In this episode of Seniors at Scale, host Dan Neciu dives deep into the world of state management with Daishi Kato, the prolific open-source author and maintainer behind three of the most widely used libraries in modern React: Zustand, Jotai, and Valtio. Daishi also shares insights into his new project, Waku, a framework built around React Server Components.
Daishi has spent nearly a decade building modern open-source tools that expertly balance simplicity with scalability. He shares how the announcement of React Hooks got him excited and led him to pick global state as his field to explore, as it was "more like logic" and "off look and feel".
We break down the core philosophies and technical trade-offs between his state management trifecta:
Zustand (Zastan): Described as a single global store or global variable. It is minimal, and its philosophical difference from Redux is that it doesn't use reducers.
Jotai (Jyotai): Defined as a set of atom definitions, structured more like functions than a single global store. Daishi explains how the concept evolved from a need to avoid JavaScript proxies and selectors for better rendering optimization.
Valtio (Valtio): This library is fundamentally based on just using JavaScript objects. It re-introduces proxy-based reactivity because Daishi realized that proxies were now "recognized" and acceptable in the community. We discuss its hook-based API, which differentiates it from MobX's observer pattern.
The conversation then moves to the future of React development with Waku, which Daishi started as an experiment to learn how state management interacts with React Server Components. He explains Waku is suited for small-to-medium-sized web applications and static sites and discusses his vision for it to coexist with, rather than beat, Next.js.
What makes Zustand, Jotai, and Valtio different: Global Store vs. Atom Definitions vs. JavaScript Objects.
The philosophical difference between Zustand and Redux: Redux is reducers, Zustand is not.
How Jotai's atom concept evolved and its goal of render optimization without selectors.
Why Valtio embraced proxies and how its hook-based API differs from MobX.
The origin story of Waku as an experiment with React Server Components.
How React 18's useSyncExternalStore made Zustand even smaller.
The challenge of maintaining four popular open-source libraries, with Waku being the current focus.
Daishi’s strategy for rejecting feature requests for minimal libraries like Zustand: "We reject everything".
Why Daishi prefers a competitive community over a built-in React state manager.
Which of his libraries (Jotai) is best suited for use within Waku, as it is an abstraction of state that works on both client and server.
If you're managing global state in React, interested in the internals of popular open-source tools, or curious about the future with React Server Components, this episode is a must-listen.
Follow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/Additional Resources
🌐 Daishi's Libraries: https://github.com/pmndrs🌐 Waku: https://github.com/dai-shi/waku🌐 SICP Book: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
#react #zustand #jotai #valtio #waku #statemanagement #javascript #opensource #softwareengineering #frontend #webdevelopment #señorsatscale
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In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Dan sits down with Vlad Kononov, software architect, keynote speaker, and author of Learning Domain-Driven Design and Balancing Coupling in Software Design.
Vlad has spent more than twenty years helping teams untangle legacy systems, rebuild failing architectures, and bring clarity to messy business domains. His work spans greenfield systems, enterprise refactors, and the ambiguous environments where most real software actually lives.
This conversation cuts through the hype around DDD and microservices, focusing on the mechanics of bounded contexts, coupling, business alignment, and architectural evolution. We talk about why ubiquitous language reduces project failure, how bounded contexts emerge from social structures rather than diagrams, why most teams misuse aggregates, and how to spot “pain signatures” inside a system and trace them back to unclear domain boundaries. Vlad explains how subdomains evolve over time, how good designs quietly become counterproductive, and how accidental complexity appears at every layer of a system.
We also dig into the real model behind coupling—strength, distance, and volatility—and how teams can use it to design systems that stay adaptable under pressure. Vlad breaks down why many microservice rewrites fail, when DDD actually makes sense, and why refactoring should start with understanding the business rather than carving out services at random.
The episode ends with a discussion about AI and architecture, and how LLMs make domain-driven design more important rather than less. Vlad explains why clear domain vocabulary and modular boundaries help both engineers and AI reason about a system without being overwhelmed by complexity.
If you’re building complex systems, leading platform or architecture teams, or struggling with a legacy codebase that keeps pushing back, this episode offers a practical, experience-driven guide to designing systems that scale with the business.
Chapters
00:00 Intro and Vlad’s Background
01:42 Why DDD Was Written and Who It Was For
04:02 When Aggregates Finally Made Sense
05:42 Ubiquitous Language as the Core of DDD
07:31 Why Software Projects Fail
08:52 The Biggest Misconception About DDD
10:13 Common Anti-Patterns in Domain Design
12:12 Greenfield vs Brownfield DDD
14:03 How to Begin Refactoring a Monolith
15:25 Mapping Subdomains: Core, Supporting, Generic
19:25 When Companies Do DDD Without Knowing
20:39 When DDD Fails and Lessons Learned
22:41 Why Defining Boundaries Is Hard
25:56 Accidental Complexity in Large Systems
27:32 Microservices, Myths, and Pain
30:29 What Coupling Really Means
33:17 Strength, Distance, and Volatility
39:07 How Vlad Documents Architecture
41:37 Event Storming as the Source of Truth
44:01 How AI Changes System Design
48:28 How to Enforce Ubiquitous Language
51:00 Book Recommendations
53:33 Closing Thoughts
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In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Dan sits down with Bramus Van Damme, Chrome Developer Relations Engineer at Google, and one of the driving forces behind View Transitions, Scroll-Driven Animations, Anchor Positioning, and CSS Custom Functions.Bramus brings a rare perspective from inside the browser engine itself. From helping shape CSS specs at the standards level to building the demos and tooling that developers rely on every day, he has a front-row seat to how modern UI engineering is evolving.We go deep into how the new CSS works in practice — beyond the marketing, straight into the mechanics of performance, rendering, and real-world API design.We break down how these capabilities actually work:How View Transitions calculate DOM deltas and morph shared elements across pages,How Scroll-Driven Animations run on the compositor instead of the main thread,How Anchor Positioning finally fixes popovers, tooltips, and dropdowns without JavaScript,and how CSS Custom Functions and Mixins push the language closer to a full programming environment.Bramus also explains the browser-internals most teams never see — interop, working with the CSS Working Group, and the engineering cost behind features that take 5 to 10 years to land across engines.The conversation goes beyond features into the realities of framework timing, React’s virtual DOM, when animations fall back to the main thread, and why modern CSS is becoming the foundation for UI systems at scale.If you’re building modern frontends, maintaining a design system, or leading platform engineering for UI, this episode is a masterclass in what the next generation of the web actually looks like.Chapters00:00 The Journey into Web Development01:02 Best Practices for View Transitions07:46 What Chrome DevRel Actually Does10:33 How Browser Features Get Prioritized13:38 Why Styling Forms Has Been Broken for Years17:18 Inside View Transitions and Cross-Document Animations22:11 Motion, Accessibility, and Reducing Overuse23:44 Integrating Browser Features with React, Vue, and Frameworks27:46 The Popover API and Pattern-Driven Standards30:48 How React and Chrome Collaborated on View Transitions31:46 The State of Scroll-Driven Animations34:25 Triggered Animations and What’s Coming Next35:50 Why JS Scroll Handlers Cause Jank37:17 GPU-Accelerated vs Main-Thread Animations40:10 The Coolest Demo: Scroll-Driven View Transitions44:24 Anchor Positioning and De-JSifying UI Patterns48:23 Developer Feedback, Interop, and Spec Evolution51:19 Custom Functions and the Future of CSS as a Language54:58 Mixins, Preprocessors, and Platform Evolution56:43 Books, Blogs, and Where Bramus Learns58:11 Closing Thoughts and Call for FeedbackFollow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/Additional Resources🌐 Bramus’ Blog: https://www.bram.us🌐 View Transitions Demos: https://view-transitions.chrome.dev🌐 Scroll-Driven Animations Course: https://scroll-driven-animations.style/🌐 Anchor-Tool by Una: https://anchor-tool.com#css #webdevelopment #frontend #javascript #chrome #softwareengineering #uiux #devtools #animations #react #performance #softwarearchitecture #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines.
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Dan sits down with Liran Tal, Director of Developer Advocacy at Snyk, GitHub Star, and one of the most influential voices in modern application security. Liran has spent decades at the intersection of open-source ecosystems, Node.js, supply chain security, and now AI agent security, helping developers ship fast without exposing themselves to silent, catastrophic risks.
He breaks down the real stories behind today’s security landscape — from NPM malware and maintainer compromises to MCP attacks, toxic flows, and the hidden vulnerabilities emerging from AI-driven development.
We dig into what “security at scale” actually means: how attackers compromise maintainers and publish worm-style malware, how invisible Unicode payloads bypass human review, why AI-generated code is statistically insecure, and how developers can build guardrails directly into their workflows with tools like Snyk, NPQ, and MCP scanning.
Liran also reveals the problems teams consistently underestimate — developer ergonomics, dependency trust, package governance, CI risk, and why blindly upgrading dependencies is one of the most dangerous patterns in modern engineering.
The conversation goes far beyond theory — into secure coding, package hygiene, NPM ecosystem fragility, MCP prompt injection, SQL and command injection patterns, and what real-world breaches teach us about resilience.
If you build software, install dependencies, or use AI coding agents, this episode is a masterclass in defensive engineering, supply chain awareness, and the new security realities shaping our industry.
Chapters
00:00 Security at Scale – Why It Matters Now
02:14 How Liran Got Into Security
05:12 The Shift Toward Developer-Led Security
08:33 How Snyk Changed the Developer Security Workflow
11:07 The Story Behind NPQ and Safer Dependency Installation
14:02 The Rise of NPM Malware and Maintainer Compromise
16:48 Why Blind Upgrade Everything Pipelines Are Dangerous
19:15 Is Node the Problem or Is It NPM
21:10 The Hidden Risk of MCPs and AI Agent Vulnerabilities
24:18 Toxic Flows, Shadowed Tools, and Prompt Injection
27:22 AI Browsers, Extensions, and Real Prompt Injection Attacks
30:04 Why Prompt Injection Has No True Fix
33:01 AI-Generated Code Is Statistically Insecure
35:12 How Snyk Plus MCP Creates a Secure Coding Loop
37:40 The Most Common MCP Vulnerabilities
40:55 How AI Agents Turn Mild Bugs Into Critical RCE
43:11 The Glassworm Invisible Unicode Attack Vector
44:51 EventStream, XZ Utils, and Supply Chain Horror Stories
48:03 Liran’s Personal Security Incidents
51:10 UX vs Security and Real World Tension
53:04 Liran’s Book Recommendations
55:37 Final Thoughts and Protecting Yourself as AI Evolves
Sound Bites
"Security at scale is a complex challenge."
"AI-generated code is not always secure."
"Security and UX must work together."
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Additional Resources
Snyk – developer-first security tools
Serverless Security (O’Reilly) – co-authored by Liran
Liran’s GitHub: https://github.com/lirantal
NPQ package checker: https://github.com/lirantal/npq
MCP Scan (Snyk) – securing MCP servers
#security #softwaresecurity #supplychainsecurity #npm
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How are you protecting your stack from supply chain attacks? Share below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Dan sits down with Luca Mezzalira, Principal Serverless Specialist at AWS and author of Building Micro-Frontends, for a deep and highly practical look at scaling frontend architectures for hundreds of developers.
Luca shares the real story behind how micro-frontends were born — from his early experiments at DAZN trying to scale a live sports platform across 40 devices and 500+ engineers, to pioneering techniques that cut app startup times from 40 seconds to 12.
We break down how distributed frontends actually work:
How to design stable application shells with zero global state,
How to compose independently deployed views without iframes, and how guardrails like bundle-size budgets and canary deployments keep massive systems fast and safe.
Luca also explains the hidden challenges most teams miss — governance, team topology, and socio-technical design.
He shows how to evolve from a monolith to micro-frontends step by step, using edge routing, feature flags, and domain-driven design to scale safely without rewrites.
The conversation goes beyond theory — into the mechanics of migration, platform teams, CI/CD pipelines, and why friction in your system is actually a signal, not a failure.
If you’re leading a frontend platform, planning a migration, or just trying to make sense of where micro-frontends actually fit, this episode is a masterclass in autonomy, architecture, and evolution at scale.
Chapters
00:00 The Origin of Micro-Frontends at DAZN05:41 Building a Distributed Frontend Without iFrames08:50 Designing the Application Shell and Stateless Architecture12:23 Zero Global State and Memory Management15:53 Guardrails for Bundle Size and Developer Discipline17:39 Governance and Designing for Scale20:18 When (and When Not) to Adopt Micro-Frontends22:46 Canary Releases and Edge Routing for Safe Migration25:49 Vertical vs Horizontal Splits in Micro-Frontends31:30 Lessons from Building the First Edition of the Book35:38 Frameworks, Federation, and Modern Tools39:22 Core Principles of Successful Frontend Architecture42:06 Building Platform Teams and Core Governance44:19 When Micro-Frontends Don’t Make Sense47:50 Micro-Frontends for Small Teams and Startups49:32 Monorepo vs Polyrepo – What Actually Matters53:10 Preventing Duplication and Encouraging Communication57:39 Why a Design System Is Non-Negotiable59:17 Common Anti-Patterns in Micro-Frontend Architecture
1:03:33 Book Recommendations and Final Thoughts
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Additional Resources
📘 Building Micro-Frontends – Luca Mezzalira (O’Reilly) buildingmicrofrontends.com
🌐 buildingmfe.com
💬 Luca’s Blog: https://lucamezzalira.com
#microfrontends #aws #frontendarchitecture #javascript #webdevelopment #softwareengineering #softwarearchitecture #react #scaling #teamtopologies #serverless #señorsatscale
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🎙 About the Podcast:
Join host Neciu Dan as he sits down with Stefano Magni, a senior front-end engineer and tech lead at Preply, to explore the intricacies of building a robust design system and the journey of working in public.
Stefano shares his insights on the importance of skills, reputation, and networking in shaping a successful career. Discover how his experiences from building Flash mini-games to architecting React-based systems have influenced his approach to engineering excellence.
In this episode, they discuss:
The pivotal moment that led Stefano to work in public
How Preply's design system impacts user experience
The balance between perfectionism and pragmatism in engineering
The role of data-driven decisions in Preply's culture
Best practices for managing large codebases without tests
Stefano also shares his journey from a Flash developer to a leader in the design system space, emphasizing the value of sharing knowledge and building a strong professional network.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Stefano Magni and Preply
05:12 The Importance of Public Work
12:45 Building a Design System at Preply
18:30 Balancing Perfectionism and Pragmatism
25:00 Data-Driven Culture at Preply
32:15 Managing Large Codebases Without Tests
40:00 The Journey from Flash to React
47:30 Networking and Reputation in Tech
55:00 Closing Thoughts and Future Plans
📚Links & Resources:
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/
#designsystem #frontend #engineeringexcellence #preply #networking #publicwork #softwaredevelopment #señorsatscale
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🎙 About the Podcast:
Señors @ Scale is a no-fluff engineering podcast hosted by Neciu Dan — diving into the real-world chaos of scaling systems, teams, and yourself. From production bugs to platform bets, we sit down with senior engineers to discuss the scars, strategies, and lessons that truly matter.
In this episode, host Neciu Dan sits down with Bruno Paulino, Tech Lead at N26, to unpack how reliability, experimentation, and platform culture shape one of Europe’s most trusted digital banks.
Bruno’s path is anything but ordinary — from serving as a police officer in Brazil to leading FinTech engineering teams at scale. He shares how N26 builds server-driven UIs, runs AI-powered customer support, and balances speed vs reliability when every deploy touches millions of users.
They break down:
How server-driven UI lets N26 ship features in minutes
Why CI/CD pipelines are the backbone of reliability
What it means to trade speed for resilience in FinTech
How Statsig changed experimentation culture company-wide
Lessons from production outages and post-mortems
Why strong developer experience drives safer systems
It’s a deep dive into the real architecture, trade-offs, and human decisions behind reliable banking systems at scale.
🎧 Whether you’re scaling a FinTech product, managing CI/CD pipelines, or just trying to keep production sane, this one’s for you.
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In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Dan chats with Natalia Venditto, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, and Igor Minar, Senior Director of Engineering at Cloudflare and co-creator of Angular, about WebFragments — a radical new approach to micro-frontends that rethinks how we build for the web.
Natalia and Igor share how WebFragments was born from years of pain with module federation and brittle micro-frontend systems. They explain why shared dependencies and team coupling still plague large-scale applications, and how WebFragments breaks that pattern by isolating each fragment’s JavaScript and DOM context while still delivering a seamless user experience.
We dive deep into the architecture:
how iframes are being reinvented for performance and isolation,
how Shadow DOM and a technique called Reframing encapsulate code like Docker does for containers,
and how Fragment Piercing enables server-rendered fragments to appear instantly — even before the client shell has loaded.
The conversation also covers the challenges of building vendor-agnostic, framework-independent systems, the middleware patterns that eliminate CORS issues, and Cloudflare’s real-world migration of its production dashboard to WebFragments.
Plus, Natalia and Igor share what’s next — from nested fragments and out-of-order streaming to growing an open-source community around this new model of frontend architecture.
Whether you’re building micro-frontends, leading platform teams, or just curious about what’s next for web architecture, this episode is a masterclass in isolation, performance, and pragmatic innovation at scale.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to WebFragments and Guests
06:48 Differentiating WebFragments from Module Federation
13:46 The Promise of Independence in Micro-Frontends
16:49 Reframing: A New Approach to Isolation
19:54 The Concept of Piercing in WebFragments
33:26 Fragment Communication and State Management
36:09 Middleware and Request Routing
39:22 WebFragments in Action at Cloudflare
44:02 Getting Started and Migration Path
50:13 Future Developments and Features
54:37 Community and Contributions
01:02:02 Outro
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Additional Resources
https://github.com/webfragments
https://blog.cloudflare.com/
https://learn.microsoft.com/
#microfrontends #webfragments #javascript #angular #cloudflare #microsoft #frontend #softwarearchitecture #performance #webdevelopment #softwareengineering #señorsatscale
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How is your team approaching micro-frontends and architectural independence? Share below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Erik Grijzen, Principal Software Engineer at New Relic, joins Dan to share his journey from web designer to principal architect and what it really takes to scale UI development across dozens of teams. Erik walks us through how New Relic built one of the first large-scale micro-frontend architectures before the term even existed, designing tooling that lets teams ship independently—from CLI bootstrapping to runtime composition. He explains how to manage hundreds of deploys a day without breaking the platform, and how observability keeps complex systems reliable when they inevitably fail.We dive deep into observability at scale—how metrics, logs, traces, and business data blend to show what’s happening inside distributed systems, and why visibility isn’t just for developers anymore but a business priority tied to uptime, revenue, and customer trust.Erik also shares what technical leadership looks like at New Relic: influencing without authority, scaling architecture through culture, and using processes like RFCs and change documents to make better decisions. He emphasizes writing before building, POCs before roadmaps, and the mindset shift from coding features to guiding direction.The episode closes with a thoughtful discussion on burnout, balance, and habits for longevity in engineering—from sports and shutdown rituals to books like A Philosophy of Software Design and 4,000 Weeks.Whether you’re an architect, staff engineer, or team lead scaling a complex frontend platform, this episode is packed with real lessons on architecture, observability, and leadership at scale.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Erik Grijzen and His Journey08:48 Building a Unified Platform at New Relic13:34 Challenges and Solutions in Micro-Frontend Development18:47 How Observability Works Behind the Scenes32:02 Organizing Teams Around Domains36:38 Testing in Micro Frontends43:38 Technical Leadership and Management49:38 Effective Processes for Teams54:05 Decompressing and Work-Life Balance---Follow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/---Additional Resources[https://newrelic.com/blog](https://newrelic.com/blog)[https://micro-frontends.org/](https://micro-frontends.org/)[https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/book.php](https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/book.php)[https://oliverburkeman.com/books/4000-weeks/](https://oliverburkeman.com/books/4000-weeks/)#microfrontends #observability #softwarearchitecture #newrelic #frontend #softwareengineering #leadership #teammanagement #engineeringculture #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. How is your team scaling architecture and observability? Share below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Kateryna Porchienova, Senior Engineering Manager at Buffer, joins Dan to talk about her journey into programming, the craft of UI animation, and why accessibility should be a standard — not an afterthought.Kateryna shares how her very first app, built in high school, ended up helping children with disabilities learn from home — sparking a lifelong commitment to inclusion in tech. She walks us through best practices for accessibility, from learning to use a screen reader to understanding semantic HTML and ARIA roles.We also dive into the tooling side — from React Aria and Radix to Storybook and Lighthouse — and discuss how AI can both help and hurt accessibility efforts. Kateryna explains the most common mistakes developers make (like overusing ARIA labels), why animation and motion preferences matter for users’ health, and how to advocate for accessibility within engineering teams and company culture.The episode closes with her favorite book recommendations on product development and communication, underscoring how great engineering is as much about people as it is about code.🎯 Whether you’re a frontend developer, design system engineer, or tech lead, this episode is packed with real stories, practical takeaways, and thoughtful lessons from years of building inclusive products at scale.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Katarina Porchienova02:40 The Importance of Animation in UI Design05:23 Katarina's Journey into Programming09:02 Exploring Accessibility in Development11:43 Best Practices for Accessibility14:18 Tools and Libraries for Accessibility Testing17:09 The Role of AI in Accessibility20:44 Common Mistakes in Accessibility Implementation24:14 Advocating for Accessibility in Companies30:37 Recommended Books and Closing Thoughts---Follow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/---Here are some additional resources to dive deeper into the topic and learn more:- If you are just starting with accessibility, this free course on Udacity is awesome: 🔗 [Web Accessibility Course / Udacity](https://www.udacity.com/course/web-accessibility--ud891)- A11ycasts series on YouTube is great for bite-sized content on accessibility and screen-reader tutorials🔗 [A11ycasts with Rob Dodson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtTyRajRuyY&list=PLNYkxOF6rcICWx0C9LVWWVqvHlYJyqw7g)- [Adrian Roselli blog](https://adrianroselli.com/posts) is an awesome resource for deep dives on specific topics and details- [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/)- [ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG)](https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/) is super useful for developing different widgets- [HTML Accessibility API Mappings](https://www.w3.org/TR/html-aam/) to see how native HTML elements map to accessibility tree- [Aria Live Regions documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/ARIA_Live_Regions) to learn more about announcements and live regions- [A11Y support](https://a11ysupport.io/) shows support for various ARIA attributes across different screen readers#accessibility #webdevelopment #frontend #uiux #animation #buffer #reactaria #softwareengineering #a11y #engineeringculture #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines.How is your team building accessibility into your workflow? Share below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Adrian Marin, founder of AVO and host of FriendlyRB, joins Dan to share his journey into programming and his deep commitment to the Ruby ecosystem.Adrian walks us through his transition from a non-technical background into software development and how he fell in love with Ruby on Rails for its elegance and productivity. He explains why everything in Ruby is an object, what makes Rails still the fastest way to build apps, and how Hotwire redefines frontend development with minimal JavaScript.We also dive into the tools and frameworks shaping today’s developer experience: the rise of Tailwind CSS, why Adrian built AVO to make internal tooling in Rails as smooth as Laravel Nova, and how the Ruby ecosystem continues to thrive with innovative libraries and first-party tools.Beyond code, Adrian shares how community and creativity intersect in tech — from organizing FriendlyRB in Romania to inventing a Ruby Passport that lets conference-goers collect stamps and connect with peers across events.🎯 Whether you’re a Rubyist, Rails engineer, or curious about how productivity frameworks scale, this episode is packed with insights, stories, and lessons from the trenches.---Chapters00:00 Introduction to Adrian Marin and His Journey04:33 The Early Days of Programming06:58 Nostalgia for the Old Web Development Days08:53 Evolution of Web Development Tools12:45 The Impact of AI on Development14:11 The Rise of Tailwind CSS15:16 Adrian's Love for Tailwind CSS20:46 Transitioning from PHP to Ruby on Rails29:35 Building AVO: A Toolkit for Internal Tools34:31 Understanding Hotwire in Rails36:29 Understanding Client-Server Interactions39:30 The Ruby Ecosystem and Community Engagement44:36 Creating Memorable Conferences46:10 Innovative Networking: The Ruby Passport54:46 Getting Started with Ruby on Rails01:06:24 Balancing Work and Family Life01:07:42 Recommended Reads for Developers---Follow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/---#rubyonrails #ruby #rails #hotwire #tailwindcss #avo #softwaredevelopment #developercommunity #webdevelopment #engineeringculture #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Are you building with Rails at scale? Share your experience below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Andreas Panopoulos — Staff Software Engineer at Hack the Box and co-organizer of Vue.js Athens — joins Dan to share his journey from building jQuery landing pages to leading frontend teams powered by Vue.Andreas walks us through the evolution of Vue.js, from version 2 to 3, and how features like the Composition API and TypeScript support transformed developer experience. He shares what it was like to rewrite Hack the Box’s Academy platform on Nuxt 3, why Vue scales for millions of users, and what performance practices every frontend team should keep in mind.We also dive into the human side of engineering: why understanding the basics of JavaScript is essential even when using frameworks, how public speaking and community organizing can accelerate growth, and why keeping things simple often beats overengineering.Along the way, Andreas reflects on lessons learned from his early career, his transition to staff engineer, and the role of community in shaping modern engineering culture.🎯 Whether you’re a Vue enthusiast, frontend engineer, or developer community organizer, this episode is packed with practical insights and stories from the trenches.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Andreas Panopoulos02:56 Andreas's Journey into Programming09:52 Transitioning to Frontend Development17:52 Current Role at Hack the Box21:41 Vue 2 vs Vue 3: A Developer's Perspective26:13 Lessons Learned from Early Career30:21 Transition to Staff Engineer34:46 Project Updates and Future Plans35:54 Understanding Hack the Box38:25 Security Practices in Development39:47 Performance and User Experience42:03 Vue's Popularity in Athens46:12 Business Logic and Frameworks47:27 Challenges in Finding Speakers52:26 Public Speaking Experiences56:34 Relaxation and Personal Interests58:00 Book RecommendationsFollow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/#vuejs #vue3 #nuxt #frontenddevelopment #javascript #hackthebox #softwareengineering #webdevelopment #engineeringculture #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Are you using Vue at scale in your team? Share your experience below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Faris Aziz — Staff Front-End Engineer at Small PDF, international speaker, and co-founder of ZurichJS — joins Dan to talk about scaling both frontend architecture and engineering culture.Faris shares his unconventional journey from CrossFit trainer to software engineer, and how personal projects became his gateway into tech. He opens up about the realities of working on applications serving 30 million+ users, why BFF architecture is such a powerful pattern for managing data between front-end and back-end, and the hidden pitfalls of performance when building with React and Next.js.We also dig into the human side of architecture: how observability, error management, and developer experience shape reliable systems; why ownership and accountability drive better outcomes than process checklists; and how stress can be reframed when you work in a culture of trust.And beyond code, Faris reflects on community: what it takes to co-found a thriving JavaScript meetup in Zurich, why meetups are “mini start-ups,” and how community building fuels personal and professional growth.🎯 Whether you’re a frontend engineer, engineering manager, or developer community organizer, this episode is packed with architectural insights and real-world lessons from the trenches.---Chapters00:00 Introduction to Faris Aziz and His Journey05:46 From Fitness to Coding: The Bootcamp Experience08:33 Building Personal Projects and Learning by Doing11:28 The Impact of Global Work Culture on Engineering14:24 Co-founding ZurichJS: Building Community in Tech19:57 Technical Insights: React vs. Next.js at Scale25:38 Scaling Challenges in Data Representation31:35 Understanding the BFF Architecture40:44 Authentication and Security in BFFs43:30 Comparing BFF with GraphQL and TRPC49:09 Innovative UI Approaches in Application Development51:27 A Day in the Life of a Staff Engineer52:13 Strategic Engineering at Scale55:46 Managing Stress and Engineering Culture01:01:06 Finding Balance in High-Stakes Environments01:05:37 Book Recommendations and Personal Insights---Follow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/#frontend #nextjs #bffarchitecture #javascript #react #softwaredevelopment #engineeringculture #techevents #zurichjs #webdevelopment #señorsatscaleDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Have you ever built — or struggled with — frontend architecture at scale? Share your experience below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Aris — founder of CityJS and longtime community builder — joins Dan to talk about the journey from small local meetups to organizing one of the fastest-growing global JavaScript conferences.Aris shares his unlikely path into programming, starting as a basketball-loving student in Greece with no computer at home, to innovating on the job with early Java projects, and eventually embracing frontend frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue. Along the way, he reflects on the competitive yet collaborative nature of programming, the evolution of the frontend ecosystem, and why choosing the “best” framework often depends less on hype and more on context.We dig into the heart of community building: why meetups matter beyond the pizza, how to create opportunities for first-time speakers, and the hidden challenges of finding sponsors and keeping attendees engaged. Aris also opens up about the leap from organizing monthly gatherings to running large-scale international conferences, and why he believes conferences should be treated as professional training — not optional perks.🎯 Whether you’re a frontend developer, a meetup organizer, or simply curious about what it takes to build thriving developer communities, this conversation offers a rare inside look at the messy, human, and rewarding world of tech events.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Name Origins04:14 Aris's Journey into Programming06:56 First Job and Early Experiences09:32 Transition to Frontend Development12:23 Framework Preferences and Ecosystem14:56 Meetups and Community Building17:44 The Importance of Networking20:11 Organizing Meetups and Conferences22:54 Creating Opportunities for New Speakers25:41 Challenges in Meetup Attendance27:32 Sponsorship Strategies for Meetups34:28 Transitioning from Meetups to Conferences39:37 The Value of Conferences for ProfessionalsFollow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/#javascript #conferences #developercommunity #frontend #meetups #cityjs #softwareengineering #techevents #communitybuilding #señorsatscale #webdevelopmentDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Have you ever spoken — or wanted to speak — at a tech meetup or conference? Share your experience below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Eric Rasmussen — creator of Redux Form and React Final Form, now Principal Product Engineer at Attio — joins Dan to talk about building open source at scale, developer experience, and the lessons learned from two decades of shipping frontend software.Eric shares his journey from early experiments with BASIC and FoxPro to designing Attio’s secure SDK ecosystem, which enables third-party developers to extend a next-generation CRM. Along the way, he opens up about the pitfalls of feature creep in open source, the evolution from Redux Form to React Final Form, and how AI is already reshaping documentation.We dive into why developer ergonomics matter more than ever, how strict design systems preserve product quality, and what it really takes to manage breaking changes when your code runs in thousands of apps. Eric also offers practical advice for juniors looking to break into open source, as well as insights on testing strategies, state machines, and the libraries he can’t live without.🎯 Whether you’re maintaining a popular open source library, building SDKs for other developers, or just curious about the hidden costs of “yes” in software design, this conversation is full of hard-won lessons from the trenches.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Eric Rasmussen and His Journey05:34 Early Programming Experiences and First Job08:01 Transition to Principal Engineer at Atio10:37 Understanding Atio's CRM and Its Market Position13:08 Developer Experience and Building for Other Developers15:29 The Role of Documentation in Developer Tools18:03 SDK Development and Framework Choices20:30 Building a Secure and Custom Runtime22:54 Managing Breaking Changes and Developer Feedback25:28 The Creation of Redux Form and Its Impact27:59 Testing Strategies for SDKs and Components33:48 Building a Design System35:27 React Final Form: Evolution and Insights41:11 The Journey from Redux to React Final Form46:08 Choosing State Management Solutions48:10 Overused Libraries and Tools54:25 Advice for Junior Developers59:32 Book Recommendations and Closing Thoughts01:04:25 OutroFollow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/#opensource #reduxform #reactfinalform #frontend #developerexperience #sdk #documentation #designsystems #softwareengineering #señorsatscale #techtalks #webdevelopmentDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. What’s your favorite open source library — and how has it shaped your work? Share below 👇Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines.
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Front-End Engineer and ADPList Top 100 Mentor Eduardo Aparicio-Cardenas joins Dan to talk about mentorship, career growth, and leadership at scale — from debugging real-world performance issues to guiding engineers through promotions and burnout.Eduardo shares lessons from 15+ years building web products, why perception often matters more than output for promotions, and how curiosity and frustration can be powerful motivators for learning. He breaks down what makes a strong tech lead, how to run compelling mock interviews, and why knowledge sharing is the ultimate multiplier for both mentor and mentee.They also discuss system design interviews (and why front-end design is often overlooked), strategies for breaking down problems, and what it truly means to grow from senior to staff to principal engineer.🎯 Whether you're mentoring juniors, preparing for a promotion, or just trying to be a better communicator on your team, this episode is packed with practical advice for engineers navigating their careers.Get in touch with Eduardo here https://eduardo-aparicio-cardenes.website, https://medium.com/@byeduardoac and if you are looking for a mentor: https://adplist.org/mentors/eduardo-dev or https://eduardo-aparicio-cardenes.website/mentor-profileChapters00:00 Journey to Front-End Engineering11:11 Transitioning to Happening and Current Projects18:51 Becoming a Mentor and Sharing Knowledge19:14 The Journey of Mentorship23:37 Understanding Mentee Needs28:18 The Importance of Sharing Knowledge31:43 Personal Growth and Agency36:13 Navigating Promotions and Perception39:16 Navigating Project Expectations in Tech Companies41:56 The Role of a Tech Lead44:39 Effective Communication in Tech47:18 Interview Strategies for Success49:54 System Design Insights52:22 Handling Burnout and Career Growth54:48 Recommended Reads for ProfessionalsFollow & Subscribe:📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/senorsatscale/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neciudev🎙 Podcast URL: https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale📬 Newsletter: https://neciudan.dev/subscribe💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neciudan💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/se%C3%B1ors-scale/#softwareengineering #mentorship #frontend #career #promotion #systemdesign #burnout #staffengineer #leadership #señorsatscale #techtalks #webdevelopmentDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Have you had a mentor who changed the course of your career? Share your story below 👇
In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Staff Frontend Engineer Matheus Albuquerque joins Dan to talk all things React, rendering, and real-world performance at scale.They dive into React scheduling and fibers, why rendering strategies always “depend,” and how to make performance decisions when millions of users are at stake. Mateusz shares war stories about dropdowns with 16,000 options, migrating a stable React app to SSR (and regretting it), and what happens when browsers you’ve never heard of load your app in production.
They also unpack how feature flags and ring deployments help ship safely, why junior devs struggle when they learn frameworks before fundamentals, and how mentorship + RFC-driven development can keep teams moving in the right direction.🎯
Whether you’re debugging hydration issues, experimenting with performance APIs, or mentoring new frontend engineers, this one is full of sharp lessons from the trenches of large-scale React.
*Chapters*
00:00 Introduction to Mateusz Albuquerque
04:19 The Journey to Programming
06:57 Diving into Frontend Development
09:33 Understanding React Scheduling
12:21 Rendering Strategies in React
15:01 Web Performance Challenges and Solutions
17:30 Techniques for Optimizing Performance
20:01 Common Challenges for New Developers
32:13 The Importance of Foundational Knowledge
33:56 The Value of RFC-Driven Development
35:42 Proud Achievements in Software Development
39:57 Challenges and Bugs in Large Scale Applications
46:11 Best Practices for Frontend Development
49:40 Recommended Reading for Developers
54:22 Personal Interests and Relaxation Techniques
Follow & Subscribe:
📸 Instagram: [ / senorsatscale ]( / senorsatscale )
📸 Instagram: [ / neciudev ]( / neciudev )
🎙 Podcast URL: [https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale](https://neciudan.dev/senors-at-scale)
📬 Newsletter: [https://neciudan.dev/subscribe](https://neciudan.dev/subscribe)💼 LinkedIn: [ / neciudan ]( / neciudan )
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Keywords:
Mateusz Albuquerque, React, frontend development, web performance, programming challenges, mentorship, feature flags, deployment strategies, tech conferences, performance optimization
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more engineering stories from the front lines. Have you ever been burned by performance issues in production React apps? Share your story below 👇
In this engaging conversation, Jose Calderon, a lead software engineer at JP Morgan Chase, shares his journey into software engineering, his passion for Java and the Spring ecosystem, and the importance of documentation and decision-making in software architecture.
He discusses the evolving role of AI in coding, offers tips for learning Java, and emphasizes the significance of mentoring future engineers.
The conversation also touches on crafting engaging conference talks, testing strategies for enterprise software, and the balance between refactoring and rewriting code. Jose concludes with book recommendations and insights into the gaming world as a form of relaxation.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
"You can build whatever you want and play around."
"The world is your oyster with Java."
"You can simplify and still be effective."
Keywords
software engineering, Java, Spring, coding, technology, software architecture, mentoring, conference talks, decision making, testing strategies, chaos engineering, AI in coding, book recommendations, gaming
🎙️ In this episode of Señors @ Scale, Principal Engineer Tudor Barbu (ex-Personio, Skyscanner) shares two decades of software engineering lessons — from hacking on cassette-based machines to leading platform efforts in modern frontend teams.
We talk debugging horror stories, the evolution of tech roles post-pandemic, and the shift from chasing technical perfection to delivering user value. Tudor breaks down what it means to be a pragmatic engineer, how he interviews for adaptability, and why ownership (not just code) drives results.
Whether you're mentoring juniors, scaling architecture, or just tired of reading octal bugs — this one’s for you.
Summary
In this conversation, Angel Paredes, an engineering manager at Datadog, shares his journey from being a student with a passion for art to becoming a successful engineer and manager in the tech industry. He discusses the differences between the tech environments in Madrid and Barcelona, his transition to engineering management, and the importance of team dynamics and leadership. Angel also delves into the evolving landscape of engineering roles, the challenges of interviewing in tech, and shares valuable book recommendations for personal and professional growth.
Takeaways
Angel's journey reflects the importance of finding one's passion in engineering.
The tech environments in Madrid and Barcelona have distinct characteristics.
Transitioning to management doesn't mean stopping coding; it's about balancing both.
Effective team management requires understanding individual motivations and challenges.
The future of engineering roles may shift towards product management and AI integration.
Interviews in tech are evolving, moving away from traditional algorithms to more practical assessments.
Cheating in interviews is a growing concern, especially with AI tools.
Cultural fit is crucial, but it should not overshadow technical skills in hiring.
Continuous learning and adaptation are essential in the fast-paced tech industry.
Books on management can provide valuable insights and frameworks for personal growth.