Vertical vs Horizontal Scaling
November 19, 2023Scaling is the process of growing or shrinking capacity. It primarily happens in two directions: horizontally or vertically. There are different flavors which we explore in this post.
Sharding
October 30, 2023The concept of vertical vs horizontal scaling doesn't only exist with application servers. It exists with database servers as well, and we explore that in this post.
Rate Limiting
October 15, 2023Rate-limiting serves as an important mechanism in more than just distributed computing, but that is the focus of this blog post.
Retries (Retry Patterns)
September 17, 2023Retries are exactly what it sounds like: retrying an operation after a failure. This blog post is a short intro into the concept.
RBAC (Role Based Access Control)
August 31, 2023Role-Based Access Control is a common mechanism for assigning a set of privileges to users of an application via roles.
Staying Ahead of the AI Revolution
July 22, 2023People adapted to the earlier industrial revolutions. The tools for adapting to the AI Revolution are available at our fingertips.
Encapsulation
June 30, 2023Encapsulation is a concept that exists at all levels of systems -- from a global scope down to the scope of application constructs. It exists in both physical and digital contexts. This post breaks it down.
What is Code?
June 04, 2023Code is everywhere. You're made of it. It exists in biology, literature, and certainly computer science.
Microservices vs Monolithic
May 22, 2023There exists a spectrum for the granularity of services in a distributed system from nano-services to a single monolith. In this post, we explore the trade-offs.
What is OOP (Object-Oriented Programming)?
April 29, 2023Also known as Object-Oriented Design, it is a paradigm for writing code where data and behavior are encapsulated by objects that leverage polymorphism.
What is a Data Structure?
March 26, 2023There's something special about data structures. Everything in the world can be modeled by some type or combination of data structures. It really makes you wonder.
What is Serverless?
March 05, 2023The term "Serverless" is actually a misnomer. Your code definitely is running on servers, but their management is so removed from the developer, that it feels "Serverless".
What is Kubernetes?
February 21, 2023Kubernetes is a container orchestration system that has exploded in popularity over the past few years. This trend is unlikely to stop.
What is a Container?
February 06, 2023The term 'container' has one prevalent usage in the context of containerized environments, which are similar to virtual machines. There is a more generic, but seldom addressed, use of the term that we also explore.
What is the Cloud?
January 30, 2023'The Cloud' is a very common term used today that may invoke imagery that is not based in reality for many people. This post aims to clarify its true meaning.
Software Engineer vs Software Developer
January 21, 2023This is a fairly innocuous question on the surface, but once you dive deeper, it becomes complicated. Is there no difference between the two terms? Is the difference in the scope of work? Or, is it about the credentials?
Testing in Software Engineering
January 15, 2023The number of different testing methodologies in software is endless. The timing of introducing new forms of testing is difficult to get right. This post attempts to provide a birds-eye view on these topics.
Static vs Dynamic Websites
January 03, 2023Historically, websites are dynamic where the HTML is rendered on a server, even if the content is static. With static websites, that content can be rendered beforehand and delivered to the user all at once on page load.
About this Blog
November 06, 2022This post describes Software.Land's mission.
REST API vs GraphQL
October 05, 2022GraphQL and REST APIs are two of the most popular network APIs and in this blog post, we'll explore the differences.
Throughput vs Latency
July 24, 2022Low latency is easy to achieve if high throughput is not a requirement. Similarly, high throughput is easy to achieve if low latency is not a requirement. If both are a requirement, then complexity must increase to alleviate inherent structural bottlenecks.
Why Learn to Code?
May 08, 2022In this post, we explore different considerations when asking if learning to code is an effective use of time.
High-Level vs Low-Level
March 29, 2022What does it mean when someone is describing something at a high-level vs a low-level? Let's explore it in the context of software.
Which Programming Language to Start?
February 22, 2022A common first question when someone dips their toes into the world of software is 'which programming language should I try to learn first?'
Previous Page Token for Cursor Pagination
December 06, 2021We dive into previous page tokens for Cursor Pagination and examine their time complexity. We also touch on why the intuitive approach doesn't work.
Best Learn to Code Platforms
June 01, 2020This post breaks down the differences between the top 'learn to code' platforms based on 6 categories.
Udacity Review
May 27, 2020Review of Udacity based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
Treehouse Review
May 27, 2020Review of Treehouse based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
Udemy Review
May 27, 2020Review of Udemy based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
PluralSight Review
May 27, 2020Review of PluralSight based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
LinkedIn Learning Review
May 27, 2020Review of LinkedIn Learning based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
Khan Academy Review
May 27, 2020Review of Khan Academy based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
freeCodeCamp Review
May 27, 2020Review of freeCodeCamp based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
edX Review
May 27, 2020Review of edX based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
CodeCademy Review
May 27, 2020Review of CodeCademy based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
Coursera Review
May 27, 2020Review of Coursera based on 6 comparison categories: cost, teacher feedback, range of difficulties, range of tools, computer science, real-world projects, and beginner environments.
What is an Interface?
March 05, 2020Software (and all technology) is just tools connected to other tools. Interfaces are the points of connection and they come in different shapes and sizes.
What is an API?
February 10, 2020APIs can be found all over software. This post quickly describes APIs in an overview, presents examples, and further elaborates in a closer look.
Glossary
February 10, 2020Concise definitions of common terms in software. This post is intended as reference.
Authors
Sam Malayek works in Vancouver for Amazon Web Services, and uses this space to fill in a few gaps. Opinions are his own.