ThePrimeagen: VIM (btw), Streaming, & Content Creation | The Frontend Masters Podcast Ep.9

Episode 9 of the Frontend Masters Podcast features ThePrimeagen, Netflix engineer and NeoVim enthusiast (by the way). In this episode he discusses the challenges of developer productivity, his experience with various programming roles, and his passion for Vim, and tooling. ThePrimeagen also delves into balancing work with personal life, the intricacies of content creation, and his excitement for future projects, including live reacting to tech conferences. Additionally, ThePrimeagen reflects on his journey, offering a rare glimpse into the life lessons learned along the way.
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[@anandmahamuni5442]

He wears the headphones outside too...

[@abubakarsadeeq2974]

Yes, he does😂

[@luisloyola3591]

is like Dr Disrespect... he never.... never leaves the character

[@SachinDolta]

Haha

[@Kane0123]

I had totally assumed this was green screening until I read this and actually looked… what a lid

[@elxirisgreat]

Does he wear contact lenses since he spends so much time in front of the screen? I am curious.

[@mornwind318]

I died when he went from "we named the cattle Miracle" to "delicious cattle btw"

[@human-ft3wk]

same, lol didn't expect that. I believe him too

[@nomik]

A part of me died in that moment 😂

[@EwokPanda]

My only thought was, "That escalated quickly..."

[@isaacthomson4246]

So did the cow

I can listen to primeagen 24 hours straight and I wont be bored. This guy inspires me. Love you primeagen. Me and my wife are programmers and we watch you and learn from you.

[@ThePrimeTimeagen]

:) thanks bud. cheers you two!

[@wbaloo1]

“Abstractions that give you full control, tend to be good. Abstractions that wrap things and repackages them, tend to be difficult.” ... Great quote!

[@semyaza555]

jQuery?

[@InDieTasten]

@@semyaza555 It's the exception to the rule.

[@grzeske]

This is the GOAT podcast/interview with a programmer I've ever seen. Prime's personality is so impressive not only in programming world but also outside of it. I'm saving that video right now to my private playlist to watch it again when I feel low or unmotivated. Really great content. BTW Thank you ThePrimeagen for just being here with us

[@knowmoredesign]

Prime just seems like the greatest dude. I started watching his stuff over the last 6 months or so. He’s so fun and entertaining. What a special guy Thanks for putting this interview out into the world!

[@FrontendMasters]

Couldn't agree more! You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@eoredthar]

This is one of the most authentic and human interviews I've listened to in my entire life. Thank you both for this. ThePrimeagen is THE ghost in the shell. He literally breathes soul and life into everything he does. Sincerely, once again. Thank you for this.

[@bushlite333]

Whenever I watch a Prime stream, it always makes me feel really motivated and want to be an even better developer. I suddenly feel "go go go, let's get some work done".

[@KadyrPoiraz_1337]

This country guy know what he is talking about. Thank you frontend masters!

[@mharley3791]

I love the part about his wife. It really shows just how important a good partner is, and how powerful a healthy relationship can be

[@nitroseeks]

Really enjoyed the podcast, Primeagen is just a joy to listen to. He is such an interesting persona, and so wholesome as well! For the interviewer, a small tip for a more naturally flowing conversation is to follow up on the stuff said by the guest. There are many moments, in which Prime said something quite interesting and surprising, but we just skipped past that and asked the next generic question (example at 36:20). Primeagen is a great guest, so he carried the episode by expanding on these things himself. However that will probably not be the case most times.

[@cro_wiz]

Man, he’s really got an image going, sticking to his style (hoodie, headphones, mustache), leading to high (worth) recognition. About to become the first “rockstar programmer”, after the likes of Cormack and Thorvalds. Maybe (or quite surely) technically not as good as them, but certainly as entertaining - on a regular basis! Heads off, you either like it or hate it. Tbh I currently also don’t mind spending an hour or two a week watching Prime do his thing …

[@Xe054]

Hey Mark, great interview. You asked great questions. The only feedback I would give is that you should share more of your perspective when you agree or disagree with what your guest is saying. It also makes the conversation flow more naturally. For example, I loved the part where Prime talked about having kids and having new levels of love, then you shared how it gave you clarity and purpose. That kind of back and forth is what makes these interviews memorable and inspiring. Cheers.

[@Ontaro]

Prime is a great source of inspiration. I don't care if it's true or not but just listening to him talk about programming and his life makes me want to do my best. Thanks!

[@decoyslois]

Honestly I didn’t expect him this to be this deep. Love it.

[@anoh2689]

I love this guy. Such a great positive influence Thank you so much

[@amn3siacx]

Thanks for this amazing podcast working and enjoying watching ☕

[@electromigue]

I'm not a coder and I've watched most of his content. Prime is great and his wife seems to make him what he is. I appreciate a ton how he leads by example.

[@martonvalentin7386]

Thank you FM! It was a pleasure!

[@JoshuahEdwards]

Prime is my hero! What an inspirational discussion and input from both of you. It really is crazy how your entire world changes when you have children. Thanks for posting this interview.

[@opencode1]

Love this type of formats, hope this podcat is going to continue and love the fact that you changed the BG of the screen :) cant wait to have a sticker or a duck of FM on my table

[@faustaleonardo]

Awesome sharing. Primeagen never disappoints!

[@klirmio21]

Thanks for the podcast! A quick note! When you mention "You had tweeted your fridge" or " you showed us a picture of you at the gym" It would be nice if you included those twits or photos during the edit. thanks!

[@FrontendMasters]

Here you go! "chatgpt, what should i make for dinner tonight?" twitter.com/ThePrimeagen/status/1706413883693346908 And well, he's always posting gym photos... this was just from a few days ago: twitter.com/ThePrimeagen/status/1748837568982999181

[@klirmio21]

@@FrontendMasters Man, I love you!

[@mohitkumar-jv2bx]

Prime never leaves his headphones. 😂😂😂

[@AdamLeis]

It's just good branding 😆

[@mariobroselli3642]

I did Not notice

[@whitefluffycloud]

Great episode! Something I miss are the timestamps that some podcasts provide. Really nice to be able to get an overview of the topics discussed, and jump to specific sections.

[@RicoTrevisan]

Heart felt, inspirational last few minutes. VimJesus just laying out some gospel.

[@TimMorello1]

Great episode once again, amazing job guys!!

[@filko3578]

ThePrimeagen is just a humble and inspring person

[@Aedaeum]

Excellent format and I loved that there was little to no space in between comments/questions.

[@greenethumbs5738]

Man, Prime is such a wholesome and respectable figure. Down to earth and earnest. Count me among the many who have been inspired by his streams and videos. Constructive feedback on the podcast: there was a technical issue where, when both Marc and Prime were speaking, it seemed like Prime's microphone cut out and his voice was only being picked up via room audio and/or Marc's microphone. This was noticeable, but thankfully Marc was good about giving Prime space to give full answers, so it was infrequent. Other than that, I thought the podcast had a good format and was generally well-produced.

[@PatrickLemiuex]

I now know who asks/reads the questions in the FEM algos course... none less than the CEO. Quality content here and in your courses. Primagen is an interesting dude.. thanks for hosting this.

[@jimshtepa5423]

he is such a natural human being

[@bigalt808]

Love how the start of the video resembles Jerry Springers interview scenes haha. Great video!!

[@alabhyajindal]

Lovely episode! Love the unedited take and also the whole episode felt very structured. Thanks!!

[@FrontendMasters]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hamzarashid7579]

Great video. Love to see more!

[@yosefshawah3019]

best podcast episode ever

[@FrontendMasters]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! 😄

[@romainvincent7346]

46:00 Shoutout to Thewifeagen 😄

[@saikrishna662]

Primagen is just an awesome human! Our lives will cross one day; good food will be owed.

[@kenbollin]

Loved every minute of this, many great things said. When he spoke about being a role model to a lonely generation I felt that

[@UmarBuilds]

I love how Michael is such a Virgo at heart, with so many goals and aspirations, relentlessness to achieve, works out multiple times a day, has to do as much as possible every day, streams, (even no-faps haha), and more. He's actually goals in many ways.

[@Mel-mu8ox]

Glad I found this channel :D Look forward to more :)

[@DanielBogusz]

Omg. I just realised I love this guy. Great outro. Hopefully inspiring.

[@matthiaskarageorgiou3784]

such an amazing talk

[@TomNook.]

He sounds so chill here

[@dacam29]

Very inspirational! Thanks! 🎉🔥

[@paulywalnutz5855]

Episode ! podcast ever best

[@kurtiswright8915]

Great interview thank you for hosting and uploading. In terms of feedback: I thought the interview felt more natural in the second half of the clip, because it turned more into a conversation instead of the strict Q&A at the start. *Caveat - I am more comfortable with conversation style interviews because of podcasts like Lex Fridman, it is a stylistic choice.

[@TheDahc1]

Had my eyes tear up a bit when you guys started talking about being in the moment and when you had kids.

[@ForeverZer0]

I credit Prime and TJ for my finally taking the time to learn and switch fully to nvim, wish I would have gave it a better chance many years ago when I began writing code.

[@peppi69]

The last few minutes really inspired me right now to stop doom scrolling on instagram and getting better grades in my computer science degree here in Innsbruck Austria. Very nice podcast thank you guys

[@khairulhaaziq2332]

This was greeat! Please do more podcast!

[@TheAntroyTech]

Inspiring, Thanks!

[@mirrors.of.reality]

One of the best interviews I have ever watched -if not the best. I clicked to watch expecting discussion on tech stuff and of course for Prime's humour. It had all that but so much more. It was a discussion which so smoothly drifted from tech talk to life lessons from life on a ranch, importance of partnership/marriage, an honest insight on what is to have kids and the change of perspective it brings to one's life, what it means to be an underdog and manage with hard work and perseverance to rise up to the ranks of the elite..all with the wonderful humour and personality of Prime. I liked the host who gave space and posed a good set of questions which allowed for Prime to expand beyond the classic Q&A (although I liked a lot the game in the beginning with the one-word answers😃). Also the host participating in the discussion without overdoing it. The only thing that I did not like much is the room/background that the interview was carried out. It was a bit bland for my taste and reminded me of some sort of outdated corporate setting , like an Oracle meeting room circa 2010🙃

[@MrJoefinisher]

Great goal Prime!

[@ssshenkie]

Keep it real, thanks for the great video!

[@joffreybluthe7906]

Cool podcast! Prime was awesome as usual

[@hoid4715]

There's 2 hard things in programming. 0: Naming things 1: Cache invalidation 2: Off by one errors 0:46

[@harshpatel105]

Loved this. Do more videos with senior engineers

[@Kane0123]

As requested at 1:03:30 - the echo of the room (or use of a second mic? I'm not a sound guy...) was really noticeable. An example of this was at 35:00 when prime gets a touch louder for a moment but there were a few of these particularly when prime got a bit louder to make a point or shifted away from the mic. Loved the episode, particularly cool to hear non-technical stuff from technical people - how'd you get here? what are you trying to do? what are looking to do next? etc...

[@kyle8575]

Yeah the two mics are out of sync a tiny bit and were also enabled overlapping so you heard both at the same time. Cutting each mic in and out is a pain. They should really just lower the gain on the mics and have a mount, stand, or arm that requires speaking directly into it.

[@hamzahmd_]

Great Podcast

[@Omikronik]

I love how he brought his own headphones

[@priapushk996]

Prime is a legend. As if "T1000" werent' specific enough, he cross-referenced Robert Patrick's forgettable character's name in X-Files.

[@WillEhrendreich]

11:00 I will contribute a hell yeah to ML language goodness. It genuinely feels like the right way. I'm an Fsharp myself but I have mad respect for Ocaml.

[@nullptr.]

I had no idea about the Fortnite era. Thanks for the content, you seem like a very genuine person.

[@ivanjermakov]

One suggestion is to move mics closer to speakers and configure them to no pickup sounds from the back. This way you could just merge two mic tracks without having to switch to the person speaking.

[@DennisMcCracken]

Great interview with a very interesting guy. Please keep this series going. Note: you obviously really enjoy what you are doing. Smile more so we know that!

[@abubakarsadeeq2974]

The beast on the building

[@canofmana9978]

Fantastic

[@t-ionut93]

I'll probably never be as good of a developer as ThePrimeagen, but I can totally relate to the value of having a supporting wife by your side. Thanks Prime for being such a "humane" human in tech!

[@mohamedcherif9878]

nice podcast prime is a really cool guy

[@user-nl7fw3yp8p]

great episode! really enjoyed watching it but (because you asked for the feedback) the footage should've been sent to prime's editor :) and maybe add an additional camera for the guest like Lex Fridman does. The language blitz would be way way cooler with prime's channel style editing and an additional camera.

[@manoharsingh6050]

I am a primarily C# guy and when he said C# programmer in a medical company it really hit me 😂

[@johnr3936]

Really good 👍

[@akshaytakkar6747]

Lex Fridman interviewing Prime will be an interesting one

[@Mach7RadioIntercepts]

Behind every great creator are the life experiences which formed them.

[@74Bagas]

still the best vim course, till this day.

[@Vhc706]

I like that Prime isn't afraid to mention God saving him. Praise the Lord.

[@imarya7329]

Anywhere i see prime, i hit the like button. thats it

[@AdamLeis]

He got the four loves mixed up at the end there though. "Storge" is the familial love like might be expressed between a mother and her child, and "philia" is the brotherly love, friendship bond (Philadelphia) kind of love. Still an excellent point.

[@jamiebrs1]

Currently taking the algorythm course any idea when the new one is coming out?

[@henokhsatrio8804]

This man is really smart. And btw... this is like introvert meets ekstrovert 🙂

[@OdyseeEnjoyer]

That's my favourite hoodie guy

[@lukekulak7165]

lets gooo prime

[@dogfrogfog]

would love to see the timecodes, cool interview

[@DavidEngelen]

Did the Subscribe button squirm when you said "like and subscribe" @1:03:14 that was crazy

[@adjusted-bunny]

Arch user here. Fapping is not that bad especially when you have no girlfriend because Arch is consuming all your time and then you have to update all these config files and not to mention ricing i3 with gaps.

[@marcusrehn6915]

Im on the fence about typing fast. Typing fast for the sake of banging out lines of code to be able to iterate quickly might be useful if thats your style. Others are often holding their head in their hands just thinking really hard and then typing out the solution. I don't think it's going to make or break your career in any way. But the less misstakes you make typing, the less you lose your train of thought. And the better you type the more you are going to enjoy it. However, learning to type properly is never going to hurt you. Getting offended by it will hurt you.

[@AdamFiregate]

Blazingly fast 🌞

[@mu16zi]

GOAT.

[@iamfrankstallone]

So interesting Ruby or Ruby on Rails never came up in the rapid fire. Would have loved to get The Primes opinion.

[@JLarky]

14:52 i think Solid plugins are also more JavaScript plugins than being tightly coupled to Solid

[@DoubleCrossSword]

OpenCattle sounds like a open source library

[@alexandersemionov5790]

Did a workout during this

[@jeremybuckets]

They're going to have to rename it "The Second-to-Last Algorithms Course You'll Need"

[@FrontendMasters]

Here it is! Named it: "The Last Algorithms Course You'll Want (Part 2)" frontendmasters.com/courses/advanced-algorithms/

[@bythealphabet]

I have 4 too 😅

[@brownnerd]

I see Prime. I click.

[@godDIEmanLIVE]

Prime best

[@ayyhaha9832]

when he said 'jquerious' at 31:25 i immediately thought 'jamiroquery'

[@programacion5536]

The moment he mentioned THAT about Miracle 💀

[@kamranthomas.]

"Alex Huberman style" 8:33