Rick Ballard

@rballard
906 Followers
287 Following
313 Posts
Xcode engineer, @ Apple since '05. Cheerful Californian. World traveller. Food geek. I'm not a snob, I'm an enthusiast. (He/him)
Websitehttps://rick.sb.org
LocationSan Mateo, CA, USA (SF Bay Area)
Other SocMediahttps://bsky.app/profile/rballard.bsky.social Inert (no thank you, Meta): https://threads.net/@rickaballard
It's really remarkable how dramatically the way I work has changed in just a few short months. The parts of my job in front of a computer are almost unrecognizable vs. before. I'm lucky that it clicks so well for me, but I can completely understand why so many engineers are deeply disconcerted.
I love this Claude skill, by @grimalkina : https://github.com/DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities. It's a really fantastic start at turning LLM-assisted coding from something folks fear will sap their skills into a great opportunity for clear-headed learning and continuing education. And instead of making those separate activities, why not both at once? Try it out!
GitHub - DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities: A Claude Code skill for deliberate skill development during AI-assisted coding

A Claude Code skill for deliberate skill development during AI-assisted coding - DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities

GitHub
*Good* AI review is key, though. Just asking a model to review my code is pretty hit-or-miss. But using a high-quality Claude code skill for structured review does a lot better. & cross-model review seems to do even better (esp w/ a well-structured prompt/skill). E.g. Opus + Gemini, or Codex + Opus.
For all the talk about AI coding slop, the right workflows can go the other way. I pride myself on writing meticulous code & building deep understanding, and can change fragile code without regressions; but running my commits through a good AI review often still catches things I would have missed.
‪Rick Ballard‬
‪@rballard.bsky.social‬
· 2m
Relatedly, I am super proud of my colleagues who built a best-in-class in-IDE agentic programming experience for Xcode. It's a pleasure to use, and it works super well! https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/tech-talks/111428
Meet agentic coding in Xcode - Tech Talks - Videos - Apple Developer

Discover how Xcode 26.3 seamlessly integrates coding agents like OpenAI Codex and Claude Agent to work together on complex, multi-step...

Apple Developer
It's clear how nascent the tools are; how much dramatic improvement we'll get just from better context engineering, tooling, orchestration, and validation. It's a time of rapid experimentation, & moving at a crazy pace. The past couple months especially have felt like gaining software superpowers.
I haven't been posting about AI because people get dogpiled for it. And it is a societally complicated topic. But: I have been having more fun lately than at any point in my career. (And I've had a fun career 😄). Agentic programming has gotten *really* good. Especially with a thoughtful operator.
Interested in improving Xcode? My team is hiring!! note that this position is located in Vancouver, BC 🇨🇦🌲 #Xcode #FediHire #Apple
https://jobs.apple.com/en-us/details/200641971-3350/xcode-performance-engineer
Xcode Performance Engineer - Jobs - Careers at Apple

Apply for a Xcode Performance Engineer job at Apple. Read about the role and find out if it’s right for you.

The bravery of so many ordinary people in Minnesota this past week is deeply inspiring. And the degree to which it's necessary is horrifying.

Cooking turkey on a charcoal grill once again has proven to be the best.

Break down a turkey into parts, like you might a chicken. Kosher salt & leave in the fridge for a couple days. Grill; take each piece off at the right temp. Gives you moist, delicious meat with just enough smoke to elevate it.