Notes & sketches
Backend ideas explained the way I explain them on a whiteboard: a few boxes, some arrows, and no jargon left undrawn.
Why your API feels slow, drawn on a napkin
Your endpoint is fast. The email it sends is not. A queue fixes this, and two sketches explain the whole idea.
Read the postDatabase indexes, explained with a phone book
One query, two ways to run it: check a million rows one by one, or take three hops down a tree. Two sketches show the difference.
Read the postAnatomy of a real-time taxi booking
GPS pings, WebSockets, and a voice call that never touches your server. One sketch of everything that happens between "book" and "hello".
Read the post