Thoughtful writing for developers

A minimalistic blog platform featuring articles on programming, technology, productivity, and career growth for modern developers.

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Ttestuser117December 11, 20251 min read
The War Story Tangent That Lost Me a Staff Engineer Offer
technology

The War Story Tangent That Lost Me a Staff Engineer Offer

I've watched senior engineers bomb system design interviews for 2 years. Your production experience might actually be the problem. Here's why.

OHOmar HassanDecember 9, 202510 min read
I Kept Failing System Design Interviews After 8 Years of Experience. Here's Why.
career

I Kept Failing System Design Interviews After 8 Years of Experience. Here's Why.

8 years of building distributed systems didn't help me pass interviews. I was answering from habit, not strategy. Here's the RADAR method that fixed it.

OHOmar HassanDecember 9, 20257 min read
I Got Rejected for Staff Twice. Here's What Finally Worked.
technology

I Got Rejected for Staff Twice. Here's What Finally Worked.

Got rejected for staff engineer twice before figuring out what committees actually evaluate. Here's the 18-month timeline and packet strategy that worked.

ARAlex RiveraDecember 8, 20259 min read
I Built Production Systems for a Decade and Still Froze at the Whiteboard
career

I Built Production Systems for a Decade and Still Froze at the Whiteboard

After 10 years building production systems, I kept freezing in interviews. Here's the 7-phase framework that finally fixed my whiteboard panic.

OHOmar HassanDecember 8, 20257 min read
How I Got My Staff Engineer Promotion in 90 Days (After Stalling for 2 Years)
career

How I Got My Staff Engineer Promotion in 90 Days (After Stalling for 2 Years)

I stalled at senior for 2 years before treating my promotion like a 90-day project. Here's the exact audit, evidence, and sponsor strategy that worked.

ARAlex RiveraDecember 8, 20257 min read
Why I Switched from Notion to Obsidian (And What I Miss)
technology

Why I Switched from Notion to Obsidian (And What I Miss)

I tested 7 PKM tools for coding work. Obsidian won for its local Markdown files and Git support, but Notion still does one thing better.

LPLisa ParkDecember 7, 202510 min read
What 11 PM Debugging Sessions Taught Me About Taking Notes
tools

What 11 PM Debugging Sessions Taught Me About Taking Notes

After months testing PKM tools during real debugging sessions, here's what actually works for engineers (and it's not about pretty pages).

LPLisa ParkDecember 7, 20257 min read
We Keep Arguing About Cursor vs Copilot. So I Actually Measured It.
tools

We Keep Arguing About Cursor vs Copilot. So I Actually Measured It.

I tracked 100 PRs over 90 days. Copilot won on acceptance rate, but Cursor's code needed fewer rewrites. Here's what the numbers actually showed.

APArjun PatelDecember 6, 20256 min read
I Was Already Doing Staff-Level Work. Why I Still Failed the Interview.
career

I Was Already Doing Staff-Level Work. Why I Still Failed the Interview.

I'd been doing staff-level work for months but bombed my first interview. Here's the 90-day prep system I built after sitting on promotion committees.

SCSarah ChenDecember 6, 20259 min read