AI, Rust and other topics at NDC TechTown

As AI coding tools become part of everyday development, why does human expertise still matter? Jesper Pedersen catches up with Anders Schau Knatten at NDC TechTown in Kongsberg, Norway, to discuss AI-assisted systems programming, Rust’s place in the conference program, and why developers still need to understand the code they build.

Anders explains why he believes humans must remain in control, especially when developing systems that need to stay maintainable for 20 years. They also discuss the value of keeping your skills current, bringing Rust and C++ developers together, and what goes into organizing a conference with five parallel tracks.

The conversation wraps up with C++ quiz nostalgia, the realities of writing a book, and a proposed title for a rather different kind of C++ story: “The Constructor That Killed the Destructor.”

00:00 Introduction and a very early Christmas gift

00:27 Behind the scenes at NDC TechTown

01:40 Rust’s place in the conference program

02:47 Conference recordings and YouTube releases

03:01 AI coding tools: why developer expertise still matters

05:29 C++ quizzes and returning to TechTown

06:31 Writing books—and a C++ thriller?

About the guest:

Anders Schau Knatten started programming in Turbo Pascal in 1995, and has been programming professionally in various languages since 2001. He's currently a senior software engineer at Squarehead, working on acoustic drone detection systems. He's also the author of the book C++ Brain Teasers. http://cppquiz.org, and https://blog.knatten.org