Infrastructure as Code Has a New Playbook: formae and Pkl
formae brings agentic, stateless IaC with Pkl's type-safe config to AWS. No drift, no state files, and an MCP server AI agents can actually use.
Neil Chaudhuri
Python Is 31x Slower: You Can Do Better for Enterprise AI
A new MCP server benchmark shows Python is 31x slower than Go and Java—reinforcing why enterprise AI demands languages built for integration and performance, not just experimentation.
The Biggest News in AI Since MCP
The Linux Foundation launches the Agentic AI Foundation, which formalizes MCP, Goose, and AGENTS.md into global open standards.
Vidya Talks AI and MCP at NOVA SART
Key insights from our appearance on the MCP Roundtable at NOVA SART: MCP's promise and peril, AI architecture, security, real-world use cases, and why AI will increase demand for software expertise.
Python Is Not the Language of AI
Python is the language of machine learning and training AI models, but there are several reasons why Python is not the language of AI.
Beyond GitHub Culture: Why Your Team Should Reconsider Pull Requests
Pull requests make sense in open-source but might be slowing your internal team down. Explore some more efficient alternatives.
It's Not About Unit Or Integration Tests. It's About Confidence
Forget traditional testing categories and focus on what builds confidence. Use AI to generate test data efficiently.
How Sports Busts Common Myths About Software Engineering Teams
Learn how sports history reveals why great engineering teams need more than star talent - they need systems, culture, and leadership that elevate everyone's performance.
No One Likes Cognitive Load: But Whose Cognitive Load?
Minimizing cognitive load is more important than maximizing clean code, but cognitive load is subjective. Learn how to establish team standards that enhance productivity and maintainability.
Programming Without Ifs: Better Alternatives to Conditional Logic
Discover how to write more maintainable code by replacing conditional logic with practical alternatives that reduce complexity and improve your software."
Waterfall's "Scope Creep" is Agile's Revelation
Discover why "scope creep" isn't a problem but a valuable insight. Learn how agile methodology embraces change to build better products while Waterfall's rigid planning leads to missed opportunities.
Fibonacci Theater: Adding Mathematical Mystique to Scrum Estimation
Story points are the fundamental metric in Scrum, but using the Fibonacci Sequence to estimate them is more gimmick than substance.
Vidya Talks Modernizing Tech Hiring in the Federal Government at the White House
Vidya spoke to tech recruiters about how the federal government can hire and retain the best tech talent.
Lessons from The Bear for Tech Leaders
Discover unexpected leadership insights from 'The Bear.' Learn how tech leaders can improve candidate experiences and foster employee success. Valuable lessons from an Emmy-winning series.
Modernizing Online Passport Renewal: Vidya's Success at the State Department
Vidya helped develop the architecture for Online Passport Renewal, which is now live in beta at the State Department.
Vidya Awarded a GSA MAS Contract
Vidya is proud that GSA has awarded us a Multiple Award Schedule contract for providing IT Professional Services to the government.
Vidya is on the Pod
Vidya President Neil Chaudhuri appeared on the Guidance Counselor 2.0 Podcast with Taylor Desseyn.
The McKinsey Developer Productivity Analysis Is a Ruse
The McKinsey developer productivity analysis is worse than wrong. It's bad faith. Your organization can do so much better.
Why Types and Tests are Both Essential in Programming
The arguments for types vs. tests is silly. You need both because they solve two different problems.
Why Coding Interviews are the Worst
Coding interviews are the worst not only for candidates but also for your business. Here's what you should do instead.
Vidya is SWaM Certified!
We are proud to be certified as a Small, Micro, Minority Owned, and 8(a) business by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity.
Vidya is 8(a) Certified!
We are proud to be certified 8(a) by the US Small Business Administration.
Which Programming Languages Should I Learn First?
When you're just starting out in tech, don't focus on programming languages but on something else entirely.
Secure Online Voting is Possible. This is How
If we overcome past mistakes, corruption, and bad faith, we can absolutely achieve secure online voting.
What If...Marvel Built a Minimum Viable Product?
Product development should begin with an MVP, and Marvel's What if?... is exactly that.
Lessons Learned from Building a React Component Library with TypeScript
Lessons learned, and not only about tech, from building a React component library for government.
Scala or Go: Who Wore It Better?
Scala and Go are two of the most popular emerging languages. Which is best for your project?
Code Coverage Is Killing You
Code coverage is intuitive but dangerous. There are quality metrics that are so much better.
Dark Mode in Next.js using Tailwind CSS and React Hooks
Use the power of Tailwind CSS and React Hooks to build Dark Mode users can control into your Next.js site.
Vidya 33 1/3
The third iteration of the Vidya website is a Brave Verified Creator PWA with Dark Mode. Let's talk about it.
Highlights from CRMSDC Leaders and Legends
CRMSDC Leaders and Legends was a blast, and it was an honor to receive a Top 100 MBE Award.
Welcoming CRMSDC
We are proud to be certified by CRMSDC as a Minority Business Enterprise.
25K and Counting on Stack Overflow
It's an honor and a privilege to have helped 2.6M developers and earned 25K points on Stack Overflow.
Welcoming Recreation.gov
We are proud to have worked with Recreation.gov to help make our national treasures available to everyone.
Welcoming HealthCare.gov
We are proud to have helped HealthCare.gov make affordable insurance available to more Americans.
Welcoming USPAACC
We are proud to be certified by USPAACC as an Asian and minority-owned small business.
How to Buy Cyber—Getting Started
We need to empower procurement officials to take initiative when buying cybersecurity solutions. This is how.
Lessons from Java for Testing in React
See how years of testing in Java have taught us lessons you can apply to improve your testing in React.
The Business Case for Functional Programming
Learn how functional programming can make your teams more productive than you ever imagined.
Welcoming Nina Day
We are lucky to be working with Nina Day, a casting and creative agency serving Fortune 500 clients worldwide.
POP Goes the Blockchain
Blockchain has great potential, but there are significant obstacles in its path to world domination.
The Signal and the Noise
One senator made a great effort to hold social media accountable for 2016. We need more.
Talking Trends at Tech Talk DC
Hope to see you at our talk 'Here's What's Trending in Software Engineering.'
It's Not Only About the Benjamins
The highest paying languages are also among the most fun and productive. We know from experience.
Vidya Reloaded
Our new website is a Progressive Web Application. Here's why that's cool.
Speaking at Code Writers Workshop 2017
ScrumMaster++
A ScrumMaster with technical skills can use them without compromising the Scrum process.
A New Strategy for Scala
The report of the death of the Strategy Pattern has been greatly exaggerated.
Going Retro With Style
It isn't just engineers who have a lot to learn from agile retrospectives.
Welcoming Webster & Fredrickson, PLLC
We are lucky to work with Webster & Fredrickson, PLLC, a premier DC law firm.
Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
The caricature of the TSA Randomizer was ripe for mockery, but the reality is complicated.
Mo Incentives Mo Problems
As government IT becomes more agile, it's time to rethink incentives in contracts.
All We Do Is Win Win Win
The President issued a challenge to make technology work for government. We won it.
Learning the Playbook
Watch the first video in our series on the U.S. Digital Service Playbook.
Analytics With Apache Spark Is Here
Learn the hottest technology in data analytics with our Apache Spark course.
The Fix Is In
Government software project management has suffered for a long time, but that's changing. We are happy to help.
Welcoming TRSS
We are lucky to be working with TRSS, a leading provider of threat detection solutions.
Talking Scala
I will be speaking on Scala at Polyglot Programming DC!
This Week In #Scala
Our latest tutorial made it to This Week in #Scala!
Yes We Kanban
Scrum is great, but Scrum is hard. Maybe you should lighten things up with Kanban instead.
When You Do Want None
A quick tip for Scala developers for handling empty and whitespace strings in their code.
DevOps Hooray
DevOps is is the next generation of lean and agile in the enterprise. We need it in government IT too.
Oracle v. Google Just Got Real
The biggest names in technology are imploring the Supreme Court to keep APIs open after Oracle's victory.
Zero Tolerance
In your Java program, is your BigDecimal 0? It depends on what the meaning of the word of is is.
The Play's the Thing
The White House's new U.S. Digital Services Playbook for government applications is a great start. Let me help you apply it.
No Experience? No Problem!
You really don't need professional experience with a technology to get a job in it. Just passion.
Canstruction DC 2014
We are thrilled to have partnered with Dewberry to fight hunger at Canstruction DC 2014.
Know Your Options
Null is a real pain, but functional languages like Scala can make it a lot easier.
Security From Day 1
Learn software engineering skills to build security into your applications from the start.
4 Game Changers
The four technologies that changed software development the most in the last decade. Sorry, no Hadoop.
Welcoming Neustar
We are lucky to be working with Neustar, a leading telecommunications and cloud platform company.
Getting Started With Hadoop
Ease into Hadoop and learn about cool technologies that build on it.
Welcoming Madena Solutions
We are lucky to be working with Madena, a premier provider of consulting services in the Medicare space.
Beyond Relational Databases
Relational databases are old reliable, but maybe your applications could use something different.
You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned
Embrace the wisdom of Yoda to succeed in technology and project management.
Ozone Still Thrives in One Place
OWF is a powerful tool for intel analysts and a great victory for government open-source advocates.
You Gotta Keep 'Em Integrated
Integration may be the biggest challenge in government IT. Here's how you overcome it.
Lighting a Spark with HBase
Apache Spark is great for Hadoop analytics, and it works just fine with HBase.
Idiom Savant
Idioms are just as important in programming languages as they are in spoken languages.
Testing-1-2-3: My First Post on GCN
Federal IT can leverage open-source tools, automation, and discipline to build quality into software from the start.
Don't Go Chasing Waterfall
Michael Daconta happily blames agile software development for the problems on the health care website. He's wrong. And yes, the title is a TLC reference.
Java is Dysfunctional with Big Data
Java is great, but there are far better options for big data analytics.
First Contact
Welcome to Vidya