Jack Pickus

Software dev in New York.
I plan the system, AI types it out. Posting what that's taught me.
Built MyBibleSpark, daily Bible companion.

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Everyone says find a market first. I built my app for a market of one: me

I wanted to read and study the Bible more, so I built MyBibleSpark, where you answer a few questions and get a verse in seconds

5 App Store rejections later, it's live!

No guessing what the user wants

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

You know you're a brogrammer when you think a race condition is a type of leg day 🦵

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Dinner and an empty Claude code window. My favorite part of building is right before the first prompt

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Stop switching tasks while you code. Every switch costs you the focus you just built

Heard that in a talk at Devnexus 2024 in Atlanta. Still think about it

I wonder if AI makes it worse. Prompt Claude, grab your phone while it works and come back with no idea what you asked 😅

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@dhh Being a tech bro is more fun than not being one

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@cloneisjun It was mostly around how the app worked

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Nobody tells you how strict Apple's App Store review is until you're the one getting rejected.

My app MyBibleSpark got rejected 5 times.

One reason was the "Sign in with Apple" button was missing the Apple logo 🤡

The review took 2 to 3 weeks. The prototype took a few days 😅

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@asaridarr It was one at a time

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@m_0_r_g_a_n_ Most had to do with not requiring users to sign in

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

I always forget New York public library is on the Chick-fil-a schedule smh

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@riffydays So true haha

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@maomao000211 It was a different reason each time

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

9:15 lets have a great day everybody.
Start those Claude terminals!

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

I love it when a team actually works together. Makes accomplishing the goal so much easier

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Nothing like realizing you shipped your code with an API key commented out and someone chose to use it and run up your Claude bill 🙃

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Nobody tells you coding with AI is like managing a senior dev who can't think abstractly.

10 clear steps? Done before your coffee is.

Ask for the logo in the upper right corner and you'll get it in 5 seconds but in the wrong size, because the bot has no idea what the page is for.

The plan is your job. Prompting takes skill

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

@robj3d3 But at what point do all the takes start to sound the same and you just need to post it?

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

I wonder if AI looks back at old code from like six months ago and think, “ugh what was I doing?” like us humans do

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

Me at work

[Jack Pickus @JackPickus]

The rake doesn't care about your workflow