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Architecture, out loud

Longer experiments where I write down the structure, the trade-offs I made, and what I would do differently next time.

Method

How I run an experiment

Every lab entry follows the same four steps, so that two write-ups can actually be compared.

  1. Step 1: Frame the problem

    Write down the constraint first. If I cannot say what must not break, I am not ready to design anything.

  2. Step 2: Sketch the options

    At least three, including the boring one. The boring one usually wins, and admitting that early saves a week.

  3. Step 3: Build the smallest version

    Enough to feel the shape of the system in a real environment rather than on a diagram.

  4. Step 4: Write down what happened

    What held, what bent, and the numbers behind both — including the ones that disagreed with me.

Entries

Lab write-ups

1 entry

  1. , 16 min read

    Designing a URL shortener

    The classic interview system, built small and measured: where the reads go, what the cache is for, and the one decision that made everything else easy.

    • Caching
    • Redis
    • PostgreSQL
    • +1 more

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Have a system worth arguing about?

I am always up for a conversation about architecture, trade-offs, or a bug that refuses to die.

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