What Separates Good Engineers from Great Ones
Beyond Coding22 Loka 2025

What Separates Good Engineers from Great Ones

What's the real difference between a good software engineer and a truly great one? It’s more than just coding skill. It's a specific mindset, a disciplined approach to technology, and a deep understanding of core principles. This is the roadmap to leveling up your career.


In this conversation with Sander Mak, Director of Technology at Picnic, we discuss the methods they use to train world-class engineers.


You will learn:

The "under the hood" knowledge that truly matters.

Why great engineers often choose "boring," proven technology.

The critical transition from being a coder to a product-focused engineer.

The most common pitfall that holds good developers back.


If you're a software developer looking to move beyond "good enough" and achieve greatness in your craft, this is the episode for you.


Connect with Sander:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandermak


Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:30 - Building Picnic's Tech Academy for New Engineers

00:04:37 - The Key Mindset of a Successful Junior Engineer

00:08:01 - A Look Inside the Engineering Training Curriculum

00:12:19 - The Common Pitfall of Copying Without Understanding

00:14:10 - How Deep "Under the Hood" Knowledge Should Go

00:17:41 - Why Great Engineers Value "Boring" Technology

00:21:44 - Improving Developer Experience and Team Productivity

00:30:02 - The Transition from Coder to Product Engineer

00:34:18 - Key Advice for Self-Taught Developers

00:35:41 - Using AI for Learning vs. for Code Generation


#SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperCareer #Coding

Jaksot(237)

From 6 Engineers to 2: Why Product and Engineering Are Merging

From 6 Engineers to 2: Why Product and Engineering Are Merging

What if the standard 6-person software team is now obsolete? AI tooling isn't just a productivity booster; it's fundamentally blurring the lines between product and engineering, enabling smaller, more...

15 Loka 202549min

How Hackathons Make You a Better Software Engineer

How Hackathons Make You a Better Software Engineer

What if you could turn a weekend project into a core product feature at a major tech company? We sit down with Behrouz Pooladrak, a software engineer and hackathon legend at Booking.com, to uncover ho...

8 Loka 202542min

AI Startup CEO Reveals What Really Kills AI Projects

AI Startup CEO Reveals What Really Kills AI Projects

What if the biggest obstacles to AI innovation aren't what you think? Deeploy CEO Maarten Stolk shares his controversial but effective strategies for building successful AI products and ecosystems, ch...

1 Loka 202544min

The Graph Problem Most Developers Don't Know They Have

The Graph Problem Most Developers Don't Know They Have

As a developer, you're trained to think in rows and tables. But what if that's the exact reason you're missing the most powerful connections in your data? There's a fundamental "Graph Problem" hiding ...

25 Syys 202554min

How Deepfakes are Evolving (And What You NEED to Know)

How Deepfakes are Evolving (And What You NEED to Know)

It takes just three seconds for AI to steal your voice and impersonate you in a way no one can detect. How can you protect yourself, your family, and your finances when seeing and hearing is no longer...

17 Syys 20251h 2min

From Pixels to Tokens: UX Is Not Enough Anymore

From Pixels to Tokens: UX Is Not Enough Anymore

What does it take to build AI features at the scale of Microsoft Copilot? Senior Product Manager Stéphanie Visser reveals the massive shifts in product development, from focusing on pixels to tokens a...

10 Syys 202547min

Stop Hiring Junior Engineers Because of AI?

Stop Hiring Junior Engineers Because of AI?

As AI accelerates development, many companies are halting junior hiring, believing AI tools can replace them. Shahin Shahkarami, Director of Data & AI at Ikea Retail, argues this is a massive mistake ...

3 Syys 202549min

How to Master Software Engineering (From Junior to Architect)

How to Master Software Engineering (From Junior to Architect)

Feeling overwhelmed by the constant change in software engineering? After 25 years in the industry, CTO Joris Kuipers shares a pragmatic roadmap to not just survive, but achieve true mastery in your c...

27 Elo 202552min