Archives

How I used AI tools to migrate 43 blog posts to Astro, with real examples and lessons from both successful and failed approaches

A deep dive into Python's string interning behavior, exploring why identical strings sometimes share memory locations and why this matters for performance and correctness.

Learning about personal finance can change your life for the better. As a software engineer, I love learning about systems, and personal finance is a system that affects us all.

When I took over one-on-ones for a team engineers at Amazon, I needed a framework to make these meetings valuable. Here's the template I've refined over 20+ introductory sessions.

A simple but effective framework for making difficult career decisions, based on evaluating best and worst case scenarios in both short and long term.

Preparing for technical interviews can feel overwhelming! There's so much to learn and keep in mind. Here's what I've learned from running mock interviews and offering feedback.

A detailed guide to preparing for senior engineering interviews, based on my experience interviewing at major tech companies in 2022.

When I started at Amazon, the promotion process felt like a mystery. Here's what I learned about why Amazon takes a cautious approach to promotions and how I navigated the two-year journey.

A discussion of considerations for running a backfill

After four years at Amazon, I wanted to learn what made Amazon successful across so many industries. Here's what I learned about engineering culture and Leadership Principles during my time there.

A discussion of how to give feedback when you're new to a team

Lessons learned from designing and testing a service to handle hundreds of thousands of requests per second, including practical strategies for load testing at scale.

Through the years of talking with engineers in one-on-ones, there's a common conversation about asking for help: How do I find what I need if I don't know where to look?

I've gone between software engineering and film for most of my career. People often wonder about my unusual career path so I'd like to share how I wound up here.

A discussion of how to be sensitive to pain

In design, it can be frustrating to receive a cake - a finished product that can't change. Instead, I find it more effective to include examples of the forks in the road and alternatives.

I'm skeptical of certification programs, especially in the software industry. AWS certifications seemed different because they focus on how to build scalable and reliable services.

Notes on preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification

A few more code review best practices

A few years ago, I started researching credit card bonuses and it's become a hobby. Here's what I've learned about churning and why it can be valuable.

A list of resources that have helped me grow as a software engineer

A brief update to the earlier posts about insecure Python functions

Legacy code can be intimidating for software developers. It can be difficult to change and work with, and may not have any tests. Here's how we can address it with a two-step process.

A comprehensive guide to setting up development environments with Vagrant and Ansible automation

Learn how to deploy applications to AWS and automate infrastructure with Terraform

A talk about the dangers of technical debt

Writing tests can be challenging. What should we test? How do we know if our tests are valuable? Here's what I've learned about writing maintainable and effective tests.

How to land the right tech job for you

A process for preparing for talks

Answers to Django security questions

A list of software talks that I've found useful

A talk about using Bandit to find vulnerabilities in Python code

A discussion of using Bandit to find vulnerabilities in Python code

A discussion of dangerous Python functions and how to avoid them

A story about an accidental scam in Ragnarok Online and what it taught me about human psychology

A discussion of dangerous Python functions and how to avoid them

A talk introducing code reviews, their benefits, and how to get started with them on your team

Code reviews can be challenging! How do you make them valuable without being a burden? Here's what I've learned about making code reviews effective for both reviewers and authors.

Personal reflections on dealing with impostor syndrome as a software developer

My experience optimizing UUID generation in Python's core library

Notes and insights from recent Python and Django conference talks

Key insights gained from teaching programming to my younger brother over Skype

Starting my journey in Georgia Tech's Online Master's in Computer Science program