When to optimize, when to wait
Most codebases grow in directions their authors never anticipated. The pressure to optimize early is real, but constraints often produce more elegant solutions than freedom ever could.
Recent posts
- Notes on system reliability· 12 days ago · 20,453 reads
- Patterns in distributed systems· 5 days ago
- Building for the long tail· 18 days ago
Notes on system reliability
Performance optimization is a tempting distraction. Every line of code that exists to optimize one specific case is a line that must be maintained and understood forever.
From the archive
Distributed systems fail in ways that are hard to predict. After years of debugging production incidents, certain patterns keep recurring. This post explores a few.
About this site
These are my notes on building reliable, readable, maintainable systems. Interested in clarity over cleverness.
Thoughts on craft. Updated weekly.
Elsewhere
Occasional notes on design topics. Archives here.