Building for the long tail
Naming is one of the hardest problems in software, yet we spend less time on it than we should. Let's talk about why it matters and how to get better at it.
Recent writing
- Why constraints breed creativity · 44 minutes ago · 25,807 reads
- A philosophy of naming conventions · 18 hours ago
- Incremental adoption of types · 19 minutes ago
Why defaults matter more
Most codebases grow in directions their authors never anticipated. The pressure to optimize early is real, but constraints often produce more elegant solutions than freedom ever could.
From the archive
Performance optimization is a tempting distraction. Every line of code that exists to optimize one specific case is a line that must be maintained and understood forever.
About this site
A technical writer exploring systems thinking, code design, and the intersection of tools and thought.
Thoughts on writing. Updated monthly.
Elsewhere
Occasional writing on technical topics. Past essays here.