Reading a GC log without fear
Garbage collection is not magic. A practical map of what the JVM is telling you, and which pauses actually matter.
writing
Notes on backend, the JVM, Python, and the occasional debugging mystery. Written mostly so I remember how I solved it.
Type hints earned their keep
I resisted Python type hints for years. Here is what changed my mind on a real backend codebase.
The N+1 query that hid in a mapper
A profiling story. The endpoint was slow, the SQL looked fine, and the cause was somewhere I was sure it could not be.
Idempotency is a design decision
At-least-once delivery plus a stable dedupe key beats chasing "exactly once". How I wire it in practice.
In praise of small, sharp tools
The best software I use does one thing, has no config, and never updates. Notes on staying out of the way.