Tikhon Jelvis
@jelv.is
I like programming languages. A lot. Especially Haskell.
Tools, types and functions.
Tools, types and functions.
A realization I've had: programming languages are as much tools managing complexity (ie design + abstraction) as they are for telling computers what to do—and mixing both together is critical for being good at the former.
(And PLs are amazing at handling complexity!)
(And PLs are amazing at handling complexity!)
November 6, 2025 at 8:44 PM
A realization I've had: programming languages are as much tools managing complexity (ie design + abstraction) as they are for telling computers what to do—and mixing both together is critical for being good at the former.
(And PLs are amazing at handling complexity!)
(And PLs are amazing at handling complexity!)
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/
PSA: we're aware that Signal is down for some people. This appears to be related to a major AWS outage. Stand by.
October 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
📣THREAD: It’s surprising to me that so many people were surprised to learn that Signal runs partly on AWS (something we can do because we use encryption to make sure no one but you–not AWS, not Signal, not anyone–can access your comms).
It’s also concerning. 1/
It’s also concerning. 1/
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
On certainty of outputs: the Fordist instinct to demand "when will thing be Done" serves no purpose beyond dashboard/report curation, which has replaced actual management work in most orgs. It displaces all other value of the thing except for Done-ness. My Button talk on Thursday is about this.
October 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
On certainty of outputs: the Fordist instinct to demand "when will thing be Done" serves no purpose beyond dashboard/report curation, which has replaced actual management work in most orgs. It displaces all other value of the thing except for Done-ness. My Button talk on Thursday is about this.
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
I designed a cover for Samuel Delany's DHALGREN because the cover of the edition I'm reading is boring.
October 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I designed a cover for Samuel Delany's DHALGREN because the cover of the edition I'm reading is boring.
random bit of nostalgia: libraries here used to have TUIs for searching the catalog, and it definitely gave them some real gravitas
it definitely impressed me as a middle schooler :P
it definitely impressed me as a middle schooler :P
October 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
random bit of nostalgia: libraries here used to have TUIs for searching the catalog, and it definitely gave them some real gravitas
it definitely impressed me as a middle schooler :P
it definitely impressed me as a middle schooler :P
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
New blog post: The illegible nature of software development talent
surfingcomplexity.blog/2025/10/08/t...
surfingcomplexity.blog/2025/10/08/t...
The illegible nature of software development talent
Here’s another blog post on gathering some common threads from reading recent posts. Today’s topic is about the unassuming nature of talented software engineers. The first thread was a …
surfingcomplexity.blog
October 9, 2025 at 5:17 AM
New blog post: The illegible nature of software development talent
surfingcomplexity.blog/2025/10/08/t...
surfingcomplexity.blog/2025/10/08/t...
this is one of those things where I can't tell whether it's so obvious nobody even bothers talking about it, or it's not obvious at all to most people :/
I'm sure I said this (lack of formal data/code distinction) should have been obvious several months ago and we're only just seeing papers and articles coming out saying "huh, turns out"
Large language models have a pretty fundamental flaw: they don't distinguish between data and code. On its own, that might be embarrassing (think helpbots writing dirty limericks) but get the wrong set of capabilities in the mix and a fancy new AI tool can become a dangerous security vulnerability.
September 23, 2025 at 12:18 PM
this is one of those things where I can't tell whether it's so obvious nobody even bothers talking about it, or it's not obvious at all to most people :/
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
I was doing some software history research and stumbled on this absolutely FASCINATING letter from 1964: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Some random defense contractor writes in to say "You should deliver a minimal prototype as fast as possible to get feedback and involve users at every stage of labor"
Some random defense contractor writes in to say "You should deliver a minimal prototype as fast as possible to get feedback and involve users at every stage of labor"
Some observations concerning large programming efforts | Proceedings of the April 21-23, 1964, spring joint computer conference
dl.acm.org
September 22, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I was doing some software history research and stumbled on this absolutely FASCINATING letter from 1964: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Some random defense contractor writes in to say "You should deliver a minimal prototype as fast as possible to get feedback and involve users at every stage of labor"
Some random defense contractor writes in to say "You should deliver a minimal prototype as fast as possible to get feedback and involve users at every stage of labor"
Do I know anyone around Gdansk?
I'll be hanging around the area for the next week or two, would be great to meet up for lunch/tea/etc
I'll be hanging around the area for the next week or two, would be great to meet up for lunch/tea/etc
September 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Do I know anyone around Gdansk?
I'll be hanging around the area for the next week or two, would be great to meet up for lunch/tea/etc
I'll be hanging around the area for the next week or two, would be great to meet up for lunch/tea/etc
Empirically studying the effectiveness of static typing is incredibly difficult—and I actually find that reassuring.
(The thread before the quoted post is also worth reading!)
(The thread before the quoted post is also worth reading!)
In some ways, I find it reassuring.
It underscores how programming is fundamentally creative, high-leverage—and therefore illegible—work.
If only more industry leaders would recognize this too...
It underscores how programming is fundamentally creative, high-leverage—and therefore illegible—work.
If only more industry leaders would recognize this too...
September 20, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Empirically studying the effectiveness of static typing is incredibly difficult—and I actually find that reassuring.
(The thread before the quoted post is also worth reading!)
(The thread before the quoted post is also worth reading!)
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
#AmeriHac – The hackathon by the #Haskell Foundation in New York City has been announced for the 7th and 8th of February 2026!
discourse.haskell.org/t/the-inaugu...
discourse.haskell.org/t/the-inaugu...
The Inaugural North America Haskell Hackathon
North American Hackathon The Haskell Foundation is proud to announce the inaugural AmeriHac, a two day haskell hackathon, with this iteration being in New York City! Jane Street has kindly offered to ...
discourse.haskell.org
September 13, 2025 at 4:39 PM
#AmeriHac – The hackathon by the #Haskell Foundation in New York City has been announced for the 7th and 8th of February 2026!
discourse.haskell.org/t/the-inaugu...
discourse.haskell.org/t/the-inaugu...
one of the things that finally got me to consider I have ADHD was catching myself painfully procrastinating on... starting a video game I was legitimately excited about >.<
Some of the biggest ADHD struggles are often getting ourselves to do the things we desperately want to do
September 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
one of the things that finally got me to consider I have ADHD was catching myself painfully procrastinating on... starting a video game I was legitimately excited about >.<
performative hours ≠ excitement
if folks were actually excited and motivated, you wouldn't need forced hours, you'd just trust people to work in the best way for them
if folks were actually excited and motivated, you wouldn't need forced hours, you'd just trust people to work in the best way for them
September 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
performative hours ≠ excitement
if folks were actually excited and motivated, you wouldn't need forced hours, you'd just trust people to work in the best way for them
if folks were actually excited and motivated, you wouldn't need forced hours, you'd just trust people to work in the best way for them
programming languages aren't just tools for making computers do stuff but also remarkably good as tools for conceptual design
fluidly mixing design and execution is part of what makes them so good at managing complexity because that lets us build hierarchies of concepts
fluidly mixing design and execution is part of what makes them so good at managing complexity because that lets us build hierarchies of concepts
September 4, 2025 at 4:43 PM
programming languages aren't just tools for making computers do stuff but also remarkably good as tools for conceptual design
fluidly mixing design and execution is part of what makes them so good at managing complexity because that lets us build hierarchies of concepts
fluidly mixing design and execution is part of what makes them so good at managing complexity because that lets us build hierarchies of concepts
my optimistic case for LLMs:
the world today is held together with Excel because Excel, for all its faults, lets its user adapt the tool to their needs rather than adapting their needs to their tools
LLMs aren't there today, but they might be the foundation for the next Excel
the world today is held together with Excel because Excel, for all its faults, lets its user adapt the tool to their needs rather than adapting their needs to their tools
LLMs aren't there today, but they might be the foundation for the next Excel
August 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM
my optimistic case for LLMs:
the world today is held together with Excel because Excel, for all its faults, lets its user adapt the tool to their needs rather than adapting their needs to their tools
LLMs aren't there today, but they might be the foundation for the next Excel
the world today is held together with Excel because Excel, for all its faults, lets its user adapt the tool to their needs rather than adapting their needs to their tools
LLMs aren't there today, but they might be the foundation for the next Excel
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
Sol Lewitt, ‘All ifs ands or buts connected by green lines’ (1973)
August 23, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Sol Lewitt, ‘All ifs ands or buts connected by green lines’ (1973)
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
"Furthermore, although they may exist, we have not been able to find any studies showing that extended overtime (i.e., more than 50 hours of work per week for months on end) yielded higher total output in any field."
cs.stanford.edu/people/erobe...
cs.stanford.edu/people/erobe...
Crunch Mode: programming to the extreme - The Economics of Crunch Mode
cs.stanford.edu
August 14, 2025 at 4:58 PM
"Furthermore, although they may exist, we have not been able to find any studies showing that extended overtime (i.e., more than 50 hours of work per week for months on end) yielded higher total output in any field."
cs.stanford.edu/people/erobe...
cs.stanford.edu/people/erobe...
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
It’s always “AI is great for generating boilerplate code” and never “why do we even need boilerplate code, maybe programming is broken”
August 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
It’s always “AI is great for generating boilerplate code” and never “why do we even need boilerplate code, maybe programming is broken”
conflating "best" with "easiest to manage" is probably one of the worst "honest" management failings
("honest" as in not driven by internal politics or character issues)
("honest" as in not driven by internal politics or character issues)
August 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
conflating "best" with "easiest to manage" is probably one of the worst "honest" management failings
("honest" as in not driven by internal politics or character issues)
("honest" as in not driven by internal politics or character issues)
This is part of why the best teams I've seen didn't even use tickets
Tickets are a fundamentally impoverished way to understand and manage creative work
Tickets are a fundamentally impoverished way to understand and manage creative work
To spell out the obvious: managers who buy into this latest hype train (“use AI to get dig als based on which you manage your team”) could chase away productive devs who don’t write many tickets (because they just ‘get it’ and get the work done or talk w others) and promote the opposite
August 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This is part of why the best teams I've seen didn't even use tickets
Tickets are a fundamentally impoverished way to understand and manage creative work
Tickets are a fundamentally impoverished way to understand and manage creative work
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
⚛️📝 New on Overreacted: The Math Is Haunted
The Math Is Haunted — overreacted
A taste of Lean.
overreacted.io
July 30, 2025 at 8:40 PM
⚛️📝 New on Overreacted: The Math Is Haunted
companies instituting "bug goalies" or "quality weeks" captures both what I like and dislike about modern startup culture
on the one hand, explicitly making space for quality is good
on the other, doing it in such a structured, top-down way isn't
on the one hand, explicitly making space for quality is good
on the other, doing it in such a structured, top-down way isn't
July 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
companies instituting "bug goalies" or "quality weeks" captures both what I like and dislike about modern startup culture
on the one hand, explicitly making space for quality is good
on the other, doing it in such a structured, top-down way isn't
on the one hand, explicitly making space for quality is good
on the other, doing it in such a structured, top-down way isn't
understanding object permanence might be practical, but it also makes life a bit more dull
July 21, 2025 at 1:18 AM
understanding object permanence might be practical, but it also makes life a bit more dull
Reposted by Tikhon Jelvis
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn't really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
www.techdirt.com
July 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
I saw Nostalghia yesterday
didn't know exactly what to make of it at the time, but it's still with me today, just took some time to sink in
seeing it at a theater and feeling the audience reaction was pretty amazing, added a real dimension
didn't know exactly what to make of it at the time, but it's still with me today, just took some time to sink in
seeing it at a theater and feeling the audience reaction was pretty amazing, added a real dimension
July 19, 2025 at 3:27 AM
I saw Nostalghia yesterday
didn't know exactly what to make of it at the time, but it's still with me today, just took some time to sink in
seeing it at a theater and feeling the audience reaction was pretty amazing, added a real dimension
didn't know exactly what to make of it at the time, but it's still with me today, just took some time to sink in
seeing it at a theater and feeling the audience reaction was pretty amazing, added a real dimension