It’s been far too long since I’ve blogged. In this post, I want to reflect on some things I’ve learned as a senior engineer and try to synthesize them into a personal engineering philosophy. table of contents impact over productivity “It depends” Cleverness kills “Business knows best” Ignore best practices (sometimes) Code is the easy part “No Mysteries” Abstract & optimize later You Aren’t Going To Need It (Probably) impact over productivity If you have to optimize for something as an engineer, it should be impact.
Featured
Latest
MongoDB Performance Fundamentals: Indexing & Indexes
9 minute read
I originally wrote this post to appear on the FloQast Engineering Blog. I know how frustrating slow apps are. I also really care about my users’ time. One of the best ways to respect peoples' time when using your applications is by ensuring your database is humming smoothly. I’ve learned how to work with MongoDB over the years in order to make sure my users’ time isn’t wasted and wanted to share some of those lessons here.
Better, Faster, More Secure Backups With Restic
8 minute read
Hello again! It’s been a while since I’ve written on this blog and I am resolving (pre New Year’s!) to write more. I’m starting easier by writing about a backup setup that I put in place while I’ve been on paternity leave. A few highlights of my current setup: encrypted at rest + nice threat model incremental snapshots deduplication of data fast! written in Golang (++ style points) support for tons of backends ⛅️ multi-cloud ⛅️ Backups 🤷 Let’s just get it out of the way: if you’re not backing your files etc.
A Guide to the React Ecosystem
4 minute read
tl;dr: I’ve written a book about React, React in Actionfor Manning Publications! I’m thankful to have been able to work on it and fulfill a life-goal of mine. If you’re reading this post, you probably either made your way here from somewhere on the internet or you’re reading React in Action and were directed here from the book. One of my goals for the book is to give the reader a sense of React that isn’t bogged down in jargon and is instead rooted in solid concepts and practical examples.
If Else V3: from Ghost to Hugo
3 minute read
It’s been a while since I’ve revisited the design of my site (pssstt. you’re here!). I was pretty happy with the second version of it, but felt like it needed a change. It’s overall design is still utilizing the Tufte-CSS project, which based on the work of Edward Tufte (a renowned statistician noted for his expertise and work around the presentation of data). I have a copy of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information and really enjoy the technical precision of his work as well as the overall aesthetic.
50% off React in Action Today
2 minute read
You might have seen my post from the other week about my upcoming book on React. Today, React in Action is part of Manning’s Deal of the Day. You can get 50% off your order here (make sure to use code dotd110316au!). What’s in the book? React in Action is broken into several major parts. In the first section, you’ll meet React. We’ll dive into some of the fundamental ideas in React and work with components.
A Conceptual Introduction to React Components
10 minute read
I’ve had the pleasure to work on a book about React — React in Action — for Manning this year. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m so excited that it’s starting to be publicly available now through the MEAP program! You can download the first chapter for FREE <a rel=“noreferrer noopener” https://manning-content.s3.amazonaws.com/download/0/ccac5ed-e197-4215-bed7-c3131960b62d/Thomas_RIA_MEAP_V01_ch1.pdf target="_blank">here. For a short while, you’ll be able to use the discount code mlthomas to get 50% off the MEAP!
More