Design & Develop Distributed Software Better w/ Multiplayer • Tom Johnson & Julian Wood

GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.
https://gotopia.tech

Read the full transcription of this interview here

Thomas Johnson - Co-Founder & CTO at Multiplayer
Julian Wood - Serverless Developer Advocate at AWS
RESOURCES
Tom
https://x.com/tomjohnson3
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomjohnson3
https://github.com/tomjohnson3

Julian
https://bsky.app/profile/julianwood.com
https://twitter.com/julian_wood
http://www.wooditwork.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianrwood

Links
https://www.multiplayer.app

DESCRIPTION
Julian Wood and Tom Johnson explore the complexities of modern software development, with Tom sharing his journey from machine learning and distributed systems to founding Multiplayer, a company focused on simplifying development by automating documentation, debugging, and system design.
They discuss the challenges of building and managing complex software architectures, especially with microservices and cloud platforms, and the need for better tooling to address these issues. Tom emphasizes the importance of simplicity, collaboration, and transparency in development, especially when it comes to API design and managing system dependencies. They also explore best practices for team communication, the evolving role of platform engineering, and the shift toward a future where infrastructure is abstracted away, allowing developers to focus on software creation.
Together, they envision a world where better tools and AI lower the barrier to entry for developers, driving innovation and enabling more people to bring their ideas to life.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Simon Brown • Software Architecture for Developers Vol. 2
David Farley • Modern Software Engineering
Kim, Humble, Debois, Willis & Forsgren • The DevOps Handbook
Simon Wardley • Wardley Maps
Simon Wardley • Wardley Mapping, The Knowledge

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บท

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Distributed systems & simplifying development with Multiplayer (00:03:07)

3. Smarter debugging & platform engineering (00:15:58)

4. [Ad] Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast (00:18:04)

5. (Cont.) Smarter debugging & platform engineering (00:18:39)

6. Early mistakes to avoid when building software & teams (00:24:15)

7. Effective API design & communication for development teams (00:29:08)

8. Effective software teams & the future of development (00:37:52)

9. Outro (00:44:29)