Richard Feldman on AI, Programming Languages, and High-Quality Software | Frontend Masters Podcast Episode #24

About this episode

Richard Feldman discusses AI's impact on programming, the value of functional programming ecosystems, and the design of the Roc programming language.

In this episode, Richard Feldman (creator of Roc, Elm educator, and Zed engineer) discusses AI’s focus on "vibe coding" over high-quality tools, why functional programming’s real value lies in ecosystems—not dogma—and how frustration with slow compilers led him to design the Roc programming language. He shares Zed’s pragmatic use of AI for code "rough drafts," lessons learned from teaching Elm and Rust, and why prioritizing outcomes always beats out industry hype. He shares some Java war stories, JSX’s early controversy, and why Zed’s performance-first approach defies today’s norms. Tune in for deep dives on language design, where he sees AI’s potential, and the myth about using "boring" tech. Check out Richard’s Frontend Masters courses here: https://frontendmasters.com/teachers/ richard-feldman Frontend Masters Online: Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrontendMasters LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frontend-masters/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrontendMasters Instagram: https://instagram.com/FrontendMasters About Us: Advance your skills with in-depth, modern front-end engineering courses — our 150+ high-quality courses and 18 curated…

People in this episode

Host: Frontend Masters

Guest: Richard Feldman

Topics covered

• AI in programming
• functional programming
• programming languages
• software quality
• language design
• Zed performance
• vibe coding

Keywords

• AI
• programming languages
• functional programming
• Roc
• Elm
• Zed
• software quality
• JSX
• vibe coding
• language design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Frontend Masters, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram

Products: Roc, Elm, Zed, JSX

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