Cloudflare and GitHub outages in one day is real software developer productivity murder bingo
November 18, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Cloudflare and GitHub outages in one day is real software developer productivity murder bingo
Every public rust bug drops productivity across the industry as every typescript developer rushes to post something obnoxious about it
November 19, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Every public rust bug drops productivity across the industry as every typescript developer rushes to post something obnoxious about it
Agentic coding has the unique distinction of being the only developer "productivity" tool where quality goes down the more you use the tool
I say "productivity" in quotes because I don't believe agentic coding improves productivity. If it did, developers would catch errors *more* easily, not less
I say "productivity" in quotes because I don't believe agentic coding improves productivity. If it did, developers would catch errors *more* easily, not less
April 2, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Agentic coding has the unique distinction of being the only developer "productivity" tool where quality goes down the more you use the tool
I say "productivity" in quotes because I don't believe agentic coding improves productivity. If it did, developers would catch errors *more* easily, not less
I say "productivity" in quotes because I don't believe agentic coding improves productivity. If it did, developers would catch errors *more* easily, not less
Many think Rust is primarily about memory safety, but the real reason to use Rust is developer productivity (for C++-like system programming) from having a sane package manager and type system.
November 21, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Many think Rust is primarily about memory safety, but the real reason to use Rust is developer productivity (for C++-like system programming) from having a sane package manager and type system.
A lot of people probably heard about a study last year that found coders were 19% less efficient when using AI tools.
A lot fewer people heard about the February update from the same researchers showing 2026-era AI coding tools *increase* productivity (I just found out about it today, personally)
A lot fewer people heard about the February update from the same researchers showing 2026-era AI coding tools *increase* productivity (I just found out about it today, personally)
We are Changing our Developer Productivity Experiment Design
Our second developer productivity study faces selection effects from wider AI adoption, prompting us to redesign our approach.
metr.org
July 16, 2026 at 7:23 PM
A lot of people probably heard about a study last year that found coders were 19% less efficient when using AI tools.
A lot fewer people heard about the February update from the same researchers showing 2026-era AI coding tools *increase* productivity (I just found out about it today, personally)
A lot fewer people heard about the February update from the same researchers showing 2026-era AI coding tools *increase* productivity (I just found out about it today, personally)
I just posted a new preprint and here it is in memes (sorry)
November 21, 2024 at 11:50 PM
I just posted a new preprint and here it is in memes (sorry)
The people call and I answer.
Here are my thoughts on that developer RCT and the "AI slows down developers" claim.
www.fightforthehuman.com/are-develope...
Here are my thoughts on that developer RCT and the "AI slows down developers" claim.
www.fightforthehuman.com/are-develope...
Are developers slowed down by AI? Evaluating an RCT (?) and what it tells us about developer productivity
Seven different people texted or otherwise messaged me about this study which claims to measure “the impact of early-2025 AI on experience open-source developer productivity.”
You know, when I decide...
www.fightforthehuman.com
July 13, 2025 at 11:02 PM
The people call and I answer.
Here are my thoughts on that developer RCT and the "AI slows down developers" claim.
www.fightforthehuman.com/are-develope...
Here are my thoughts on that developer RCT and the "AI slows down developers" claim.
www.fightforthehuman.com/are-develope...
On claims LLMs have increased your productivity as a developer...
What is "developer productivity" and how are you measuring it?
I can't help thinking you need to answer that question first.
What is "developer productivity" and how are you measuring it?
I can't help thinking you need to answer that question first.
February 1, 2025 at 7:52 AM
On claims LLMs have increased your productivity as a developer...
What is "developer productivity" and how are you measuring it?
I can't help thinking you need to answer that question first.
What is "developer productivity" and how are you measuring it?
I can't help thinking you need to answer that question first.
aaaaaah updated METR study updated METR study
update on the new version of the study that people wrongly cite as proof that LLMs slow developers down. they're having trouble because it's impossible to find participants willing to work without AI for the comparison lmao
update on the new version of the study that people wrongly cite as proof that LLMs slow developers down. they're having trouble because it's impossible to find participants willing to work without AI for the comparison lmao
We are Changing our Developer Productivity Experiment Design
Our second developer productivity study faces selection effects from wider AI adoption, prompting us to redesign our approach.
metr.org
February 24, 2026 at 8:38 PM
aaaaaah updated METR study updated METR study
update on the new version of the study that people wrongly cite as proof that LLMs slow developers down. they're having trouble because it's impossible to find participants willing to work without AI for the comparison lmao
update on the new version of the study that people wrongly cite as proof that LLMs slow developers down. they're having trouble because it's impossible to find participants willing to work without AI for the comparison lmao
"How we power Xbox services at scale and boost developer productivity with C# & .NET"
youtu.be/nkCeYar6S5I
#dotnet #aspire
youtu.be/nkCeYar6S5I
#dotnet #aspire
How we power Xbox services at scale and boost developer productivity with C# & .NET | DEM512
YouTube video by Microsoft Developer
youtu.be
May 26, 2025 at 3:20 PM
"How we power Xbox services at scale and boost developer productivity with C# & .NET"
youtu.be/nkCeYar6S5I
#dotnet #aspire
youtu.be/nkCeYar6S5I
#dotnet #aspire
Complex developer “productivity” metrics create an investment opportunity—hire folks who score poorly but are actually really good.
January 17, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Complex developer “productivity” metrics create an investment opportunity—hire folks who score poorly but are actually really good.
Before buying a developer productivity tool, asked if any of the founders have committed a line of code at a high-quality software company in the last, say, decade.
Before taking a development role, ask if they are using software to (micro)manage developer productivity.
Before taking a development role, ask if they are using software to (micro)manage developer productivity.
December 5, 2024 at 6:25 PM
Before buying a developer productivity tool, asked if any of the founders have committed a line of code at a high-quality software company in the last, say, decade.
Before taking a development role, ask if they are using software to (micro)manage developer productivity.
Before taking a development role, ask if they are using software to (micro)manage developer productivity.
"these are the drivers of developer productivity" y'all. Y'ALL. PLEASE.
August 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
"these are the drivers of developer productivity" y'all. Y'ALL. PLEASE.
As nerd and software developer, this is 100% true lol
This comic literally coined the phrase "nerdsniping" in software engineering, where you post some interesting bait on Slack and tank productivity for the afternoon
xkcd.com/356/
This comic literally coined the phrase "nerdsniping" in software engineering, where you post some interesting bait on Slack and tank productivity for the afternoon
xkcd.com/356/
Nerd Sniping
xkcd.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:56 AM
As nerd and software developer, this is 100% true lol
This comic literally coined the phrase "nerdsniping" in software engineering, where you post some interesting bait on Slack and tank productivity for the afternoon
xkcd.com/356/
This comic literally coined the phrase "nerdsniping" in software engineering, where you post some interesting bait on Slack and tank productivity for the afternoon
xkcd.com/356/
We’re exploring running experiments like this in other settings—if you’re an open-source developer or company interested in understanding the impact of AI on your work, reach out to us here: forms.gle/pBsSo54VpmuQ...
Paper: metr.org/Early_2025_A...
Blog: metr.org/blog/2025-07...
Paper: metr.org/Early_2025_A...
Blog: metr.org/blog/2025-07...
Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity
We conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand how early-2025 AI tools affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers working on their own repositories. Surprisingly, we find th...
metr.org
July 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
We’re exploring running experiments like this in other settings—if you’re an open-source developer or company interested in understanding the impact of AI on your work, reach out to us here: forms.gle/pBsSo54VpmuQ...
Paper: metr.org/Early_2025_A...
Blog: metr.org/blog/2025-07...
Paper: metr.org/Early_2025_A...
Blog: metr.org/blog/2025-07...
I am not a software developer but as a person who needs a ton of coding done, I for one have not benefited at all whatsoever from this alleged 100x productivity
In fact everyone I trust to do this kind of work seems crazy busier than ever and the price is the same, or higher.
In fact everyone I trust to do this kind of work seems crazy busier than ever and the price is the same, or higher.
July 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
I am not a software developer but as a person who needs a ton of coding done, I for one have not benefited at all whatsoever from this alleged 100x productivity
In fact everyone I trust to do this kind of work seems crazy busier than ever and the price is the same, or higher.
In fact everyone I trust to do this kind of work seems crazy busier than ever and the price is the same, or higher.
Wrote up some notes on that recent paper from METR "Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity" simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/12/...
Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity
METR - for Model Evaluation & Threat Research - are a non-profit research institute founded by Beth Barnes, a former alignment researcher at OpenAI (see Wikipedia). They've previously contributed ...
simonwillison.net
July 12, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Wrote up some notes on that recent paper from METR "Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity" simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/12/...
@getdx.bsky.social sponsored me to grill their CEO, Abi Noda, about programmer productivity metrics. Here's the result. tidyfirst.substack.com/p/developer-...
Developer Productivity Metrics: Education Necessary
Sponsored interview with DX CEO Abi Noda
tidyfirst.substack.com
January 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
@getdx.bsky.social sponsored me to grill their CEO, Abi Noda, about programmer productivity metrics. Here's the result. tidyfirst.substack.com/p/developer-...
Continuing to work on building confidence with wardley mapping, and this time tried to map out meta-developer productivity tooling space (e.g. tools to measure and improve dev productivity).
lethain.com/measuring-de...
lethain.com/measuring-de...
Measuring developer experience, benchmarks, and providing a theory of improvement.
Back in 2020, I wrote a piece called
My skepticism towards current developer meta-productivity tools,
which laid out my three core problems with developer productivity measurement tools of the time:
...
lethain.com
December 8, 2024 at 4:41 PM
Continuing to work on building confidence with wardley mapping, and this time tried to map out meta-developer productivity tooling space (e.g. tools to measure and improve dev productivity).
lethain.com/measuring-de...
lethain.com/measuring-de...
One of the biggest developer productivity gains is learning how to efficiently navigate through a codebase
If you are using the file sidebar + search to navigate around, I've got 15 techniques that will reframe and make you absolutely fly in VS Code and Cursor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HO...
If you are using the file sidebar + search to navigate around, I've got 15 techniques that will reframe and make you absolutely fly in VS Code and Cursor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HO...
January 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
One of the biggest developer productivity gains is learning how to efficiently navigate through a codebase
If you are using the file sidebar + search to navigate around, I've got 15 techniques that will reframe and make you absolutely fly in VS Code and Cursor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HO...
If you are using the file sidebar + search to navigate around, I've got 15 techniques that will reframe and make you absolutely fly in VS Code and Cursor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HO...
I read @simonwillison.net's blog. And my work has a team dedicated to developer productivity and platform that maintains our AGENTS md files etc.
December 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
I read @simonwillison.net's blog. And my work has a team dedicated to developer productivity and platform that maintains our AGENTS md files etc.
Measuring the Impact of LLMs on Experienced Developer Productivity
Measuring the Impact of LLMs on Experienced Developer Productivity
Hackaday Article
hackaday.com
July 12, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Measuring the Impact of LLMs on Experienced Developer Productivity
*stares at developer productivity research*
We wrote here why we shouldn't even call such unprincipled data dredging or fishing for statistically significant effects "exploratory research". It's time we start taking scientific exploration seriously. Again.
October 28, 2025 at 6:33 PM
*stares at developer productivity research*
Nicole Forsgren (@nicolefv.bsky.social) is the brains behind DORA, lead author SPACE, and the co-author of Accelerate. Hardly a better person to share how to think about, measure and improve developer productivity!
Stream the full episode:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wufj...
(cont'd)
Stream the full episode:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wufj...
(cont'd)
February 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Nicole Forsgren (@nicolefv.bsky.social) is the brains behind DORA, lead author SPACE, and the co-author of Accelerate. Hardly a better person to share how to think about, measure and improve developer productivity!
Stream the full episode:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wufj...
(cont'd)
Stream the full episode:
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wufj...
(cont'd)