Software engineers need to know networking [2026w26]

I have a confession: I struggle to trust a software engineer who doesn't know how to use curl. In this episode of Lead Prompt, I unpack a troubling trend I'm seeing across the industry: the rapid loss of foundational networking skills. As we stack layers of abstraction from cloud providers to AI, too many developers are treating the internet like a magical, infinitely fast black box. I share my thoughts on why this convenience comes at a dangerous cost, how it paralyzes teams when things inevitably break, and why I believe the most resilient systems are built by curious engineers who aren't afraid to peek under the hood and understand the plumbing. Show notes are here: https://leadprompt.sh/a/748-Software-engineers-need-to-know-networking-2026w26 Keywords: software engineering, computer networking, networking for developers, tech leadership, curl command, system architecture, debugging, web development, API troubleshooting, cloud abstraction, AWS, AI software development, software architecture, engineering management, linux command line, leadprompt, john collins