Overcommitted | Software Engineering and Programming Insights

The crew gets philosophical about the ethics of building Artificial Intelligence systems. Are software engineers going to be replaced? Is it ethical to build AI systems?

Links

• ⁠Superintelligence
• Blog: Less Wrong
• Zizian cult
• Thinking in Systems
• Dwarkesh Patel pod
• ChatGPT Medical Diagnosis Study
• MCP Server Claude Desktop Tutorial
• MCP Podcast
• ⁠Overcommitted on Bluesky⁠

Hosts

• ⁠Overcommitted.dev⁠

• Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠
• Eggyhead: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠
• Jonathan Tamsut: ⁠https://jtamsut.substack.com⁠

The crew chat about our experience using AI right now as software engineers (which is subject to change even by the time this episode airs). Including an overview of our current thoughts on the AI landscape, what tools we use for which tasks, and our thoughts on what we are excited about for the future!

Links

• The S in MCP Stands for Security
• Book: The Scaling Era
• Overcommitted on Bluesky

Hosts

• Overcommitted.dev
• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com
• Eggyhead: https://github.com/eggyhead
• Jonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com

Join Erika, Bethany, Jonathan, and Brittany for a deep dive into one of every developer's most common challenges: learning a new codebase. Based on Brittany's popular GitHub blog post, this episode shares battle-tested strategies for getting up to speed quickly—whether you're joining a new team, switching projects, or contributing to open source.

Working on large-scale systems at GitHub has taught these engineers that you'll never understand everything, and that's okay. The key is knowing where to start and how to build knowledge efficiently while staying productive.

Practical strategies discussed:

• Starting with a single issue to avoid overwhelm
• Creating personal documentation as you learn
• Using pair programming to accelerate onboarding
• Leveraging GitHub Copilot for code explanation and documentation
• Reading telemetry and Sentry alerts to understand system behavior
• Using debuggers to trace code execution paths
• Setting up 1:1s with engineers, PMs, and designers for domain knowledge
• Finding good first issues in large codebases
• Generating entity relationship diagrams from database schemas

Key mindset shifts:

• Getting comfortable with not knowing everything at scale
• Understanding abstraction boundaries through hands-on work
• Distinguishing between lack of experience vs. understanding
• Recognizing your contribution's place in the larger system

Spicy hot takes segment: The hosts share their biggest code base pet peeves, including outdated README files that don't work, stale TODO comments from years ago, unhelpful PR templates with required fields, and distributed systems that won't run locally.

Whether you're onboarding to a new team, exploring an unfamiliar microservice, or diving into an open source project, this episode offers actionable advice for confident, efficient code base learning.

Links

• https://github.blog/developer-skills/application-development/how-github-engineers-learn-new-codebases/

Hosts

• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com
• Eggyhead: https://github.com/eggyhead
• Jonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com/

Join Bethany, Brittany, and Jonathan as they reflect on their first quarter using the 12 Week Year goal-setting framework. This candid retrospective reveals what actually works (and what doesn't) when trying to balance ambitious career goals with the demanding life of a software engineer.

Inspired by Brian Moran's "The 12 Week Year" and Ali Abdaal's productivity strategies, the hosts formed an accountability group to track quarterly goals—from newsletter writing and conference talk submissions to fitness and reading habits. Now, three months in, they're sharing their wins, failures, and lessons learned.

What you'll learn:

• How to apply the 12 Week Year methodology to tech career goals
• Why quarterly goal setting works better than annual resolutions for developers
• Creating accountability groups that actually stick
• Balancing personal development with demanding engineering roles
• How to reframe "failure" when you don't hit your targets
• The value of setting goals even when you over-commit

Quarterly highlights discussed:

• Publishing The Balanced Engineer newsletter weekly (Brittany's journey)
• Submitting conference talks to GopherCon
• Reading goals (including Gödel, Escher, Bach)
• Building consistent workout and stretching habits
• Learning design fundamentals as a backend engineer
• Writing technical blog posts

Bonus segment: The hosts share app ideas they'll never have time to build, including Friend OS (a CRM for personal relationships), a customizable standing desk timer, and alternatives to Facebook Events for casual event planning.

Whether you're crushing your goals or struggling to start, this episode offers honest insights into sustainable personal growth for busy engineers.

Join Bethany, Brittany, and Jonathan as they reflect on their first quarter using the 12 Week Year goal-setting framework. This candid retrospective reveals what actually works (and what doesn't) when trying to balance ambitious career goals with the demanding life of a software engineer.

Inspired by Brian Moran's "The 12 Week Year" and Ali Abdaal's productivity strategies, the hosts formed an accountability group to track quarterly goals—from newsletter writing and conference talk submissions to fitness and reading habits. Now, three months in, they're sharing their wins, failures, and lessons learned.

What you'll learn:

• How to apply the 12 Week Year methodology to tech career goals
• Why quarterly goal setting works better than annual resolutions for developers
• Creating accountability groups that actually stick
• Balancing personal development with demanding engineering roles
• How to reframe "failure" when you don't hit your targets
• The value of setting goals even when you over-commit

Quarterly highlights discussed:

• Publishing The Balanced Engineer newsletter weekly (Brittany's journey)
• Submitting conference talks to GopherCon
• Reading goals (including Gödel, Escher, Bach)
• Building consistent workout and stretching habits
• Learning design fundamentals as a backend engineer
• Writing technical blog posts

Bonus segment: The hosts share app ideas they'll never have time to build, including Friend OS (a CRM for personal relationships), a customizable standing desk timer, and alternatives to Facebook Events for casual event planning.

Whether you're crushing your goals or struggling to start, this episode offers honest insights into sustainable personal growth for busy engineers.

Links

• 12 week year

• Atomic habits

• Habit kit

• Obsidian template

• Godel Escher Bock

• Thinking in Systems

• Partiful

Hosts

• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com
• Jonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com

Join GitHub software engineers Jonathan Tamsut, Brittany Ellich, Erika Egemeyer, and Bethany Janos as they break down one of tech's most common yet rarely discussed challenges: imposter syndrome.

In this inaugural episode, four career-changers share their personal experiences with feeling like frauds despite proven success. Drawing from the foundational 1978 research by Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, the hosts explore why so many engineers—regardless of background—struggle with self-doubt and fear of being "exposed."

Topics covered:

• The myth of the "basement programmer" and how industry stereotypes fuel imposter syndrome
• Why career changers (from chemistry, biomedical engineering, and other fields) often feel they don't belong
• The problematic "10x developer" narrative and why team collaboration matters more
• How to measure your own success beyond technical prowess
• Creating psychologically safe team environments where asking for help is normalized
• Practical strategies for combating imposter syndrome and building confidence
• The importance of inclusive language and accessible code

Whether you're a seasoned engineer or just starting your career, this honest conversation offers validation and actionable insights for anyone who's ever wondered if they're "technical enough" to be in tech.

Links

• https://howwefeel.org/
• https://www.everywoman.com/my-development/quiz-there-are-5-kinds-imposter-syndrome-which-one-yours/

Hosts

• Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28
• Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com/
• Eggyhead: https://github.com/eggyhead
• Jonathan Tamsut: https://jtamsut.substack.com/