Level 12: Software That Works

In our latest newsletter, Matthew Lewellyn (a self-proclaimed skeptic!) shares his hands-on experience with Augment Agent and how he moved to cautious optimism. One prompt generated 70% of a feature, complete with views, forms, templates, and permissions. But it also revealed clear limitations: missing tests, code duplication, and no pattern recognition. These limitations make that feature more difficult and expensive to maintain. These tools work best as productivity accelerators, not developer replacements. They handle the volume while experienced developers focus on architecture, maintainability, and—most importantly—the nuanced 30% that ensures the code is production-ready and provides an exponential return for everyone investing their time and money in that codebase. As AI tools continue evolving, understanding their strengths and limitations in software development is crucial for all stakeholders, technical or not. Read the full analysis in our latest newsletter 👇 #SoftwareDevelopment #AITools #DeveloperProductivity #TechInsights

🗺️ Ever hit that "coordinates must be close to a road" error when working with mapping APIs? After our TravelTime vs Google Maps comparison, here's a practical challenge we encountered and how we solved it. The problem: Drop a pin in a remote area or national park, and TravelTime rejects it. You need road-adjacent coordinates. You can use OpenStreetMap Shapefiles to find the nearest road, but Shapefiles don't distinguish between hiking trails and drivable roads. You'll still get rejections. The solution: Switch to PBF files with highway attribute filtering. PBF files include road classification metadata that Shapefiles lack. Filter by the "highway" attribute, and you can reliably identify drivable roads versus trails and pedestrian paths. This solved 95%+ of our coordinate validation issues. Our latest edition of Open Source covers the technical details and ideas for automating validation. #SoftwareDevelopment #Mapping #GIS #OpenStreetMap

🚍 Google Maps isn't always the best choice for mapping commutes. Matthew Lewellyn compared Google Maps to TravelTime's API for job search tools in our latest edition of Open Source. TravelTime's commute durations were consistently more accurate when factoring in transit schedules. For shift workers who depend on public transit to get to work, this accuracy translates directly to better job matches and realistic expectations. Google might say your bus commute is 30 minutes, but it won't mention you'll have to arrive two hours earlier than you want to due to the bus schedule. TravelTime counts that wait time because that's your true commute experience. Cost and commute area shapes (isochrones) were also better with TravelTime. No need to build complex workarounds, since you get accurate, time-aware shapes that reflect real transit schedules. Read the full breakdown below! Building location-based tools for your workforce? We can help you navigate these API choices and build solutions that work in the real world. #JobSearch #APIs #PublicTransit #SoftwareDevelopment #CommuteMapping

Excited to be at TechFest this year and have lots of fun things in store. If you're attending, come say hi! Can't wait to meet you!

Exciting news: We're officially introducing LeanCTO! 🧯 For over two decades, we've helped companies build custom software solutions that actually work. We kept seeing teams that looked the same: brilliant teams stuck in project hell, not because they lacked talent, but because they needed strategic guidance to get unstuck. The backstory: Over the years, we've encountered countless "dumpster fire" projects and burnt-out dev teams that needed help but couldn't engage us for full development work. We realized we could still serve these teams (and prevent others from reaching that point) by offering our hard-earned engineering wisdom as standalone consulting. What makes LeanCTO different? It's backed by Level 12's 20+ years of hands-on software development experience. Our LeanCTO consultants aren't "consulting-only" consultants—they're actively building software, managing projects, and daily leading dev teams for Level 12 and our clients. No hypotheticals or theory, just battle-tested practices that we know work because we live them. Every. Single. Day. If you know Level 12, you know the unique blend of technical depth and strategic thinking that permeates the entire company. LeanCTO applies that depth and thinking specifically to help your teams transform chaos into productive, happy development environments. The mission is simple: Help founders and executives rescue struggling software projects, rejuvenate burnt-out teams, and build sustainable development practices that prevent problems before they start. If you know a company wrestling with software challenges that seem insurmountable, LeanCTO might be exactly what they need. Sometimes you don't need a complete rebuild—you need perspective, process, and proven practices. Check out what LeanCTO is all about at https://leancto.dev.