I Followed the Official AWS Amplify Guide and was Charged $1,100 (6 minute read)
This developer was hit with unexpectedly high AWS charges after following the official guide for integrating Amazon OpenSearch with AWS Amplify. He was charged over $1,100 due to the guide's failure to properly manage OpenSearch domain creation and deletion, which led to multiple, concurrently running instances. AWS customer support ultimately waived the charges but the issue persisted until AWS recently fixed its docs.
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SQLite Index Visualization: Structure (10 minute read)
The on-disk and in-memory representations of SQLite index structures using a B-tree model can be visualized using an ImageMagick-based approach. This shows how index size, sorting order (ASC/DESC), data types, and index creation timing impact the B-tree structure and how optimizations are achievable through VACUUM and REINDEX.
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Netflix's Distributed Counter Abstraction (25 minute read)
Netflix developed a distributed counter abstraction built upon its TimeSeries Abstraction to handle massive-scale counting with low latency. This service addresses various counting needs. The system uses a combination of techniques, including event logging, background aggregation with sliding time windows, and caching.
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The Pythonic Emptiness (15 minute read)
Python's PEP-8 recommended method for checking empty sequences using truthiness (e.g., `if not mylist:`) is more Pythonic and efficient than using `len()`. While using `len()` isn't incorrect, the recommended Pythonic approach is simpler, faster, and clearer.
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AI Makes Tech Debt More Expensive (4 minute read)
AI increases the cost of tech debt as it boosts the productivity gap between clean and messy codebases. Generative AI tools work best with well-structured, low-complexity code. Companies with legacy systems will struggle to adopt them. To maximize AI's benefits, developers should prioritize refactoring legacy code into modular, well-defined units.
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Lessons from my First Exit (33 minute read)
Michael Lynch, a former Google engineer, sold his bootstrapped hardware company, TinyPilot, for $598,000 after four years of running it. In this post, he details the process, highlighting what he did well (extensive documentation, using a trusted broker, and avoiding seller financing) and what he would do differently (cash buyer incentives and earlier legal counsel). The sale taught him valuable lessons about due diligence, the hidden costs of selling, and the importance of clear contracts.
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Windsurf (Website)
Windsurf Editor is an AI-powered IDE that aims to provide a "flow state" coding experience. Its core feature, Cascade, uses codebase understanding for multi-file editing and intelligent AI-powered suggestions.
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React Query Builder (GitHub Repo)
React Query Builder is a customizable React component for creating queries that offers utility functions for various query languages (SQL, MongoDB, etc.). It includes compatibility packages for popular styling libraries like Ant Design and Bootstrap and a React Native component.
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json.cpp (GitHub Repo)
json.cpp is a fast, small, and highly compliant JSON library for C++. It's more performant than alternatives (parsing 3x faster and compiling 10x faster), has a much smaller codebase (10x less code), and has better JSONTestSuite conformance than its competitors. The library uses Google's double-conversion library for efficient floating-point number serialization.
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OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic Are Struggling to Build More Advanced AI (10 minute read)
OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are encountering difficulties in developing more advanced AI models. Their latest projects, including OpenAI's Orion and Google's next Gemini iteration, are falling short of internal expectations. This slowdown is being attributed to challenges in acquiring high-quality training data and the immense costs associated with building and maintaining these massive models.
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Open-Source Software is in Crisis (5 minute read)
The legal dispute between WordPress and hosting provider WPEngine highlights the "maker-taker" problem in open-source software, where companies profit without adequately contributing back to the projects they utilize. This issue is made worse by increasing reliance on open source. Possible solutions include the commercialization of support services, government funding (as seen in Germany), and social validation through recognition and reward systems.
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What makes concurrency so hard? (8 minute read)
Concurrency in computer science is difficult primarily because the number of possible states in a concurrent system grows exponentially with the number of concurrent actors and their actions.
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Thanks for reading,
Priyam Mohanty, Jenny Xu & Ceora Ford
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