Field Notes

The code you delete never breaks, never gets a CVE, and never confuses the next reader. Subtraction is the most underrated engineering skill we have.

You don’t navigate by staring at the ground. Observability is how a system tells you where you are before you’re already lost.

Architecture that costs nothing at rest isn’t just frugal — it’s a forcing function that quietly makes the whole system simpler and more honest.

A good interface is small on the outside and honest about what it can’t do. Most of the cost of software is paid at its seams.

An invariant is a promise the system keeps no matter what. Pick a few good ones and most of your design decisions stop being decisions.