#212: Elmer Bulthuis on Rust, WebAssembly, and Sustainable Design

Change is unavoidable in software, so how do you make it safe to evolve systems without breaking trust? In this episode, we’re joined by Elmer Bulthuis for a wide-ranging conversation about building software that can adapt over time. We explore how Rust’s ownership model shapes clearer thinking about design, why WebAssembly is becoming a practical way to share complex logic across platforms, and how Elmer has used Rust and WASM in real projects to keep behaviour consistent across TypeScript and .NET without duplicating effort.

We also dig into the everyday practices that make long-lived systems possible: choosing names that work in context, designing abstractions that don’t leak, and treating tests as living documentation rather than a checkbox. Elmer shares thoughtful perspectives on local-first development, keeping CI honest, and using AI as a helpful power tool for refactoring without outsourcing engineering judgement. Along the way, we touch on team culture, ego-free collaboration, and even yoga — because sustainable software is ultimately built by sustainable people.

Connect with Elmer:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmerbulthuis

Github: https://github.com/elmerbulthuis

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