Databases
Stored Procedures: When to Use Them, When to Avoid Them
Opinionated guide to stored procedures covering performance benefits, maintainability costs, security implications, and practical guidelines for when they help vs hurt.
Database Architecture
Databases
Columnar vs Row Databases: Architecture, Performance, and Use Cases
In-depth comparison of columnar and row-oriented databases covering storage architecture, compression, query performance, and choosing the right one for your workload.
Databases
Database Replication: Streaming vs Logical Replication Explained
Deep dive into streaming and logical database replication, covering architecture, performance tradeoffs, failover strategies, and when to use each approach.
Databases
Distributed SQL Databases: CockroachDB, YugabyteDB, Google Spanner, and How to Choose
A practical guide to distributed SQL databases: what makes them different from regular sharding, when you actually need one, and how CockroachDB, YugabyteDB, Google Spanner, and TiDB compare in production.
Databases
The PostgreSQL Extensions Ecosystem: TimescaleDB, Citus, PostGIS, and How to Turn Postgres Into Anything
A deep dive into the PostgreSQL extensions ecosystem: how extensions work under the hood, when to use TimescaleDB for time-series, Citus for horizontal scaling, PostGIS for geospatial, and the operational trade-offs of building specialized databases on top of Postgres.
Databases
Serverless Databases: Neon, PlanetScale, Turso, and What Branch-per-Environment Actually Means for Your Architecture
Serverless databases separate compute from storage and scale to zero. Here's how Neon, PlanetScale, and Turso work under the hood, when branching genuinely helps, and when to stick with a managed Postgres cluster.
Databases
Database Connection Pooling: PgBouncer, RDS Proxy, and Why Your App Is Probably Starving Your Database
Connection pooling is one of the most impactful and least understood database optimizations. Here's how PgBouncer, RDS Proxy, and pgpool work, when each makes sense, and how to configure them without shooting yourself in the foot.
Databases
Database Write-Ahead Logging Explained: How PostgreSQL and Modern Databases Guarantee Durability
A deep technical dive into write-ahead logging: how WAL works in PostgreSQL and MySQL, why it is the foundation of crash recovery and replication, and what every engineer running databases in production needs to understand.
Databases
Distributed Caching Explained: Redis, Memcached, Valkey, and How to Choose
A principal architect's guide to distributed caching: how Redis, Memcached, and Valkey work, when to use each, and lessons from running caches at scale in production.