Useful readings for CS169L

Technology stacks, Web architecture, and good taste

Why Ruby on Rails Still Matters, Links to an external site.especially in comparison to server-side JS-based app frameworks. What RoR gets right (and many JS frontend and backend frameworks get wrong) about meshing with rather than obfuscating or trying to invent basic Web mechanisms.
How "big" does your data have to be before a relational database is no longer efficient? Links to an external site. tl;dr you'd be surprised how big.
The Frontend Treadmill Links to an external site.. Why rewriting your frontend in The Next Great Framework is probably a waste of time.
Cool native HTML elements you need to know Links to an external site.. You'd be amazed how much you can do without writing a single line of JavaScript.
Things You Should Never Do, Part I Links to an external site.. A classic from Joel On Software, one of my all-time favorite developer blogs. Why throwing away your "ugly" code and starting over is not just a waste of time but a mistake that might be fatal, as it was to Netscape.

A take on using LLMs to help write code Links to an external site.
What do LLMs mean for the future of software? Bertrand Meyer is a distinguished software engineer known for his work on formal methods, including software contracts. Here's his take on the difference between code generation and software engineering, and implications for the integration of AI into SW Engineering activities.
Article: What we learned copying all the best code assistants Which AI tools are best at which kinds of programming-related activities? What are some concrete examples of using them to generate pieces of code that integrate into larger projects?
Article: Using LLMs and Cursor to become a finisher. What if you use an LLM to help you develop a spec for the code you need written, then use a different LLM session to turn that spec into code?
Substack post: Prompt Driven Development The author identifies PDD, in which the "developer" doesn't write any code themselves but does everything else, as particularly suitable for people who "likely have an architectural understanding of how software works, but have not retained fluency over programming syntax."