Pro · Reading guide
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An archive is a bad first impression — reverse-chronological is rarely the right reading order. So here's a curated way in: one essay to start with, a few paths through the rest, and the shelf the whole thing was written from.
If you only read one
In praise of boring systems
It's the closest thing this blog has to a thesis. Everything else is a footnote to the argument that the dull tool is usually the right one.
Read it →Reading paths
Pick the thread that matches what you came for. Essays appear on more than one path when they earn it.
Pragmatism & simplicity
The case for choosing the boring option — and the discipline of measuring before you reach for a fancier one.
- In praise of boring systems
Why Postgres and a queue outlast every framework you were tempted to adopt.
- Measure before you cache
The first hour of every "make it faster" project, and how to resist adding a Redis on instinct.
Collaboration & process
How the work actually moves between people — reviews, RFCs, and the conversations that hide inside both.
- The shape of a good pull request
Ten thousand reviews distilled into what belongs in the diff, the description, and the floor.
- Why I stopped writing RFCs
When a process meant to start a conversation quietly becomes a way to avoid one.
The craft of code
Smaller, sharper essays about the daily texture of programming — types, habits, and thinking out loud.
- Types are a conversation, not a contract
Strong typing as a way of thinking out loud; the bugs it prevents are a side effect.
- The shape of a good pull request
Worth a second read through a craft lens — small diffs are a kindness, not a rule.
The shelf behind the writing
The books and essays I keep returning to. If this blog has a voice, it was borrowed from these.
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A Philosophy of Software Design · John Ousterhout
The vocabulary I steal most often — "deep modules", "complexity is incremental".
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The Pragmatic Programmer · Hunt & Thomas
Read it young, re-read it older, agree with different halves each time.
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Choose Boring Technology · Dan McKinley
The essay that gave "boring" its good name. Half this blog is a reply to it.
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Worse is Better · Richard P. Gabriel
Still the sharpest thing ever written about why the simpler design wins.
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Parse, don't validate · Alexis King
Where "types as conversations" started, even if I took the long way round.
Or argue with any of it — landix.ninal@gmail.com.