frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

How to get up to speed on software development from the top down

1•dave2299•1y ago
Hi everyone, I am a non-technical founder. I’ve bootstrapped a tech-enabled services company over the past year that’s growing, profitable, and close to 15K a month in revenue. I, by nature, prefer to be involved in the weeds of what’s happening in each domain of my business at first, even if that results in slower business growth. I built my company with a white label portal software (Copilot.app), Airtable, Squarespace, AppSheet,and some ChatGPT scripts.

Now, I need to start building out custom tools. I want to take a deep dive into software development, starting with front and back end web development from the top down, rather than starting from the bottom up as a coder.

If I keep growing eventually I will end up bringing on technical employees, but I want to understand the lay of the land before I start down that road, and I found that I’m able to do a lot once I understand the domain using low code and no code tools. So for example, things like Retool, etc. will accomplish most of the next phase of building I need. But I want to have a reading list of 10 or 20 books or blogs or courses or podcast, etc.. That will help me start getting the way of the land on how to architect software.

I know basic python, basics of the building blocks of programming at the intro level. I just read Designing Data-Intensive Applications (2nd ed on O’Reilly). Does someone have a list of 10 modern books that would help me understand big picture topics like this?

Comments

sherdil2022•1y ago
I offer personal / 1:1 training, mentoring and technical consultancy for founders and co-founders.

Please feel free to reach out to me. My throwaway email is in my profile, and I will respond.

The AI Hype Index: AI Loves Cheating

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/23/1144940/ai-hype-index-ai-loves-cheating/
1•sbulaev•5m ago•0 comments

Show HN: The Mirror Act – a magic show that performs cognitive biases on you

https://themirroract.avestura.dev
1•avestura•6m ago•0 comments

Cortical thinning and hippocampal expansion linked to ADHD symptom trajectories

https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/f7f1efa9-3b29-49e2-b765-60fe44526de6
1•wslh•7m ago•0 comments

I stress-tested LLM quantization by deliberately breaking models

https://github.com/gracejackson-sudo/quant-delta-predictor
1•GraceJackson07•7m ago•0 comments

We just shipped support for the ugliest part of HTTP: Vary – Cloudflare Blog

https://blog.cloudflare.com/vary-support/
2•thisisfatih•8m ago•0 comments

Opus 5.5 Scores 75.6% on Part Catalog Bench

https://partcatalogbench.adamjohnson.site
1•thomas_ma•14m ago•0 comments

Neuromancer in 3 Axioms

https://2600hz.substack.com/p/neuromancer-in-3-axioms
1•josh2600•15m ago•1 comments

Manage Firezone as code with Terraform

https://www.firezone.dev/blog/terraform-provider
1•jamilbk•16m ago•0 comments

The Bayeux Tapestry: Woven by the Victors

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/out-margins/bayeux-tapestry-woven-victors
2•prismatic•17m ago•0 comments

Where's the Beef?: The lab-grown-meat revolution that wasn't

https://harpers.org/archive/2026/09/wheres-the-beef-lab-grown-meat-erin-somers/
2•Hooke•18m ago•0 comments

Simple Git Management Tool

https://github.com/sascha10000/gitman
1•sascha10000•19m ago•1 comments

Claude Opus 5.5: Things People Created

https://favtutor.com/claude-opus-5-5-real-examples/
1•wslh•21m ago•0 comments

OpenAI 'agent' hacked Australia's health service

https://www.ft.com/content/56133ef4-377b-4e35-a939-f199ceb64507
4•little_goat_boy•22m ago•0 comments

Steppy Fox – free browser game

https://steppyfox.com/
1•fadilbeg•23m ago•0 comments

The last IMO problem AI could not solve [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbwv5wHQoj0
1•ColinWright•24m ago•0 comments

It's Not Just True, It's False

https://idiallo.com/byte-size/its-not-just-true-its-false
2•foxfired•25m ago•1 comments

A Redistribution of Code Ownership

https://blog.scotterickson.info/2026-09-23-Redistributed-Ownership
1•serickson•27m ago•0 comments

DHH Is Completely Crazy

https://www.reddit.com/r/rails/comments/1woa8r8/dhh_is_completely_crazy/
6•megraf•27m ago•0 comments

Virtual World/Real World Cycling App – In over My Head

https://sykla.app/hn
1•blakeburnette•28m ago•2 comments

OpenAI agent hacked Medicare, Albanese expressed 'extreme concern' to Sam Altman

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/24/anthony-albanese-says-openai-agent-hacked-...
3•NervousDendrite•30m ago•0 comments

The First VHS VCR: JVC HR-3300

https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-first-vhs-vcr-jvc-hr-3300/
1•ibobev•31m ago•0 comments

White House Says Access Is a 'Privilege' in Court Filing Defending Media Ban

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/business/trump-cnn-politico-ms-now-ban.html
3•whack•31m ago•0 comments

The spy in your living room

https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-spy-in-your-living-room/
1•ibobev•31m ago•1 comments

New England RetroFest and the Maine Vintage Computer Society

https://www.goto10retro.com/p/new-england-retrofest-and-the-maine
2•ibobev•31m ago•0 comments

OpenAI Hacked Medicare Portal, Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Says

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/1551084/openai-hacked-medicare-portal-australia-prime-minister-a...
1•richardc323•32m ago•0 comments

OpenRouter x AssemblyAI: Universal‑3.5 Pro is now available on OpenRouter

https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/aai-on-openrouter
1•iharnoor•33m ago•1 comments

The next Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch

https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2026/09/23/introducing-surface-pro-12-inch-and-surface-laptop-1...
1•kristianpaul•35m ago•0 comments

Bulk Orders Surge at Used Bookstores in Japan; 50 Tons Sent to U.S.

https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/society/e48899c1ab1445f683929740ef2b3aa6
2•ilamont•35m ago•0 comments

Surprise, Meta's latest AI gimmick is just underpaid humans

https://www.avclub.com/meta-muse-ai-human-labor
1•randycupertino•37m ago•0 comments

Cassis: Context Maintenance for Analytics Agents

https://getcassis.com/product/
1•matthieu_bl•38m ago•0 comments