Insights from real-world software architecture, system design, and engineering leadership
All blog posts sorted by publish date
Cloud platforms have matured to the point where native IaC tools offer fundamental advantages that third-party solutions can't match. State management, security integration, resource coverage, and brownfield migration all favor platform-native approaches. The transition point has arrived.
Read post →Localized configuration files create security nightmares and deployment chaos. Learn why externalizing configs to a distributed store solves these problems and how to make the migration.
Read post →When organizations lack clear vision, accountability, and trust, they disguise these failures as employee empowerment, creating ambiguity, emotional manipulation, and blame-shifting that undermines genuine performance. But it is not all gloom and doom. There are ways to avoid this drama from both sides and to repair the damage.
Read post →Authentication sessions belong at security boundaries, not flowing through internal systems. Treating them as ambient context violates architectural boundaries, creates coupling, and breaks down in async and event-driven scenarios.
Read post →Deliberate architectural decisions prevent costly technical debt. Ignore the second-mover advantage at your peril. And architects must communicate business value to bridge the gap between technical excellence and sustainable speed.
Read post →Why embedding authorization in JWTs creates security risks and UX problems. Learn the difference between authentication and authorization, and why session-based grants are worth the minimal latency cost.
Read post →Understanding emerges from acknowledged ignorance expanded through research and compressed through teaching. A methodology for accelerated learning.
Read post →When distributed systems lose their rationale through team churn, strategic consolidation can reveal true boundaries and regain agility. A pragmatic approach to fixing distributed monoliths by merging tightly-coupled components to rediscover appropriate service boundaries.
Read post →Understanding the difference between hexagonal architecture's structural pattern and achieving testability through modern frameworks, and why it matters.
Read post →Why REST's resource-centric design conflicts with domain-driven architectures and how RPC provides better alignment with business operations.
Read post →Rethinking focus in software development; it's not about exclusion, but about presence and intervals of development across multiple skill areas.
Read post →Exploring the switching cost trap; why better technologies remain unused while we maintain legacy systems and build migration bridges.
Read post →A lesson in avoiding technology hype; how I wasted $2K/month on Kubernetes when simpler solutions like AWS ECS were a better fit.
Read post →Examining whether Blazor will follow Microsoft's pattern of abandoned UI frameworks or if it's a strategic WebAssembly hedge bet for the future.
Read post →Why building real projects beats passive learning platforms, and how to learn software development more effectively through practice and documentation.
Read post →Why algorithm interviews optimize for the wrong signals and systematically exclude engineers who excel at actual software development work.
Read post →Understanding the difference between coders, developers, and engineers for personal clarity—even when job titles don't reflect these distinctions.
Read post →Why adaptability trumps cleverness and performance as the ultimate measure of code quality, with practical principles for building flexible systems.
Read post →Reframing TDD as testing assumptions rather than just code—executable business hypotheses that prevent building the wrong thing.
Read post →How high mortgage rates and the housing lock-in effect could force employers to embrace remote work as talent becomes unable to relocate.
Read post →Lessons learned from using AI assistants for code generation—why you still need to learn the domain and maintain agency over decisions.
Read post →Why Agile works when teams align, agree, and deliver consistently—identifying common failure points and how to avoid them.
Read post →Why monoliths are effective for discovery and microservices are optimizations—principles for choosing the right architecture for your context.
Read post →Key characteristics that define effective leaders and mentors in software development—accountability, continuous learning, and building others.
Read post →Deep dives into architectural patterns, code quality, and system design principles
Localized configuration files create security nightmares and deployment chaos. Learn why externalizing configs to a distributed store solves these problems and how to make the migration.
Read post →Authentication sessions belong at security boundaries, not flowing through internal systems. Treating them as ambient context violates architectural boundaries, creates coupling, and breaks down in async and event-driven scenarios.
Read post →Why embedding authorization in JWTs creates security risks and UX problems. Learn the difference between authentication and authorization, and why session-based grants are worth the minimal latency cost.
Read post →When distributed systems lose their rationale through team churn, strategic consolidation can reveal true boundaries and regain agility. A pragmatic approach to fixing distributed monoliths by merging tightly-coupled components to rediscover appropriate service boundaries.
Read post →Understanding the difference between hexagonal architecture's structural pattern and achieving testability through modern frameworks, and why it matters.
Read post →Why REST's resource-centric design conflicts with domain-driven architectures and how RPC provides better alignment with business operations.
Read post →Why adaptability trumps cleverness and performance as the ultimate measure of code quality, with practical principles for building flexible systems.
Read post →Why monoliths are effective for discovery and microservices are optimizations—principles for choosing the right architecture for your context.
Read post →Practical lessons from infrastructure, frameworks, and development tools
Cloud platforms have matured to the point where native IaC tools offer fundamental advantages that third-party solutions can't match. State management, security integration, resource coverage, and brownfield migration all favor platform-native approaches. The transition point has arrived.
Read post →A lesson in avoiding technology hype; how I wasted $2K/month on Kubernetes when simpler solutions like AWS ECS were a better fit.
Read post →Examining whether Blazor will follow Microsoft's pattern of abandoned UI frameworks or if it's a strategic WebAssembly hedge bet for the future.
Read post →Lessons learned from using AI assistants for code generation—why you still need to learn the domain and maintain agency over decisions.
Read post →Insights on agile methodologies, learning strategies, and career growth
Understanding emerges from acknowledged ignorance expanded through research and compressed through teaching. A methodology for accelerated learning.
Read post →Rethinking focus in software development; it's not about exclusion, but about presence and intervals of development across multiple skill areas.
Read post →Why building real projects beats passive learning platforms, and how to learn software development more effectively through practice and documentation.
Read post →Understanding the difference between coders, developers, and engineers for personal clarity—even when job titles don't reflect these distinctions.
Read post →Reframing TDD as testing assumptions rather than just code—executable business hypotheses that prevent building the wrong thing.
Read post →Why Agile works when teams align, agree, and deliver consistently—identifying common failure points and how to avoid them.
Read post →Perspectives on hiring practices, leadership, and industry trends
When organizations lack clear vision, accountability, and trust, they disguise these failures as employee empowerment, creating ambiguity, emotional manipulation, and blame-shifting that undermines genuine performance. But it is not all gloom and doom. There are ways to avoid this drama from both sides and to repair the damage.
Read post →Deliberate architectural decisions prevent costly technical debt. Ignore the second-mover advantage at your peril. And architects must communicate business value to bridge the gap between technical excellence and sustainable speed.
Read post →Exploring the switching cost trap; why better technologies remain unused while we maintain legacy systems and build migration bridges.
Read post →Why algorithm interviews optimize for the wrong signals and systematically exclude engineers who excel at actual software development work.
Read post →How high mortgage rates and the housing lock-in effect could force employers to embrace remote work as talent becomes unable to relocate.
Read post →Key characteristics that define effective leaders and mentors in software development—accountability, continuous learning, and building others.
Read post →
Steven Stuart