Explore topics:
book (6)
ai (3)
ai-engineering (3)
applied-cs (3)
llm (3)
machine-learning (3)
software-engineering (3)
genomics (2)
ConceptWhat Production Actually Demands
The concerns no language teaches you and every system grows into — a companion to the Cross-Cutting Concerns part of my book, Applied Computer Science.
production
ci-cd
observability
security
+4
Jun 29, 20262 min read13
ConceptThe Repo Is the Proof
Why a concept you can't run is a concept you don't quite believe — a companion to the build-it-yourself approach behind my book, Applied Computer Science.
software-engineering
learning-by-building
projects
book
+1
Jun 29, 20262 min read10
ConceptLearn the Concept, Not the Syntax
Why "learning a new language" is mostly relearning ideas you already know — a companion to Part I of my book, Applied Computer Science.
polyglot
programming-languages
software-engineering
book
+2
Jun 29, 20262 min read13
ExplorationHindsight Is 20/20
A chance remark about cochlear implants turns into an argument that the hard part of learning was never getting the information — it's acquiring the representation that lets you read it.
perception
representation-learning
cochlear-implant
emergence
+5
Jun 24, 202623 min read57
ConceptHow to Think About AI Agents
A working mental model for agents — and when not to build one. A companion to Chapter 8 of my book, AI Engineering.
agents
agentic-systems
mcp
tool-use
+3
May 29, 20262 min read134
ConceptRAG Is an Architecture, Not a Feature
Why retrieval-augmented generation is a system you design, not a library you import — a companion to Chapter 7 of my book, AI Engineering.
rag
embeddings
vector-search
reranking
+3
May 29, 20262 min read140
ConceptBuilding Your First LLM Application
The gap between calling an API and shipping an app — a companion to Chapter 4 of my book, AI Engineering.
llm
ai-engineering
rag
getting-started
+2
May 29, 20263 min read111
ExplorationNeural Networks Got Too Big to Read - Now We Sequence Them
Why large language models stopped reminding me of software and started reminding me of genomics — and what that says about studying any system too large to read.
interpretability
machine-learning
genomics
neural-networks
+6
May 28, 202610 min read134
ExplorationThe other ninety-eight percent
What the exome era of genomics reveals about subquadratic attention — and the belief trap that follows a good, necessary compromise.
attention
transformers
ai
language-models
+5
May 26, 20265 min read145
CommentaryThe C++ Renaissance
How AI Collapses and Rewrites the Constraints That Created Modern Languages.
c++
programming-languages
ai
language-design
+5
Jan 19, 20267 min read124
ArchitectureI Don't Debug Code — I Debug Agreements
Systems fail at boundaries, not implementations. A practice for writing falsifiable contracts and debugging by auditing agreements instead of tracing execution.
debugging
architecture
contracts
agreements
+4
Dec 15, 202511 min read143
ExplorationWhy Reading Backwards Is Hard: Endianness in Computing and Directionality in DNA
An exploration of the surprising parallels between byte order in computer systems and strand directionality in molecular biology, revealing how both domains solve the same fundamental problem.
endianness
dna
bioinformatics
computer-science
+2
Dec 10, 20255 min read94