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Jul 15, 2017 · 12m · a16z

The Future of Software Development

Chris Granger · 11m spoken
0:00 / 0:00
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

This presentation explores how fundamental shifts in hardware and software complexity are driving a reunion between software engineering and academic research. By embracing simplified mathematical paradigms and stripping away fragile abstraction layers, modern software development is being reinvented for a distributed, networked world.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →

The host as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 6.3 Guest disagreement 2.7 The host pushing back 0.0
05100:0010:001:08–4:52 · The host as informed peer 0/10 Challenges in Performance and Networked Computing Because this is a monologue presentation without host intervention, host expertise and pushback are scored at 0. Granger educates the audience on the death of the 1970s single-CPU mental model and the failure of Moore's law. He shows mild combativeness toward traditional industry habits, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and comparing excessive abstraction to leaning teacups.4:52–10:12 · The host as informed peer 0/10 Five Simplified Paradigms for Modern Systems In this monologue segment, host metrics remain at 0 as Chris Granger systematically educates the audience on five paradigm shifts in software development. He contrasts complex distributed protocols like Paxos with simpler CRDTs, immutable append-only logs, and immediate mode UIs. His tone is predominantly instructional and pedagogical rather than combative.10:12–12:31 · The host as informed peer 0/10 Four Currents Shaping the Future of Computation With no host speech present, host-side metrics remain 0 for this final monologue segment. Granger synthesizes key macro trends, arguing for a return to simplicity and the democratization of computation. He dismisses superficial technical fixes, arguing that relying on C or slapping the actor model onto old systems will not solve modern hardware realities.1:08–4:52 · Guest teaching 6/10 Challenges in Performance and Networked Computing Because this is a monologue presentation without host intervention, host expertise and pushback are scored at 0. Granger educates the audience on the death of the 1970s single-CPU mental model and the failure of Moore's law. He shows mild combativeness toward traditional industry habits, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and comparing excessive abstraction to leaning teacups.4:52–10:12 · Guest teaching 7/10 Five Simplified Paradigms for Modern Systems In this monologue segment, host metrics remain at 0 as Chris Granger systematically educates the audience on five paradigm shifts in software development. He contrasts complex distributed protocols like Paxos with simpler CRDTs, immutable append-only logs, and immediate mode UIs. His tone is predominantly instructional and pedagogical rather than combative.10:12–12:31 · Guest teaching 6/10 Four Currents Shaping the Future of Computation With no host speech present, host-side metrics remain 0 for this final monologue segment. Granger synthesizes key macro trends, arguing for a return to simplicity and the democratization of computation. He dismisses superficial technical fixes, arguing that relying on C or slapping the actor model onto old systems will not solve modern hardware realities.1:08–4:52 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Challenges in Performance and Networked Computing Because this is a monologue presentation without host intervention, host expertise and pushback are scored at 0. Granger educates the audience on the death of the 1970s single-CPU mental model and the failure of Moore's law. He shows mild combativeness toward traditional industry habits, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and comparing excessive abstraction to leaning teacups.4:52–10:12 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Five Simplified Paradigms for Modern Systems In this monologue segment, host metrics remain at 0 as Chris Granger systematically educates the audience on five paradigm shifts in software development. He contrasts complex distributed protocols like Paxos with simpler CRDTs, immutable append-only logs, and immediate mode UIs. His tone is predominantly instructional and pedagogical rather than combative.10:12–12:31 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Four Currents Shaping the Future of Computation With no host speech present, host-side metrics remain 0 for this final monologue segment. Granger synthesizes key macro trends, arguing for a return to simplicity and the democratization of computation. He dismisses superficial technical fixes, arguing that relying on C or slapping the actor model onto old systems will not solve modern hardware realities.1:08–4:52 · The host pushing back 0/10 Challenges in Performance and Networked Computing Because this is a monologue presentation without host intervention, host expertise and pushback are scored at 0. Granger educates the audience on the death of the 1970s single-CPU mental model and the failure of Moore's law. He shows mild combativeness toward traditional industry habits, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and comparing excessive abstraction to leaning teacups.4:52–10:12 · The host pushing back 0/10 Five Simplified Paradigms for Modern Systems In this monologue segment, host metrics remain at 0 as Chris Granger systematically educates the audience on five paradigm shifts in software development. He contrasts complex distributed protocols like Paxos with simpler CRDTs, immutable append-only logs, and immediate mode UIs. His tone is predominantly instructional and pedagogical rather than combative.10:12–12:31 · The host pushing back 0/10 Four Currents Shaping the Future of Computation With no host speech present, host-side metrics remain 0 for this final monologue segment. Granger synthesizes key macro trends, arguing for a return to simplicity and the democratization of computation. He dismisses superficial technical fixes, arguing that relying on C or slapping the actor model onto old systems will not solve modern hardware realities.

speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%0:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%3:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%3:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%6:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%6:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%9:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%9:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%12:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%12:00 · the host 0% · guest 100%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 2:25 Critiquing Mainstream Software Engineering Abstractions

Granger aggressively critiques standard industry solutions, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and mocking traditional abstraction layers as teacups stacked until they lean and threaten to collapse.

 Hardest push from the host ▶ 10:45 Dismissing Quick Fixes for Modern Hardware

Addressing implicit pushback from conventional developers, Granger firmly rejects quick legacy remedies, stating that C won't save developers and simply slapping the actor model on top of existing architectures won't work.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:10 CRDTs vs Complex Coordination Protocols

Granger delivers a masterclass on distributed systems, demonstrating how mathematical data properties in CRDTs completely sidestep the need for notoriously complex coordination protocols like Paxos.

 The host holds their own ▶ 0:50 Redefining the Modern Machine Paradigm

Granger demonstrates high domain authority by reframing how software engineers must view hardware, shifting from the traditional 1970s single-CPU mental model to massive multi-core cloud nodes and networked pocket devices.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicThe host as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementThe host pushing backWhy
Challenges in Performance and Networked Computing 0630 Because this is a monologue presentation without host intervention, host expertise and pushback are scored at 0. Granger educates the audience on the death of the 1970s single-CPU mental model and the failure of Moore's law. He shows mild combativeness toward traditional industry habits, calling mainstream concurrency 'a horrid mess of locks and sadness' and comparing excessive abstraction to leaning teacups.
Five Simplified Paradigms for Modern Systems 0720 In this monologue segment, host metrics remain at 0 as Chris Granger systematically educates the audience on five paradigm shifts in software development. He contrasts complex distributed protocols like Paxos with simpler CRDTs, immutable append-only logs, and immediate mode UIs. His tone is predominantly instructional and pedagogical rather than combative.
Four Currents Shaping the Future of Computation 0630 With no host speech present, host-side metrics remain 0 for this final monologue segment. Granger synthesizes key macro trends, arguing for a return to simplicity and the democratization of computation. He dismisses superficial technical fixes, arguing that relying on C or slapping the actor model onto old systems will not solve modern hardware realities.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Granger: The single-CPU 1970s computer model disappeared over 15 years
“Over the past 15 or so years, the 19 seventies computer disappeared, right?”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 0:27
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Granger: Legacy computational models fail to handle modern networked systems
“And the truth is, our models for computation never really included those eventualities, right? We sort of assumed that, hey, that 19 seventies computer with just a single CPU would be fine for us.”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 1:42
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Granger: Software industry and academic research are reuniting after decades apart
“Industry and research are starting to come back together again, right? You go back to the seventies, there kind of was no distinction between the two. They were basically the same.”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 2:14
Insight
Granger: Managing software complexity by stacking abstractions creates fragile systems
“Pure engineering makes this very pragmatic trade-off, right, which is that you tame complexity by adding a layer of abstraction. And this is like stacking teacups on top of teacups, right? You can do this for a little while, but eventually those teacups, that …”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 3:18
Insight
Granger: Software engineering must gain power through simplicity, not complexity
“What we're really trying to get back to is simplicity, right? Instead of adding more teacups on top of this thing, wipe all the teacups away and find the foundational principles that we need in order to embrace this new machine, right? Gain power through simpl…”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 4:11
Insight
Granger: Shared mutable state in distributed systems is a disaster
“We learned very quickly that, ah, you know, shared mutable state is a disaster in that world, and then we have to do something else. And there's nothing simpler than just keeping a log of every single thing that ever came into the system, right?”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 6:26
Opinion
Granger: C and the actor model cannot solve modern computing challenges
“You know, C is not going to save us. You can't just stick the actor model on top of it and hope it's going to work.”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 10:39
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Granger: CRDTs and theoretical trends will reshape software computation
“We're gonna see these start to eek more and more and more into the system as we try and find ways to work against that new machine. And it's those trends that are ultimately going to, you know, reshape the way we think about computation as a whole, and then ho…”
Chris Granger Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 12:12
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