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Dev|Journal — Software Architecture, AI & Engineering Blog

Articles on software architecture, backend, AI & engineering · Updated regularly

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PythonAISearch

Codexity Part 1: Architecture of an Answer Engine

The first chapter in a series on building a Perplexity-style answer engine from scratch in Python. We lay out the full architecture, set up the project skeleton, and understand every component before writing a single line of business logic.

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AstroTypeScriptAudio

Continuous Audio Playback on a Static Astro Site

How to build a persistent mini audio player that survives page navigations on a static Astro MPA — using a Zustand vanilla store, localStorage, and a singleton audio engine — with no SPA or client-side routing required.

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SecurityNetworkingCryptography

TLS: How Your Browser Keeps Secrets (And Why It's Harder Than You Think)

A no-bullshit deep dive into TLS 1.3: the handshake, record protocol, certificate chains, and why perfect forward secrecy actually matters. With annotated diagrams because the RFCs are 100+ pages.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 6: Complete Agent & Best Practices (Research Report Generator)

The finale! Run your complete Research Report Generator, learn best practices, explore advanced memory strategies, and discover how to extend your agent with new capabilities.

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AI AgentsLLMArchitecture

How I Built an AI System That Writes Full-Length Books

A multi-agent pipeline that autonomously generates complete books—from technical manuals to fantasy novels—with built-in research, quality control, and hallucination prevention.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 5: The Agent Core & Loop (Research Report Generator)

Build the brain of your AI agent! Implement the ReAct loop, system prompts, tool execution, and phase handlers that orchestrate the entire research workflow.

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observabilitydevopsinfrastructure

The Grafana Observability Stack: A Pragmatic Deep Dive

A comprehensive, technically rigorous guide to Grafana, Prometheus, Loki, Tempo, and Alertmanager — from architecture and design philosophy to production deployment, Kubernetes operations, and an honest comparison with the Elastic stack.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 4: Human-in-the-Loop Validation (Research Report Generator)

Keep humans in control of AI agents. Build checkpoints for plan approval, source selection, fact verification, and draft review—so agents stay helpful without going rogue.

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aisoftware-architectureagents

Beyond the Window: Engineering Cognitive Architectures

Why sliding windows and naive RAG failed us, and how we're building the next generation of "thinking" machines using structured memory and metacognition.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 3: State Management & Memory (Research Report Generator)

Give your AI agent a memory! Learn short-term vs long-term memory, prevent context overflow, and enable agents to resume interrupted work.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 2: Building the Tool System (Research Report Generator)

Give your AI agent superpowers! Build a clean tool system with web search, content extraction, and file operations—the foundation that lets agents interact with the real world.

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PythonSoftware designBackend development

Python Dataclasses vs Pydantic: The Complete Production Guide

A comprehensive technical reference covering ALL features of Python dataclasses and Pydantic v2+. Learn when to use each, performance trade-offs, validation patterns, serialization mechanics, and production patterns for senior engineers.

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aiagentspython

AI Agents from Scratch Part 1: Understanding the ReAct Pattern (Research Report Generator)

Start your journey building AI agents without frameworks. Learn the foundational ReAct pattern that powers modern agents—with a hands-on Research Report Generator example.

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PythonSQLAlchemyDatabase

SQLAlchemy 2.0 in Production - Full Guide

The definitive guide to SQLAlchemy 2.0 at scale. Real patterns, async performance, and battle-tested ORM techniques.

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distributed-systemssystem-designsoftware-engineering

Building Systems That Don't Fall Apart: Reliability, Scalability, and Maintainability

A practical guide to the three pillars of distributed systems design. Learn how to handle hardware failures, scale past 10,000 users, and avoid building unmaintainable legacy code from day one.

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PythonFastAPIPerformance

FastAPI Performance Optimization - Production-Grade Techniques

Deep dive into FastAPI performance optimization: database connection pooling, caching strategies, async patterns, profiling, and real benchmarks from production systems.

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PythonBest PracticesSoftware Engineering

Python Modules and Imports - Best Practices and Pitfalls

A comprehensive guide to Python's module system: best practices, common pitfalls, circular imports, and performance optimizations with real-world examples.

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AngularWeb DevelopmentPerformance

Angular v21: Zoneless by Default and the Death of Zone.js

Angular v21 ditches Zone.js, introduces Signal Forms, and ships incremental hydration. Here's what changed, why it matters, and how to migrate production apps without breaking everything.

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PythonTTSAudio

Natural Storytelling with Piper TTS

Learn how to use Piper TTS to generate natural-sounding speech with realistic pauses and punctuation-aware timing for storytelling applications.

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ArchitecturePythonFastAPI

Hexagonal Architecture with FastAPI: Database, Valkey Cache, Messaging

Code-heavy walkthrough of a document management platform built with Hexagonal Architecture in Python. Includes FastAPI adapters, SQLAlchemy persistence, Valkey caching, and message publishing.

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JavaConcurrencyPerformance

Java 25 Structured Concurrency: The End of Thread Leaks

Deep dive into Java 25's Structured Concurrency (JEP 505): how the new Joiner architecture fixes thread leaks, improves observability, and replaces ExecutorService for modern concurrent applications.

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APIRESTPerformance

Stop Sending Nulls in Your API Responses

Why omitting null fields and empty arrays makes your REST APIs faster, cheaper, and cleaner. Personal opinions, not gospel.

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APIRESTArchitecture

REST API Design: Beyond the Dogma

A pragmatic look at REST API design for developers who've already made mistakes and want to stop making them.

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HomelabDockerNetworking

The Poor Man's Homelab

How to run a proper homelab without cloud fees, Kubernetes, or losing your mind.

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