Notes
Engineering notes
Writing on software architecture, backend systems, developer tooling, and AI-assisted workflows.
N-001
September 14, 2026
Before You Add Another Index: Understand the Work Your Query Requests
How query shape, access paths, and cardinality estimates interact, and how to use execution plans to decide whether to rewrite SQL, change an index, or investigate statistics.
backend / database / performance
10 min read
N-002
July 30, 2026
Monoliths vs Microservices: The Real Trade-Off Is Operational Complexity
Microservices do not replace monoliths. They trade in-process simplicity for network, data, and platform complexity that only pays off when the system and organization truly need it.
backend / software-architecture / system-design
8 min read
N-003
July 29, 2026
Why URL Shorteners Are the Hello World of System Design
A URL shortener looks tiny until identifiers, cache invalidation, analytics, abuse prevention, and global traffic turn it into a compact tour of real system design trade-offs.
backend / software-architecture / system-design
11 min read
N-004
July 6, 2026
When LIMIT/OFFSET Stops Working: Choosing Between Offset and Cursor Pagination
A practical look at why offset pagination becomes expensive on large result sets, where cursor pagination helps, and what trade-offs each approach brings.
backend / database / performance
7 min read