Notebook

215 entries across 21 topics. An archive of things I learned and wanted to remember, kept as they were written. The newer thinking is in the project stories.

Topics

AI29 APIS23 Architecture1 Career24 Deployments8 Design Patterns8 Docker2 GCP1 Git12 Github1 Good Code11 Laravel25 Next.js17 Observability6 PHP3 Project Docs7 Projects1 React29 Tools2 TypeScript4 Vscode1

All entries

Building one portfolio view for all my crypto walletsProjects25 Sept Email verification belongs at the API boundaryAPIS02 Aug Infrastructure questions belong before the first line of codeAI02 Aug SEO feedback should become bounded engineering workAI02 Aug A status page should explain incidents, not just show greenObservability29 Jul Agent workflows should outlive their modelsAI27 Jul Building PostConductor: Why I Pivoted to MCP-FirstAI01 Jul Stop Blaming the ModelAI19 Jun Harness EngineeringAI18 Jun A Modern Quality Pipeline and Testing Strategy for Frontend ProjectsGood Code17 Jun Agents Are Cron Jobs and Markdown FilesAI17 Jun Measure Your Agent Skills or Delete ThemAI12 Jun What to Do If You're Not Detail OrientedCareer08 Jun How to Stay Resilient in a Difficult Engineering JobCareer06 Jun Agentic Engineering PatternsAI05 Jun AI Ate the Translation LayerAI03 Jun Why Smaller Teams Will Win With AIAI02 Jun AI Code Review: Pre-Existing Bugs as a Side QuestAI01 Jun Software Factory: Build Factories, Not FeaturesAI01 Jun Small npm Packages Are Mostly DeadAI30 May The Four Levels of Working with AIAI30 May What Happens to Developers Who Don't Adapt to AIAI30 May Software Ecology and the 10x MomentAI29 May How AI Agents Made Me CLI-FirstAI27 May How I Build Software With Agent LoopsAI27 May Higher-Order Components and Why Hooks Replaced ThemReact25 May Pure Components and Why Purity Matters in ReactReact18 May React Fragments and When You Actually Need ThemReact11 May Refs and when useRef beats useStateReact07 May Default Props and Optional Props in ReactReact01 May Handling Form Submission in ReactReact30 Apr Client-side validation before Server Actions in Next.jsNext.js29 Apr Type-Safe Adapter Registries with as const and satisfiesTypeScript29 Apr Using Service Interfaces and Null Objects for Resilient TypeScript ScriptsTypeScript29 Apr Validating Multi-Provider Credentials with Zod Discriminated UnionsTypeScript27 Apr Building a URL Shortener with Next.jsNext.js22 Apr Magic Link Authentication in Next.jsAPIS22 Apr API Key Management in Next.jsAPIS21 Apr Transactional Email with Resend and React EmailNext.js21 Apr Type Annotations vs Type Inference: When to Write the TypeTypeScript21 Apr The Compound Component Pattern in ReactReact20 Apr The Render Prop Pattern in ReactReact20 Apr useReducer for Complex StateReact19 Apr The React Context API: Shared State Without a LibraryReact18 Apr Dynamic OG Images in Next.js with opengraph-image.tsxNext.js17 Apr Lifting State Up in ReactReact17 Apr Conditional Rendering Patterns in ReactReact16 Apr Lists and Keys in React: Why They Actually MatterReact15 Apr Why Dyslexia Made Me a Better Software EngineerCareer15 Apr Event Handling in ReactReact14 Apr Git Commands for Reading New CodebasesGit14 Apr Props, Children, and Component Composition in ReactReact13 Apr Extracting a Queries Layer from Next.js Server ComponentsNext.js12 Apr The Virtual DOM and How React Reconciliation WorksReact12 Apr useState and the Mental Model of StateReact11 Apr Avoiding Unnecessary Rerenders in ReactReact08 Apr Composition Over Prop Drilling in ReactReact08 Apr Controlled vs Uncontrolled Forms in ReactReact08 Apr Custom Hooks: Naming and StructureReact08 Apr Deploying Next.js to Cloudflare PagesNext.js08 Apr Error and Not-Found Pages in the App RouterNext.js08 Apr Fetching Data in Server ComponentsNext.js08 Apr generateStaticParams and Static ExportNext.js08 Apr Image Optimisation in Next.jsNext.js08 Apr Incremental Static Regeneration ExplainedNext.js08 Apr Middleware Patterns in Next.jsNext.js08 Apr React Error Boundaries in PracticeReact08 Apr React Server Components vs Client ComponentsReact08 Apr Route Handlers vs Server ActionsNext.js08 Apr Server Actions in Next.js 15Next.js08 Apr State Management Without ReduxReact08 Apr Streaming and Suspense in Next.jsNext.js08 Apr Structuring Large React AppsReact08 Apr Testing React Components with Vitest and Testing LibraryReact08 Apr The Metadata API and SEO in Next.jsNext.js08 Apr The Next.js App Router Mental ModelNext.js08 Apr The React Suspense Mental ModelReact08 Apr useEffect Mistakes I Stopped MakingReact08 Apr When to Use useMemo and useCallbackReact08 Apr Docker Compose HealthchecksDocker31 Mar Template Method Design PatternDesign Patterns31 Mar Testing in LaravelLaravel27 Mar LinkedIn ProfileCareer20 Mar AI Job InterviewsAI19 Mar Everything Is Markdown NowAI19 Mar SaaS vs Open Source in the Age of AI CodingCareer19 Mar Software Engineering in the Age of AIAI19 Mar A Reusable PRD Framework for Standard SaaS FeaturesProject Docs17 Mar Project SpecProject Docs17 Mar Website Go Live ChecklistDeployments17 Mar Adapter Design PatternDesign Patterns16 Mar AI RulesAI16 Mar Contextual Attributes in LaravelLaravel16 Mar GitHub ProfileCareer16 Mar Laravel Pint: Code Style FormattingLaravel16 Mar Rector: Automated PHP Code RefactoringPHP16 Mar Scheduled Tasks in LaravelLaravel16 Mar Security Headers in LaravelLaravel16 Mar VSCode SettingsVscode16 Mar Agent SkillsAI13 Mar Claude Sub-AgentsAI13 Mar PHPStan: Static Analysis for PHPPHP08 Mar Rate Limiting in LaravelLaravel08 Mar CLAUDE.md FileAI07 Mar Builder Design PatternDesign Patterns05 Mar CI/CDDeployments05 Mar ContainerisationDeployments05 Mar Git Branching StrategiesGit05 Mar Managing Cognitive Load in CodeGood Code05 Mar A/B Testing DeploymentsDeployments02 Mar Actions Pattern in PHPGood Code02 Mar AlertingObservability02 Mar API CachingAPIS02 Mar API Consistency RulesAPIS02 Mar API Deprecation ProcessAPIS02 Mar API Error HandlingAPIS02 Mar API Field Naming ConsistencyAPIS02 Mar API IdempotencyAPIS02 Mar API Rate Limiting and ThrottlingAPIS02 Mar Architecture Decision Record TemplateProject Docs02 Mar Architecture Decision Records: A Practical GuideArchitecture02 Mar Architecture DocumentationProject Docs02 Mar Authentication and TokensAPIS02 Mar Avoiding N+1 Queries in LaravelLaravel02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: Module 4 - Going GlobalCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: Module 5 - NetworkingCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: Module 6 - StorageCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: Module 7 - DatabasesCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner: Module 1 - Introduction to the CloudCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner: Module 2 - Compute in the CloudCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner: Module 3 - Exploring Compute ServicesCareer02 Mar AWS Cloud Practitioner: Module 8 - AI/ML and Data AnalyticsCareer02 Mar Blue/Green DeploymentDeployments02 Mar Bridge Design PatternDesign Patterns02 Mar Business ToolsTools02 Mar Cache Invalidation Strategies in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Caching in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Canary DeploymentDeployments02 Mar Change the Origin of a Git RepositoryGit02 Mar ChangelogProject Docs02 Mar Choosing the Right Company Size as a Software EngineerCareer02 Mar Claude ModelsAI02 Mar Clean Up DockerDocker02 Mar Core HTTP MethodsAPIS02 Mar Create a Brag DocumentCareer02 Mar Creating a Software Developer CVCareer02 Mar Creating Pull RequestsGit02 Mar Custom Collections in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Data Transfer Objects (DTO)Good Code02 Mar Datetime Handling in REST APIsAPIS02 Mar Domain-Driven DesignGood Code02 Mar Eloquent Builder vs Scopes in LaravelLaravel02 Mar End of Contract ChecklistCareer02 Mar EnvironmentsProject Docs02 Mar Feature TogglesDeployments02 Mar Filtering, Sorting, and PaginationAPIS02 Mar Form Request Validation Patterns in LaravelLaravel02 Mar FreelancingCareer02 Mar GCP VM Port ForwardingGCP02 Mar Git HooksGit02 Mar Git ToolsTools02 Mar Gitflow Branching ModelGit02 Mar GitHub Copilot Instructions TemplateAI02 Mar Health ChecksObservability02 Mar Health Checks in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Immutable Dates in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Including Related Data in API ResponsesAPIS02 Mar Infrastructure as CodeDeployments02 Mar InterviewingCareer02 Mar Job BoardsCareer02 Mar Laravel Coding StandardsLaravel02 Mar Logging in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Logging in Your ApplicationObservability02 Mar Mass Assignment Guarding in LaravelLaravel02 Mar MonitoringObservability02 Mar Monitoring and Alerting in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Performance Improvements in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Permanent vs ContractingCareer02 Mar PHP Coding StandardsPHP02 Mar Pull Request TemplateGithub02 Mar Queues in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Read/Write Database Splitting in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Remote-Friendly CompaniesCareer02 Mar Repository PatternGood Code02 Mar REST API DocumentationAPIS02 Mar REST API HTTP Status CodesAPIS02 Mar REST API Pre-Release ChecklistAPIS02 Mar REST API Resource NamingAPIS02 Mar REST API Response ShapeAPIS02 Mar REST API Security BasicsAPIS02 Mar REST API Validation ErrorsAPIS02 Mar REST API VersioningAPIS02 Mar Reviewing Pull RequestsGit02 Mar Route Organisation and Naming in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Runbook TemplateObservability02 Mar Salary ResearchCareer02 Mar Secrets and Config Validation in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Simple Factory Design PatternDesign Patterns02 Mar Singleton Design PatternDesign Patterns02 Mar SOLID PrinciplesGood Code02 Mar Spec-Driven Development with AIAI02 Mar Stacked Pull RequestsGit02 Mar State Design PatternDesign Patterns02 Mar Strategy Design PatternDesign Patterns02 Mar Tech Stack DocumentProject Docs02 Mar The Twelve-Factor AppGood Code02 Mar Trunk-Based DevelopmentGit02 Mar Using .env in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Using Multiple SSH KeysGit02 Mar Value ObjectsGood Code02 Mar VersioningGit02 Mar Working with Large Datasets in LaravelLaravel02 Mar Working With Third PartiesGood Code02 Mar Writing Good Commit MessagesGit02 Mar YAGNIGood Code02 Mar