# Tony Tam - Claude Code & Engineering > Technical tutorials, engineering insights, and Claude Code tips from Tony Tam's tutoring practice at tonytam.org Tony Tam offers tutoring for Claude Code, computer science, and software engineering. This file indexes relevant blog posts for AI assistants and language models. For tutoring inquiries, visit: https://tonytam.org/ ## Claude Code & AI Coding - [If Data Privacy Is Important to You.. which AI do you choose?](https://tonytam.org/if-data-privacy-is-important-to-you-which-ai-do-you-choose): Even when you pay for products such as ChatGPT, Anthropic, Gemini, your user data is still being used to train AI or other products. Try asking the... - [Claude Code - Using Hooks To Save Every Prompt](https://tonytam.org/claude-code-using-hooks-to-save-every-prompt): When we start to generate code using Claude Code (or other tools such as Gemini, Codex), the underly code matters much less because they can be rew... - [2026: 10 apps on 4 app stores in 26 languages](https://tonytam.org/2016-10-apps-on-4-app-stores): In 2026, could I publish 10 apps to 4 app stores and manage all the security and features to build a profitable small business? At least 5 of the a... - [Managing Multi-Platform Projects with Git Submodules: A Developer's Guide](https://tonytam.org/managing-multi-platform-projects-with-git-submodules-a-developers-guide): This blog post was written by Claude Code after I tutored a student who needed to manage 5 repositories that were all needed for a the same project... - [Link: Using LLM is like wearing a Mech suit](https://tonytam.org/link-using-llm-is-like-wearing-a-mech-suit): https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0178-why-llm-powered-programming-is-more-mech-suit-than-artificial-human - [link: These Models Gave Up Photoshoots to Sell Their AI Likenesses](https://tonytam.org/link-these-models-gave-up-photoshoots-to-sell-their-ai-likenesses): WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-models-gave-up-photoshoots-to-sell-their-ai-likenesses-9bfef6a1 A possible way to earn passive income, it's... - [Thoughts on code generators?](https://tonytam.org/thoughts-on-code-generators): I’m curious whether these tools that claim to auto generate code will be able to help those who don’t have CS background.  My own anecdotal evidenc... ## Tutoring - [Claude Code - Using Hooks To Save Every Prompt](https://tonytam.org/claude-code-using-hooks-to-save-every-prompt): When we start to generate code using Claude Code (or other tools such as Gemini, Codex), the underly code matters much less because they can be rew... - [Tutoring Student Using microbit.org](https://tonytam.org/tutoring-student-using-microbit-org): Today I had a student who was in sixth grade and was struggling with understanding how to work on an assignment on microbit.org. Even though I've n... ## Engineering - [Beyond print(): Why the Debugger is Your Secret Weapon](https://tonytam.org/beyond-print-why-the-debugger-is-your-secret-weapon): I’ve been in this industry for a long time. I had my pick of jobs at Yahoo! back in ‘99, and I chose a path that led me to solve problems at a scal... - [Link: Using LLM is like wearing a Mech suit](https://tonytam.org/link-using-llm-is-like-wearing-a-mech-suit): https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0178-why-llm-powered-programming-is-more-mech-suit-than-artificial-human - [Thoughts on code generators?](https://tonytam.org/thoughts-on-code-generators): I’m curious whether these tools that claim to auto generate code will be able to help those who don’t have CS background.  My own anecdotal evidenc... - [Actually making us go faster with greater impact](https://tonytam.org/actually-making-us-go-faster-with-greater-impact): Sharing a post here https://medium.com/hackernoon/feels-like-faster-vs-makes-us-faster-828686facc7e - [link: Tracy Chou : Inside the life of a tech activist: abuse, gaslighting, but ultimately optimism - Fast Company](https://tonytam.org/link-tracy-chou-inside-the-life-of-a-tech-activist-abuse-gaslighting-but-ultimately-optimism-fast-company): Very inspiring profile of Tracy Chou's journey to build Block Party tool to combat online harassment. https://www.fastcompany.com/90686948/inside-t... - [Computer Programming is art, don't overplan it](https://tonytam.org/computer-programming-is-an-art-dont-overplan-it): This blog post reminded me to write down my argument against using heavy process to do planning. "The Case for 'Developer Experience'" or full lin... - [link: Protecting a tech company's most valuable resource](https://tonytam.org/protecting-a-tech-companys-most-valuable-resource): See this post from Casey Newton's Platformer newsletter about Twitch engineers leaking the entire source code. I wonder if there any effective way ... - [Unknown Unknown problems](https://tonytam.org/unknown-unknown-problems): We don't even know this problem exist. How do we know it is even needed? How do we get to a better state with these unknown unknown problems? My ... - [2021 What should be in your toolbox as an engineer](https://tonytam.org/2021-what-should-be-in-your-toolbox-as-an-engineer): If you want to be an effective engineer in our industry, get ready be good at the following Basics 0 - This is the basic toolbox as an engineer I'm... - [Link: It's Time For Unions In Tech](https://tonytam.org/link-its-time-for-unions-in-tech): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/opinion/google-union.html?utm_source=pocket-chrome-recs "To those who are skeptical of unions or believe that te... - [2021 Goal - Getting to top 6 contributors to AntennaPod app](https://tonytam.org/2021-goal-getting-to-top-6-contributors-to-antennapod-app): I've had 39 submissions to my favorite Podcast App - AntennaPod in 2020. Which makes me #7 on the contributor list. That was a good learning jo... - [When engineers cared about the content and product](https://tonytam.org/when-engineers-cared-about-the-content-and-product): 20 years ago, while I was the lead engineer for Yahoo News, I was asked to build a very basic feature to allow users to send news articles via a si... - [Creating Software Is *Not* About Planning](https://tonytam.org/creating-software-is-not-about-planning): What portion of your team's time is spent planning vs. designing and writing and testing software? Even when you did a great job in planning, how o... - [The Cycle Of Creating Software](https://tonytam.org/the-cycle-of-creating-software): As software engineers, our job is to create useful services for other humans or other services that depend on our services. In the idealized world,... - [All Zoom'ed Out](https://tonytam.org/all-zoomed-out): At work, someone wanted to talk with me about answering the question of "Do people at work feel zoom fatigue?" What would be a good way to look at ... - [Podcast: Kubernetes Podcast from Google: Borg, Omega, Kubernetes and Beyond, with Brian Grant](https://tonytam.org/podcast-kubernetes-podcast-from-google-borg-omega-kubernetes-and-beyond-with-brian-grant): https://kubernetespodcast.com/episode/043-borg-omega-kubernetes-beyond/ [00:27:56] - [Podcast: Cloud Native Computing Foundation with Chris Aniszczyk and Dan Kohn Holiday](https://tonytam.org/podcast-cloud-native-computing-foundation-with-chris-aniszczyk-and-dan-kohn-holiday): Software Engineering Daily: Cloud Native Computing Foundation with Chris Aniszczyk and Dan Kohn Holiday Repeat http://softwareengineeringdaily.com/... - [My superpower is "troubleshooting" for engineers](https://tonytam.org/my-superpower-troubleshooting-for-engineers): My superpower in life and at work is "troubleshooting." I'm an engineer who helps other engineers when they are stuck. This could mean very detaile... - [50th - embracing my engineer'ness](https://tonytam.org/50th): On my 50th, I will celebrate with my wife and daughter.  I will also celebrate for the next 7 days Day 2: I will spend the day with the love of my ... - [Contributing to Open Source](https://tonytam.org/contributing-to-open-source): I love listening to podcasts, all 111 podcast feeds. In 2020, I wanted to go deeper and understand the podcast ecosystem. I first generated a set... - [link: Effective_Engineer Summary](https://tonytam.org/effective_engineer-md): https://gist.github.com/rondy/af1dee1d28c02e9a225ae55da2674a6f - [Android Dev: EventBus : Publisher + Subscriber](https://tonytam.org/android-dev-eventbus-publisher-subscriber): While trying to implement a feature for AntennaPod to allow users to auto skip intros and endings in this pull request #3975, I need to be able pub... - [podcast: Developer Tea: Growth, Uncomfortability, and Deliberate Practice](https://tonytam.org/developer-tea-growth-uncomfortability-and-deliberate-practice): http://developertea.simplecast.fm/28eb61ef - [Testing Everything: Saucelabs Connect Tunneling](https://tonytam.org/testing-everything-saucelabs-connect-tunneling): As a developer, why test manually when you can have the machine do it for you for UI testing? Check out Saucelabs.com and Sauce Connect here - [Software Was Never Meant To Be Free](https://tonytam.org/software-was-never-meant-to-be-free): We used to have shareware and that was how programmers could give you software for free.  When 2% of people pay for 'free' software, the rest of th... - [Podcast Ecosystem : Fun Facts](https://tonytam.org/podcast-ecosystem-fun-facts): When I started working on a hackathon project to publish the Splunk .conf videos from our conf.splunk.com site into a podcast form, I learned a lot... - [Men in Tech In Positions of Power Making the Industry Look like a Cesspool](https://tonytam.org/men-in-tech-in-positions-of-power-making-the-industry-look-like-a-cesspool) - [Link: Salary data on levels.fyi](https://tonytam.org/link-salary-data-on-levels-fyi): https://www.levels.fyi/2019/ - I have no idea how accurate this salary data is, but it's pretty outrageous how much software engineers are paid. - [Quick, what is the % of female graduates in computer science?](https://tonytam.org/quick-what-is-the-of-female-graduates-in-computer-science): Before googling for the answer, what do you think is the % women who receive computer science bachelor's degrees in the United States in 2019? - [Be opinionated, but be willing to listen](https://tonytam.org/be-opinionated-but-be-willing-to-listen): At work when I am interviewing for candidates to join my team for Engineering Productivity, I look for certain attributes. Having an opinion based ... - [Each Of Us Has A Part of The Solution, Together We Have The Whole](https://tonytam.org/each-of-us-has-a-part-of-the-solution-together-we-have-the-whole): Each Of Us Has A Part of The Solution, Together We Have The Whole! Splunk is a company of thousands of talented individuals, distributed across pro... - [Hiring practice thoughts and questions](https://tonytam.org/hiring-practice-thoughts-and-questions): I’m looking for a list of best practices, (maybe mechanics) with data to back up recommendations: For example, starting with resume reviews all the... - [Link: Silent Meeting](https://tonytam.org/link-silent-meeting): Photo: Calder & Picasso exhibition in Paris 2019 Amazon popularized the silent meeting Give this a read on medium.com “Silent Meetings” are meeting... - [Podcast: Chris Lattner creator of LLVM infrastructure, Swift programming language](https://tonytam.org/podcast-chris-lattner-creator-of-llvm-infrastructure-swift-programming-language): I geeked out listening to this podcast following along the career of the creator of one of most successful compiler platform LLVM. https://www.yout... - [Falling in love with a book](https://tonytam.org/falling-in-love-with-a-book): I started reading the book The Pragmatic Programmer, published In 1999! It is such a fantastic book with very relevant tips for professional softwa... - [Learning at Splunk via Technical books](https://tonytam.org/learning-at-splunk-via-technical-books): 6 offices in San Francisco, Santana Row, Vancouver, Seattle, United Kingdom, Boulder and Sydney are received 145 copies of 3 books. Pragmatic Progr... - [Meeting time, maker time](https://tonytam.org/meeting-time-maker-time): Everyone needs maker time at work. Otherwise either you work more at home, or you often feel unaccomplished. My maker time is about 60%. - [Walk over and ask to see a demo](https://tonytam.org/walk-over-and-ask-to-see-a-demo): (The photo is one of my favorite pencils I borrow from my daughter. I finally used up all the lead in the pencil) 20 minutes, that's all it takes. ... - [In the areas of learning and development](https://tonytam.org/in-the-areas-of-learning-and-development): (This post is not for you, it's for me) It started out as 5% of my time.  Just a 4-hour hands-on workshop with new hires once a month.  Now it's th... - [Prioritizing with difficulty x cost x quantity = value??](https://tonytam.org/prioritizing-with-difficulty-x-cost-x-quantity-value): Could it be that simply to calculate the value of my backlog at work?  I once heard on a podcast that a simple way for a startup founder to priorit... - [Experiment : Operating at 2 levels ahead](https://tonytam.org/experiment-operating-at-2-levels-ahead): Last week a senior software engineer who has deep knowledge in a very specialized and high value skill (Machine Learning) for our company asked me ... - [Pick one, and go deep](https://tonytam.org/pick-one-and-go-deep): As an engineer, I'll give you 4 attributes to define your work to choose from You have to chose at least one of these to drive your work. Pick one... - [Impactful work takes planning, preparation and follow through](https://tonytam.org/impactful-work-takes-planning-preparation-and-follow-through): (The art piece is done by a SF local artist of migrant workers working in California central valley) Yesterday, my direct report, a principal softw... - [The profile of an engineer](https://tonytam.org/the-profile-of-an-engineer): (The photo is a piece of in store made of thick bacon from Luke's, Cole Valley, San Francisco) A potential engineer doesn't have to like math, abst... - [Communications habit](https://tonytam.org/communications-habit): Last week at work, I learned that an executive has been working on a diversity and inclusion effort monthly. They really care about moving the nee... - [It is 2019, how could FB store passwords in plain text?](https://tonytam.org/it-is-2019-how-could-fb-store-passwords-in-plain-text): ( my opinions are my own and not my employer) I just read this article: NY Times: Facebook Did Not Securely Store Passwords. Here’s What You Need t... - [Why should engineers write?](https://tonytam.org/why-should-engineers-write): I write a lot of internal documentation, blogs to convey ideas for my future self as well as for engineers internally to reference. Younger enginee... - [What is next most important to add value?](https://tonytam.org/what-is-next-most-important-to-add-value): Our VP Of Engineering asked us to think about this at work. We are all busy at work, but are we adding value to our customers with what we are doi... - [My Email Flow](https://tonytam.org/my-email-flow): If you send an email to me, it's very likely (95% chance) I will reply - [What does Tony do in Engineering Productivity?](https://tonytam.org/what-does-tony-do-in-engineering-productivity): My full time job is to work on engineering productivity. Often folks ask me what I do every day / every week? I often tell them what I'm working on... *Plus 95 more engineering posts available at https://tonytam.org/category/engineer/* --- *Generated: 2026-01-25*