Articles
Software engineering lessons from production, raw and honest from the heart β almost 20 years of them. Jump to a year in the sidebar, or browse categories and curated collections.
79 articles from 2024 Β· show all
August 2024
Tips from 8 months of TanStack/Router in production
On my last day at Tia I wrote a master vision doc for our TanStack Router app. Here are the parts I can share.
Some personal news
When you see a unicorn, you gotta hop on
Small change in big scary codebase?
Making small changes in large unfamiliar codebases is the job. That's what engineers do all day.
Why SQL is Forever followup
Yes SQL is super flexible. That is its strenght and its weakness
July 2024
Why SQL is Forever
Never underestimate the power of good marketing for bad products. NoSQL was fun but SQL is here to stay.
90% of performance is data access patterns
Removing a single line of code slashed database CPU usage by 66% π€
DRY β the common source of bad abstractions
Swizec reveals the hidden pitfalls of overusing the DRY principle in coding, leading to bad abstractions. Discover how to write adaptable, efficient code that avoids these common traps.
Scaling Fast, my talk on lessons from tech startups
This talk from C3Fest summarizes the key lessons I've learned in the past ~15 years of working in tech startups. It's a high level overview of a new book I'm writing (60% done).
You can't side-quest a product
Here's a trap that talented engineers fall into all the time. It creates frustration, burnout, and the genre of tweets that read like "Why don't people care about the amazing work I'm doing".
June 2024
6 books engineers should read
Here are 6 books I'd buy every engineer who joins my team, if I ran a team. You might like 'em too.
The dangers of spurious automation and how to automate anything
Discover the potential pitfalls of spurious automation and learn a foolproof three-step process to automate any task effectively. Don't miss out on understanding when automation is truly beneficial and when it can become a hindrance.
Itβs okay to just do the work
Not everything needs to work forever. Start by solving the problem
Using AI to spark connections at a conference
We built an AI algorithm to help you find interesting people to talk to at a conference. And make sure it's not awkward
Notes for my Scaling Fast talk next week
Decided to publish my notes because they look pretty useful on their own. Although I hope my stage presence adds a little something something. Enjoy :)
How to use feature flags
All the hard lessons learned using feature flags in production. Skips the why and gets to the how.
May 2024
Why useSuspenseQuery works
A reader asked 'Wtf why does this work?'
Cleaner components with useSuspenseQuery
Sick of complex states in your code? React Suspense can simplify your components for more readable, robust code!
Why you shouldn't use AI to write your tests
If you derive tests from your implementation, you can't apply the Beyonce rule. What if the code is wrong and that wasn't the programmer's intent? We'll never know. The bug now exists in both places.
Validate your assumptions early
here's war story from last summer. I've talked about it in workshops but haven't written it down before. It's for a book I'm working on.
A better roadmap solves many issues
Many engineering challenges start with your roadmap
Get us over the water, not build us a bridge
effective engineering teams should work *with* their product owner/manager, not *for* them
April 2024
Outputs are not outcomes
Doing the work is not the same as getting things done
Coordinating at the end is too late
When working: sync first *then* async
43 years of the actor model
The actor model is now part of everyday tooling and ensures concurrency safety. Understanding the principles behind it helps you write less buggy code.
From trivial to complex βΒ 4 software quadrants
You can classify software projects into 4 quadrants from trivial to complex
Coding is a brawl, not a battle of wits
Discover why coding is more like a boxing match, focused on delivering results rather than perfect technique. Learn how to navigate economic upheaval and prioritize business needs in this unexpected comparison.
Approve with comment
A shift in your code review process can boost your team's productivity. Empower authors to make the call.
The best engineering books get good 5 years into your career
The best engineering books aren't those you read at the start of your career. It's the ones you appreciate 5 years in.
March 2024
Architecture is like a path in the woods
You're doing too much. Sit back, relax, see how people *want* to use the code. THEN build the abstraction.
How to start playing with generative AI
Generative AI is entering the early adopters phase of Moore's technology cycle. Lots of people have been asking me for the quickest and cheapest way to get started.