PodRocket

Carson Gross, computer science professor at Montana State and creator of htmx, joins the show to cut through the noise around AI and programming. He explains why the jump from high-level languages to LLMs is fundamentally different from past transitions, why junior developers who skip writing code risk being at the mercy of a stochastic system, and why systems architecture and managing code complexity are the skills that will matter most. A grounded, rational take on the future of software development jobs.

Resources

Yes,and...: https://htmx.org/essays/yes-and/

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What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction — Carson Gross and the "Yes, And…" Blog Post

01:45 Why Carson Felt Compelled to Write About AI and Coding

03:30 The Assembly-to-High-Level Analogy — and Why It Falls Apart

06:00 Juniors Must Write Code to Be Able to Read Code

08:15 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Trap

10:30 Could AI Actually Increase Demand for Programmers?

12:45 Why "SaaS Is Dead" Is Shortsighted

15:00 Systems Architecture as the High-Value Skill Going Forward

17:30 Essential vs Accidental Complexity — The No Silver Bullet Framework

20:00 How LLMs Break the Natural Feedback Loop of Bad Code

23:00 Will AI Change How We Think About Testing?

26:30 Abstraction, Paradigms, and Human-Readable Code

29:00 How Much Has AI Actually Boosted Carson's Own Productivity?

32:00 The Mental Health Cost of the AI Hype Cycle

35:30 Final Thoughts — Give Yourself (and Others) a Break
Special Guest: Carson Gross.

Jack Herrington joins PodRocket to show why TanStack AI might be the last AI SDK you reach for. He breaks down code mode, a single-shot TypeScript execution that wipes out the round-trip tax of traditional LLM tool calling, plus the AGUI standard that frees your backend from vendor lock-in. We also discuss type-safe tool calls, self healing code mode skills, built in AI dev tools, and incoming Claude Code and MCP harness support.

Links

Jack's website: https://jackherrington.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vRUjYqDuoUsYsku86Lrsw

Twitter: https://x.com/jherr

GitHub: https://github.com/jherr

Resources

TanStack AI: https://tanstack.com/ai/latest

We want to hear from you!

How did you find us? Did you see us on Twitter? In a newsletter? Or maybe we were recommended by a friend?

Fill out our listener survey! https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu

Let us know by sending an email to our producer, Elizabeth, at elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com, or tweet at us at PodRocketPod.

Check out our newsletter! https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/

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Follow us on Apple Podcasts, fill out this form, and we’ll send you free PodRocket stickers!

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today.

Chapters

Paige, Jack, Paul, and Noel break down the Cloudflare VoidZero acquisition that puts Vite and Evan You under the Cloudflare roof and what it means for open source sustainability when it seems like acquisition is the only exit. We also talk about Uber burning its annual AI coding tools budget in four months, the Claude Max token subsidy math, and whether local AI models can break the cost curve.

Resources

Cloudflare Acquires VoidZero to Build the Future of the AI-Native Web: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/cloudflare-acquires-voidzero-build-future-130000461.html

Cloudflare Acquires VoidZero to Advance Open Source Vite Ecosystem: https://devops.com/cloudflare-acquires-voidzero-to-advance-open-source-vite-ecosystem/

Microsoft Reports Are Exposing AI's Real Cost Problem: https://fortune.com/2026/05/22/microsoft-reports-are-exposing-ais-real-cost-problem-using-the-tech-is-more-expensive-than-paying-human-employees/

Anthropic/OpenAI may be spending more than $1000 for every $100 you pay them: https://ea.rna.nl/2026/06/07/anthropic-openai-may-be-spending-more-than-1000-for-every-100-you-pay-them/?utm_source=tldrai

We want to hear from you!

How did you find us? Did you see us on Twitter? In a newsletter? Or maybe we were recommended by a friend?

Fill out our listener survey! https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu

Let us know by sending an email to our producer, Elizabeth, at elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com, or tweet at us at PodRocketPod.

Check out our newsletter! https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/

Follow us. Get free stickers.

Follow us on Apple Podcasts, fill out this form, and we’ll send you free PodRocket stickers!

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today.

Chapters
Special Guest: Jack Herrington.

Sacha Greif, creator of the State of Web Dev AI survey, joins the podcast to walk through what over 7,000 web developers actually reported about their AI tool usage, code quality concerns, and growing worries about AI financial costs. Only 29% of developers generate a quarter or less of their code with AI, and the survey reveals surprisingly balanced views on LLM hallucinations, developer job security, and even AI's environmental footprint. A grounded, data-driven counterweight to the AI hype cycle.

Links

Website: https://sachagreif.com/

X: https://x.com/sachagreif

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sachagreif.bsky.social

Github: https://github.com/sachag

Resources

State of AI 2025: https://2025.stateofai.dev/en-US

We want to hear from you!

How did you find us? Did you see us on Twitter? In a newsletter? Or maybe we were recommended by a friend?

Fill out our listener survey! https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu

Let us know by sending an email to our producer, Elizabeth, at elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com, or tweet at us at PodRocketPod.

Check out our newsletter! https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/

Follow us. Get free stickers.

Follow us on Apple Podcasts, fill out this form, and we’ll send you free PodRocket stickers!

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today.

Chapters
Special Guest: Sacha Greif.

Mikayla Maki, software engineer at Zed, digs into what makes this Rust-built code editor tick... from GPUI, their GPU-accelerated UI framework with a Tailwind-inspired API, to CRDTs powering real-time live collaboration without merge conflicts. She talks about the Zed 1.0 release, their approach to AI, how the team builds popular features directly into core instead of relying on extensions, and why Rust might be the best language for agentic coding. Plus: native app comeback, GPUI on mobile, and where the framework is heading.

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikayla-maki

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rad.gendervibes.online

GitHub: https://github.com/mikayla-maki

Resources

Zed 1.0 announcement: https://zed.dev/blog/zed-1-0

DeltaDB / Sequoia Series B post: https://zed.dev/blog/sequoia-backs-zed

ACP overview: https://zed.dev/acp

GPUI engineering post: https://zed.dev/blog/leveraging-rust-and-the-gpu-to-render-user-interfaces-at-120fps

Builder.io "Is Zed ready for AI power users in 2026?": https://www.builder.io/blog/zed-ai-2026

Mikayla's RustConf 2025 talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpEU9DNbXA4

filtra.io interview with Mikayla: https://filtra.io/rust/interviews/zed-aug-25

We want to hear from you!

How did you find us? Did you see us on Twitter? In a newsletter? Or maybe we were recommended by a friend?

Fill out our listener survey! https://t.co/oKVAEXipxu

Let us know by sending an email to our producer, Elizabeth, at elizabeth.becz@logrocket.com, or tweet at us at PodRocketPod.

Check out our newsletter! https://blog.logrocket.com/the-replay-newsletter/

Follow us. Get free stickers.

Follow us on Apple Podcasts, fill out this form, and we’ll send you free PodRocket stickers!

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket provides AI-first session replay and analytics that surfaces the UX and technical issues impacting user experiences. Start understanding where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com. Try LogRocket for free today.

Chapters