Deep dives into backend development, system design, and distributed systems.
31 articles
ACID properties (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) guarantee reliable database transactions. Learn how they work, PostgreSQL examples, isolation levels, ACID vs BASE, and common pitfalls.
What is an API gateway and what does it do? Complete guide covering routing, authentication, rate limiting, Node.js implementation, BFF pattern, and comparisons of Kong, AWS API Gateway, nginx, and Traefik.
Cache-aside, read-through, write-through, write-behind — when to use each caching strategy, with Python and Node.js implementations, invalidation patterns, and cache hit-ratio metrics.
The CAP theorem states that a distributed system can only guarantee two of three properties: Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance. Learn CP vs AP systems, PACELC, real database examples, and how to design for each.
A CDN serves content from servers near your users — cutting latency from 300ms to 20ms. Covers edge nodes, cache headers, Cloudflare vs CloudFront, and DDoS protection.
The circuit breaker pattern stops cascading failures in distributed systems by failing fast when a service is down. Learn the three states, complete Python and Node.js implementations, library comparison, and monitoring strategy.
Consistent hashing distributes data across servers so adding or removing a node moves only 1/N of keys. Learn virtual nodes, replication, production implementation, and how Cassandra and DynamoDB use it.
Learn how database indexes work, when to add them, and common mistakes. Covers B-tree indexes, composite indexes, EXPLAIN ANALYZE, and when indexes hurt performance.
Learn how database replication works. Covers primary-replica setup, synchronous vs asynchronous replication, read replicas, lag detection, PostgreSQL streaming replication walkthrough, and automatic failover strategies.
Learn how database sharding works, when to use it, and common strategies. Covers horizontal partitioning, shard keys, cross-shard queries, resharding, PostgreSQL sharding, and anti-patterns.
Complete system design walkthrough for a URL shortener like bit.ly. Covers Base62 encoding, database schema, caching with Redis, custom aliases, expiry, analytics at scale, and global distribution.
Learn how distributed tracing works and how to implement it. Covers trace IDs, spans, OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Zipkin, sampling strategies, and how to find performance bottlenecks in microservices.
Complete guide to how DNS works: resolution process, record types, TTL, DNSSEC, DNS over HTTPS, Route 53, Cloudflare, troubleshooting with dig, and common DNS mistakes engineers make.
GraphQL lets clients request exactly the data they need from a single endpoint, while REST exposes fixed resources over multiple URLs with standard HTTP verbs. Learn when each wins — with real N+1 examples, schema design, performance tradeoffs, tooling, and a decision matrix.
Learn what idempotency means in API design and why it matters for payments, retries, and distributed systems. With practical implementation patterns.
Complete guide to JWT security, JWT vs session tokens, JWT best practices, signing algorithms, refresh token rotation, and real Node.js/Python implementations.
Learn Kubernetes fundamentals as a developer. Covers pods, deployments, services, ingress, networking, HPA, persistent volumes, and debugging — with practical kubectl examples and production YAML.
Load balancing distributes traffic across servers so no single machine becomes a bottleneck. Learn every major algorithm — round robin, least connections, IP hash, and more — plus Layer 4 vs Layer 7, health checks, sticky sessions, and real nginx/HAProxy config examples.
What is a message queue and when should you use Kafka vs RabbitMQ? Deep dive into architecture, patterns, dead-letter queues, and Python code examples.
Learn when microservices make sense and when they don't. Covers modular monolith, strangler fig pattern, Conway's Law, service communication, data management, and real examples from Netflix, Shopify, and GitHub.
Learn the difference between TCP, UDP, HTTP, gRPC, and WebSockets. Practical guide on picking the right protocol for your backend system.
The OSI model defines 7 layers of network communication. Learn what each layer does, how it maps to TCP/IP, debugging tools per layer, and why backend developers care about L3-L7.
Rate limiting controls how many API requests a client can make in a time window. Learn the algorithms, Redis implementation, distributed patterns, and HTTP headers — with complete production code.
Learn how WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, and long polling work. When to use each for real-time features like chat, notifications, and live dashboards.
Redis is an in-memory data store used as a cache to reduce database load and latency. Learn cache-aside, TTL, stampede prevention, eviction policies, and complete Python/Node.js code examples.
REST API design best practices covering URL naming, HTTP status codes, versioning, pagination, error responses, security, and request/response design. With real HTTP examples.
A reverse proxy sits between your users and backend servers — handling SSL termination, load balancing, caching, and DDoS protection. Covers Nginx, Caddy, Traefik, and cloud-native setups.
Learn how the saga pattern handles distributed transactions in microservices — choreography vs orchestration, compensating transactions, Kafka implementation, and production debugging.
What is service discovery and why do microservices need it? Covers client-side vs server-side discovery, Consul, etcd, ZooKeeper, Kubernetes DNS, health checks, and failure modes with code examples.
Learn the real differences between SQL and NoSQL databases. When to use PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, or Redis. Covers ACID vs BASE, NoSQL types, polyglot persistence, and decision framework.
Learn the difference between vertical and horizontal scaling. Understand trade-offs, real costs, auto-scaling, stateful vs stateless design, and when each strategy makes sense for your system.