Engineering log
Essays and learning logs on taking responsibility for running software
A growing set of numbered essays and quicker learning logs on systems-oriented engineering: execution, time, failure, and the discipline required to ship reliable software.
Latest writing
7 pieces
- L06 System design: requirements as a contract
A practical way to write requirements that force architecture instead of letting the design drift into vibes.
- L05 System design: time start
Why I’m writing this system design series and how I’m approaching it: one guide, for building better systems and doing better in interviews.
- L04 Unix signals list (most common to rare)
A practical Unix signals list, explained from the ones you’ll see weekly to the ones you’ll meet once a year.
- L03 Process lifecycle
What it means for a process to start, run, receive signals, and eventually exit.
- L02 Operating system basics
A working mental model for what the OS is actually doing while my code runs.
- L01 From instructions to binaries to programs
A walkthrough from source code to a running program.
- L00 What I’m trying to understand
A baseline: the words I want to own before I pretend I’m thinking at the system level.