My Brightest Thoughts

The Cache Stampede Problem: Why a Popular Cache Key Can Take Down Your Backend

When a frequently used cache entry expires under heavy traffic, every pending request can hit your database or origin service at the same instant. Here is why that happens and the techniques engineers use to stop it.

The Circuit Breaker Pattern: Stopping Cascading Failures in Microservices

When one service in a distributed system starts failing, calls to it can pile up and take down everything upstream. The circuit breaker pattern stops that spread by failing fast instead of waiting.

Rate Limiting Algorithms: Token Bucket vs Sliding Window Explained

A practical comparison of the two most common rate limiting algorithms, token bucket and sliding window, and guidance on which one fits a given API.

Why Your App Shows Stale Data Right After a Write: Understanding Read Replica Lag

Read replicas help databases scale, but they introduce a subtle bug where users don't see their own recent changes. Here's why that happens and how teams actually fix it.

Why Serverless Functions Keep Exhausting Your Postgres Connections

Serverless functions open far more Postgres connections than a traditional server ever would, and raising max_connections only delays the failure. Here's why connection pooling is the actual fix, and what it costs you.

Idempotency Keys: Making Payment APIs Safe to Retry

How idempotency keys stop a flaky network from turning one API request into two duplicate charges, and the practical details of implementing them correctly.

What the Model Context Protocol Actually Is (and Why It Became the Standard)

MCP is mentioned in almost every AI engineering conversation right now but rarely explained plainly. Here's what the protocol actually does, how it works under the hood, and why nearly every major AI vendor ended up adopting it.

Notes

What Google Earth Engine Actually Is (and What It's Capable Of)

Google Earth Engine gets mentioned a lot but rarely explained simply. Here is what it actually is, what it can do, and what changed in 2026, written for people with no background in satellites or geospatial data.

Fintech Systems

Locking Exchange Rates for Multi-Currency Billing

Notes on protecting subscription revenue from FX volatility when billing across currencies.