#212: Elmer Bulthuis on Rust, WebAssembly, and Sustainable Design
From Pybites Podcast by Julian Sequeira & Bob Belderbos
January 20, 2026 · 1h 1m
About this episode
Elmer Bulthuis discusses building adaptable software using Rust and WebAssembly, emphasizing sustainable design practices.
Change is unavoidable in software, so how do you make it safe to evolve systems without breaking trust? In this episode, we’re joined by Elmer Bulthuis for a wide-ranging conversation about building software that can adapt over time. We explore how Rust’s ownership model shapes clearer thinking about design, why WebAssembly is becoming a practical way to share complex logic across platforms, and how Elmer has used Rust and WASM in real projects to keep behaviour consistent across TypeScript and .NET without duplicating effort. We also dig into the everyday practices that make long-lived systems possible: choosing names that work in context, designing abstractions that don’t leak, and treating tests as living documentation rather than a checkbox. Elmer shares thoughtful perspectives on local-first development, keeping CI honest, and using AI as a helpful power tool for refactoring without outsourcing engineering judgement. Along the way, we touch on team culture, ego-free collaboration, and even yoga — because sustainable software is ultimately built by sustainable people. Connect with Elmer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmerbulthuis Github…
People in this episode
Hosts: Julian Sequeira, Bob Belderbos
Guest: Elmer Bulthuis
Topics covered
- Rust
- WebAssembly
- Sustainable Design
- Software Evolution
- Team Culture
- Local-first Development
Keywords
- Rust
- WebAssembly
- Software Design
- Sustainable Software
- CI
- Refactoring
- Team Collaboration
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Pybites, TypeScript, .NET, AI, LinkedIn, Github
More episodes of Pybites Podcast
- #218: Why Python developers are learning Rust · March 4, 2026 · 19 min
- #217: Building a Production RAG Pipeline is Easier Than You Think - with Tim Gallati · February 25, 2026 · 49 min
- #216: Resolving our own git mess · February 19, 2026 · 33 min
- #215: Arthur Pastel on creating actionable optimisations with CodSpeed · February 12, 2026 · 42 min
- #214: Building useful AI - from classroom to real business impact · February 5, 2026 · 52 min
- #213: Seven software engineering tips to make real progress this year · January 29, 2026 · 19 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Pybites Podcast podcast page.