov in "DevOps Will Cure Vibecoding"

kondov — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 23:04:39 +0000

There's truth to this. I find that most of my non-llm work is happening in the "seams" between apps and services - data ownership, security, infra, etc. Things that are happening outside the IDE.

New comment by kondov in "Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?"

kondov — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 22:31:26 +0000

I feel the exact same way and my career path and years in the industry are pretty much the same as well. What's usually blocking me from giving other programming niches a try is that I can't imagine ever building something in them that people actually use. Everything I've studied so far has been grounded in practicality and building a compiler, for example, seemed like something that only a select few can build with good quality.

Anyway, I got the "Writing An Interpreter In Go" book and I think I'll give it a shot either way. I think I'm at a point in my career where I'm finally tired of building the same things again and again. I've also been thinking about doing a design course in Interaction Design Foundation just to get my mind interested in things again and detach myself from the work I've been doing.

The intro to distributed systems I wish I had

kondov — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 08:40:22 +0000

Article URL: https://fragmentsofcode.substack.com/p/the-intro-to-distributed-systems

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45460548

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by kondov in "Ask HN: What are you working on? (July 2025)"

kondov — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:15:07 +0000

I'm working on my own card game. Been playing games like Magic for 15 years now and thought I'd soaked up enough game design passively to make something of my own. Want to make a single-player game similar to the Witcher's Thronebreaker.

I know next to nothing about game development and that makes it even more exciting.

I Know When You're Vibe Coding

kondov — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:57:01 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/i-know-when-youre-vibe-coding/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44731517

Points: 13

# Comments: 2

Our Craft Is Changing

kondov — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:46:40 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/our-craft-is-changing/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42897677

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Between Art and Algorithms

kondov — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 08:12:30 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/between-writing-and-programming/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38988496

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Show HN: I made a community-based writing application

kondov — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 08:07:34 +0000

Hi HN! Writing has been a big part of my life for the last few years. It's helped me make sense of the world around me through journaling, and my blog and technical books have made wonders for my career as an engineer. Something I've always been missing is an online community where I can practice my skills and learn from other aspiring writers.

I built Tavern, hoping to solve my own problem. Its main concept is that every Monday everyone in the app gets asked the same writing prompt and you have seven days to submit your answer. You can look at what others have posted, but only after you've submitted your answer. My hope is that this way I will reduce lurking and encourage more people to actually write rather than think about it.

There is a concept of giving likes (ales, since the whole app is tavern-themed), but I've given it a twist by not showing the number of likes an answer has until you like it. Also, answers are always sorted by date, with the latest ones on top. This way if you open Tavern three times this week you'll be able to scroll until the last answers you've read and leave, they won't get shuffled.

Tavern's not a technical wonder by no means - you can probably put it together in a hackathon. But I put a lot of effort into the design and its simplicity, so people can focus on the content. I have more plans for it in terms of features but I wanted to launch the bare-bones build as soon as possible.

Hope you like it!

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34771234

Points: 5

# Comments: 2

The Perfect System Doesn't Exist

kondov — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 13:15:10 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/the-perfect-system-doesnt-exist/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29305984

Points: 78

# Comments: 24

What Startups Taught Me About Writing a Book

kondov — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:06:23 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/what-startups-taught-me-about-writing/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27905700

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Tao of React – collection of rules and guidelines about building with React

kondov — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 16:55:40 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/tao-of-react/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25893514

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

Open Source Architecture Review – Express

kondov — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:32:06 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/express-architecture-review/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25745966

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by kondov in "Ask HN: Learning about philosophy"

kondov — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 08:56:38 +0000

I don't think that there's a universal truth about what you should be making or doing. It's up to each person to decide that for themselves. Philosophy exposes you to different ideas and ways of thinking, showing that there isn't a single correct answer to the questions people have in life. What you make of that is up to the person on the receiving end of those ideas.

Design Patterns – Those That Help and Those That Don't

kondov — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 13:38:59 +0000

Article URL: https://alexkondov.com/why-do-we-use-design-patterns/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24442646

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by kondov in "Ask HN: What Is Your Blog?"

kondov — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 05:22:57 +0000

1. I write about the more philosophical aspects of software engineering. As the years passed I got more interested in the "why". Why do we use certain techniques. Why do we build software the way we do. I started researching my questions and writing essays based on what I've found mixed with some of my own thoughts.

2. I post twice a month.

3. It's hosted on Netlify and built with Gatsby. All of my articles are just markdown files.

4. https://alexkondov.com/