Designing Rate Limiting for a Node.js API
A deep dive into implementing distributed rate limiting using Redis and sliding window counters to protect your backend.
Engineering notes and buildingthings.
Mostly backend, systems, and things I misunderstood at first.
This is a collection of notes I write while learning backend systems. Written for clarity, not completeness.
Why My First Cache Invalidation Strategy Failed
Cache invalidation is one of the two hardest problems in CS. Here is how I messed it up and what I learned about event-driven invalidation.
Notes on Consistent Hashing
Understanding how to distribute data across a changing set of servers without remapping the entire world.
Rust Web Tooling: The New Standard
Why the JavaScript ecosystem is rewriting everything in Rust, and why it matters for your build times.
Rethinking Data Fetching with React Server Components
Server Components are the biggest shift in React since Hooks. Here's why they matter and how they change the mental model of building apps.
Database Indexing 101: Optimizing Your Queries
A slow query is often just a missing index away from being instant. Learn the basics of B-Trees and how to analyze query plans.