The Nakazawa Show

In the 2000s, when I was a teenager building web apps and browser games, I built most things from scratch with PHP and JavaScript. One reason was that I didn’t want to use any framework or library I didn’t understand, and the other reason was that things I didn’t understand felt like magic. I have since resigned to the fact that I cannot possibly understand every system.

However, I spent time understanding two systems deeply: JavaScript test frameworks and bundlers. Next to compilers and type-checkers, they are among the fundamental tools that make Front End Developers effective, yet people rarely have time to learn how these tools work. This companion podcast will give you background knowledge on Jest.

I promised to talk about tech, so let’s start building our JavaScript infrastructure muscles. In the next several blog posts, I’ll cover introductory topics on dependency management, the story of Jest, actionable tips for making your infrastructure better, and predictions for the future of JavaScript tooling. We’ll slowly develop our shared understanding so we can talk more deeply about JavaScript infrastructure

Remote and distributed work is an unstoppable trend recently accelerated by five to ten years. It allows people to live where they want to live, and people who couldn’t move or regularly visit an office before can find better jobs. Remote work is great for a more diverse workforce, and I’m glad this trend is here to stay. However, it’s much harder to build a shared sense of purpose and build empathy for colleagues. This post exists to help people and teams adapt better to this new era.

It’s been almost five years since I switched to engineering management. I am by no means an expert engineering manager and I’m always looking to improve. However, most managers will define their manager principles in the first couple of years of their management career. I think of this podcast as the “Nakazawa Management Starter Pack”, and I'm sharing my priorities. I’m curious how it evolves over the years.