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Why does code still matter when LLMs can write it? Bryan Cantrill traces Rust’s infrastructure-first design to explain what we should preserve as software development changes.

Recorded at Rust NYC, this talk connects abstraction and accidental complexity with Rust’s ownership model, safety, and performance. Bryan explores compiler feedback, the crate ecosystem, the risk of generating unnecessary work, Gas Town as a cautionary tale, and using LLMs to deepen understanding. The full Q&A covers disciplined use, writing policy at Oxide, Clojure, software craftsmanship, and async cancellation safety.

For Rust developers, infrastructure engineers, and teams deciding how to use LLMs in software development.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

1:11 Before Rust: developer ease and production costs

12:22 Abstraction and accidental complexity

18:02 Four kinds of software systems

25:22 The revolutionary language paradox

29:27 Rust as a tool for infrastructure

37:49 Rust’s bargain: ownership, safety, and performance

47:09 Into the LLM age

49:55 Why Rust appeals to LLMs

52:21 Vibe coding and understanding the code

55:56 The peril of LLMs: laziness lost

58:47 The management consultancy effect

1:04:09 Gas Town as a cautionary tale

1:06:03 Use LLMs to strengthen understanding

1:09:17 Learn Rust: code still matters

1:12:37 Further reading and listening

1:13:56 Q&A: additive use and discipline

1:16:51 Q&A: writing policy at Oxide

1:18:58 Q&A: Rich Hickey, Clojure, and infrastructure

1:20:42 Q&A: LLMs and smaller language communities

1:23:29 Q&A: protecting software craftsmanship

1:25:48 Q&A: async cancellation safety

1:28:41 Q&A: an internet-scale change

1:30:38 Q&A: build systems and RFD 576

Bryan Cantrill — Code Matters: Reflections on Rust in the LLM Age

Recorded at Rust NYC, Datadog, New York City, October 22, 2026.

Includes the talk and audience Q&A.

#RustLang #LLMs #SoftwareEngineering

Technologist and artist James Bridle conducts a simple chair-building experiment to explore how our embodied intelligence could meet AI’s disembodied knowledge in more meaningful ways.

This week OSINT journalist and trainer Craig Silverman joined us to share how he uses AI in investigations, from prompting Claude to become a research…

What does it take to help shape one of the most consequential revolutions in tech history? Join Boris Cherny, creator and head of Claude Code at Anthropic, for a wide-ranging conversation about the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence. From the challenges of building models like Claude to the possibilities ahead, Cherny will offer an insider’s perspective on a technology rapidly transforming our world.

[EuroPython 2026 - Keynote - S1 on 2026-07-15]

🎤 *How Complex Systems Taught Me To Fail by Imogen Wright*

🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/how-complex-systems-taught-me-to-fail

📝 Abstract:

This talk traces a meandering story of twenty years of invention, triumph and disaster, touching on theoretical physics, cloud computing, viral genetics, pandemic responses, and nearly dying in an NHS A&E queue. You'll pick up four generally applicable laws of complex systems, gain some superpowers for averting an apocalypse, and hopefully laugh a bit along the way. This isn't much of a technical talk and it is neither sanitised nor triumphant — expect sarcasm, most of all during the rough patches. My hope is that you'll leave seeing your own work differently, especially if it's quiet and unglamorous. Resilience is a property of systems, not their components, and it's the people who notice small changes and tend locally who make the biggest differences of all.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

This episode was recorded LIVE during Berlin Buzzwords 2026

Charlie's site and blog: https://thesearchjuggler.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliehullsearch/

Charlie's panel at bbuzz, featuring yours truly among a group of distinguished search and ML people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StaPk0k-52Y

Time codes

00:00 Intro

00:42 Charlie's take on this year's Berlin Buzzwords

01:55 Based on the panel: Charlie's first encounter of AI

04:55 Is preserving search still a question?

5:48 Charlie's "old" search technique to improve quality of search

7:58 Explainability gap

9:03 Did LLMs change Charlie's life

12:07 Query Understanding is still a complex topic

13:14 Vector search or not

17:28 Meetups and places to learn with Charlie

19:25 Charlie's message to the search makers

23:00 What is fundamentally missing in our space

26:03 Where to follow Charlie's work

Show notes:

- Upcoming Vespa conference: http://www.vespaai.live/

- Where find Charlie? On meetups: http://www.searchmeetups.com/

- http://www.thesearchjuggler.com/

- https://searchmeetups.com/

- A neat trick for protecting numbers when using fuzzy search: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s34afYwYqyM

Chuquimamani-Condori announces Los Thuthanaka to release new booklet and music on April 3. Hear unreleased music from WNXP set.

This talk will gives a brief introduction to BitTorrent and a side project Arvid started 20 years ago, along with lessons learned along the way. Especially in network programming.

Recorded at StockholmCpp 0x2F, https://www.meetup.com/stockholmcpp/events/301321428/

The event was hosted at Berotec, https://berotec.se/

More information about C++ Usergroups in Sweden at https://swedencpp.se

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Eskil Steenberg's talk at BSC 2025 on the importance of finished software.

Eskil's links:

- https://quelsolaar.com

- https://x.com/eskilsteenberg

- https://twitch.tv/quel_solaar

BSC links:

- https://BetterSoftwareConference.com

- https://x.com/BetterSoftwareC

- https://www.twitch.tv/BetterSoftwareConference

Chapters:

0:00:00 Talk

0:39:07 Q&A