The one where we vibe code holiday cards | Season 5 Finale

**Andrew Zigler** (0:06)
Welcome to Dev Interrupted. I'm your host, Andrew Zigler.

**Ben Lloyd Pearson** (0:09)
And I'm your host, Ben Lloyd Pearson.

**Andrew Zigler** (0:12)
And welcome to this year's holiday episode. If you're listening to this episode, we know you're a true fan of the show, and you found the space where, in our holiday season, like to wind down, relax, where we're spending time with folks, and that includes y'all, all of our listeners, and we're reflecting a bit on the last year that we had. And this episode is just an opportunity for us to, you know, dig into that successful year and what we're thankful for and what we're excited for next year. What you, as a Dev Interrupted listener, can maybe expect tuning in for Season 6 at the top of next year.

**Ben Lloyd Pearson** (0:42)
Yeah, absolutely. It's a great opportunity for us to relax a little bit, have some fun, you know, do some cool things. But of course, you know, it wouldn't be a Dev Interrupted episode at this point without a news roundup. And we also have a gift for everyone listening to this episode, which we're going to post later. You'll find out about it towards the end of it. Listen to, you know, just listen to the end for more details. But I'll give you a hint that this episode does have a part two, and it might be on a video platform. Andrew, where do you want to start? Should we should we just get right into the news? Or do you want to maybe talk about some reflections on this year with Dev Interrupted? The news?

**Andrew Zigler** (1:17)
No, we have to we have to mix it up a little bit. It's our holiday episode. So we have to start with, I think, some reflections. And there's a few things I think that we can both reflect on. So Ben, you know, what are you most thankful for when it comes to Dev Interrupted?

**Ben Lloyd Pearson** (1:29)
Yeah, this is an easy one because, you know, we get to speak to so many really smart people about software engineering, leadership, like all these really cool topics, and of course, AI. And I think as AI just like completely transforms so much of what we do, I'm so thankful that we get to have all these experts come into our house or our space and share really awesome things with us because I've learned so much just by hosting these people.
So yeah, I'm super thankful for that. What about you, Andrew?

**Andrew Zigler** (2:00)
I totally agree. I'm really thankful for the guests, but I think what I'm most thankful for is just how lucky I feel. Because when Dev Interrupted, it's like I feel like I'm at the right place, at the right time in our industry when things are changing and things are just so interesting week to week and with really amazing people too, both you and people behind the scenes, but our amazing guest network. So all of these things together have just made an amazing year. So just thankful for how lucky I am to be in a place where all those things are coming together. What are you most proud of in the past year for both the show and maybe even yourself personally?

**Ben Lloyd Pearson** (2:34)
I think what I'm really the most proud of is how we've really turned Dev Interrupted in the last year into, I mean, I don't want to say a content factory because it has negative connotations, but it's a system. We've really built a robust system for generating new content, for trying out new ideas, for experimenting with the podcast and our substack and all of those things. And it's really allowed us to iterate a substantial amount in the last year. If you've been a long-term listener, you've probably noticed some format changes, particularly over the last 12 months. And I'm just really happy that we've been able to pull that off because it's enabling us to take on bigger challenges and do more interesting things. So really awesome to see. So what about you, Andrew? What are you proud of this year?

**Andrew Zigler** (3:18)
I'm just proud of all of the energy that we were able to put into kind of automating away the toil of the things this year. That way, you and I have been able to talk so much and our producer Adam as well, about the strategy behind how to bring really great conversations and really amazing content to folks. And so I'm really proud of our ability to iterate and get to that place where we can strategize that and also just proud of us every single week for doing these new segments and covering things when it's easy and when it's not. I think that it speaks a lot to us showing up here and what we want to do and why we're so passionate about it. And I'm just really proud of everything that we've been building last year.