The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source · Changelog Media

The code, prose & pods that shaped 2025 (News)

December 15, 2025·16 min·1 clip

Jared reveals his picks for the coolest code, best prose, and favorite episodes from each month of 2025.

This episode is a year-end review of 2025's notable developments in software and open source, hosted by Jared of Changelog News. He curates what he considers the year's "coolest code," "best prose," and his favorite podcast episode from each month. In January, highlights included the PrinterCow project for USB thermal printers and Benj Edwards's article on reviving personal computing. February featured the TouchGrass app for reducing phone use and Declan Shalhoub's article on AI stifling tech adoption. March's selections were the Xpipe tool for remote machine management and Amelia Wattenberger's essay on richer computer interfaces. April covered the Nerdlog log viewer and Thorsten Ball's guide to building a code editing agent. May spotlighted the Internet Artifacts virtual museum and Clayton Ramsey's plea against AI-generated student writing. June included the ClaudeCode usage monitor and a post on motivations for writing. July featured the JobWorthCalculator and Ernie Smith's retrospective on the Game Genie. August highlighted the Overtype markdown editor and Ben Stancil's analysis of Silicon Valley wealth comparisons. September covered the Vim Master browser game and Zach Gates's formula for automation value. October featured the Clodcidian Obsidian vault and Matthew Inman's thoughts on AI art. November included the Continuum 93 retro computer emulator and an article on the power of URLs. December spotlighted the StackTower dependency visualizer and an analysis of 37signals' vanilla CSS approach. Jared's favorite monthly podcast episodes featured guests like Ashley Jeffs, Salvatore Sanfilippo, Scott Hanselman, and Steve Yegge. A recurring insight is the tension between AI automation and authentic human creation, expressed in articles warning against AI-written prose and art. The curated code projects often prioritize simplicity and developer whimsy, like tools to curb doom-scrolling or visualize dependencies as a joke. The prose selections frequently argue for more sensory-rich, thoughtful, and personally controlled technology, countering trends of flat interfaces and AI delegation. A sponsored segment from Tembo Data argues that AI coding assistants are creating hidden PostgreSQL technical debt by recommending suboptimal schema designs. The host notes that certain articles from early in the year, like the one on personal computing, established thematic threads that persisted throughout Changelog's 2025 coverage. The tone is enthusiastic and conversational, reflecting a host sharing his personal favorites from a year of coverage. The style is a fast-paced, curated listicle format, blending summary with direct quotes and light commentary. Software developers and open source enthusiasts who enjoy reflective, year-in-review content and discovering niche tools and thoughtful essays would love this episode. Listeners seeking deep dives into a single topic or breaking technical news might prefer a standard news episode.

As heard by us

A brisk, opinionated yearbook for software people, built from The Changelog's 2025 favorites.

The Changelog's final news episode of 2025 works like a year-end editor's notebook: Jared revisits the prior 49 editions and pulls one standout piece of code, one essay, and one podcast conversation from each month.

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