Indexes that actually get used
Composite column order, covering indexes, and the six query shapes that make the planner ignore the index you just added.
Newly added · Software engineering
A running stream of in-depth pieces on languages, data structures, architecture, APIs, databases, distributed systems, testing, security, and production operations — each one filed under a category you can browse.
The latest pieces across every category, newest first.
Composite column order, covering indexes, and the six query shapes that make the planner ignore the index you just added.
Listed inMonolith vs MicroservicesSoftware Architectureon
Martin Fowler and James Lewis on what the style actually is, the prerequisites you need before adopting it, and when a monolith is the right answer.
Listed inRetries, Timeouts, and BackoffDistributed Systemson
Why naive retries turn a blip into an outage, how jitter fixes it, and where the deadline should live so a retry is never pointless.
Listed inRetries, Timeouts, and BackoffDistributed Systemson
The Amazon Builders Library on why retries amplify failure, how jitter breaks synchronisation, and where to put the deadline.
A free, database-agnostic book on SQL indexing — the clearest explanation anywhere of why composite column order decides everything.
Listed inSchema MigrationsDatabaseson
The five-step pattern for renaming a column, backfilling a billion rows, and dropping the old one — without a maintenance window.
Listed inCAP and Consistency ModelsDistributed Systemson
Jepsen maps the whole lattice, from linearizable down to eventual, and shows exactly which anomalies each level still permits.
Listed inConsensus and Leader ElectionDistributed Systemson
The Raft paper. Written specifically to be followable, and still the fastest route to understanding leader election and log replication.
Listed inWhat is a Software Engineer?Introductionon
The job is reading code, scoping work, and arguing about trade-offs — not typing. What to learn first, and what you can safely defer.
Listed inCode ReviewCode Crafton
What a reviewer should look for, how fast to respond, and the standard for approving a change that is good but not perfect.
Listed inSLOs and Error BudgetsObservability & Operationson
The full Google SRE book, free online. The chapters on SLOs, error budgets, and alerting philosophy are the ones to read first.
Listed inWhat is a Software Engineer?Introductionon
The engineer who designs systems that keep working after they ship, not just code that runs once.
Listed inBlameless PostmortemsObservability & Operationson
How blameless review works in practice, what a good postmortem document contains, and how to keep action items from rotting.
Listed inC#Programming Languageson
Java's closest peer with a better track record on language design, and .NET as a genuinely good runtime.
Listed inEnvironments and ConfigurationBuild, CI & Deploymenton
The config, dependency, and process rules that most deployment platforms now assume you already follow.
Listed inShortest PathsData Structures & Algorithmson
Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford, and A* — which one negative weights rule out, and which one a heuristic speeds up.
Listed inInjection AttacksSecurityon
The industry baseline for web application risk — broken access control, injection, misconfiguration, and the rest, with mitigations.
Listed inAbstraction vs IndirectionCode Crafton
When a layer removes work and when it only moves it, plus the rule of three for extracting one.
Listed inSecure DefaultsSecurityon
Short, concrete guidance per topic: password storage, session management, CSP, deserialisation. The reference to check before you ship.
Listed inDesign Systems and TokensFrontend Engineeringon
Encoding colour, spacing, and type as tokens so a redesign is a values change rather than a rewrite.