Get better at software architecture
A newsletter about architecture & design. Focused on JavaScript.
Made with❤️by Alex Kondov
Newsletter Archive
How BlueSky Structure Their App
05/06/2023
In desperate need of inspiration I explored BlueSky's React app
What's been happening lately
24/05/2023
I've shifted my full focus to the front-end ecosystem this year - the UI is the place to be.
Use DBs Without Putting Domain Logic in Them
17/02/2023
The only advice I'd ever dare give about databases - don't write domain logic in them.
I'm Building Something
31/01/2023
This year I wanted to build more and I'm ready to announce my first project.
The Most Important Idea of 2022
30/12/2022
How to translate important programming concepts to front-end development.
Accumulating Unintentional Tech Debt
26/11/2022
How not updating your tools can have catastrophic effects on your systems.
A Half-Hour to Learn JavaScript
31/10/2022
A quick overview of the fundamental JS concepts and an interesting lecture.
We Need Better Tooling
04/10/2022
We don't need faster frameworks, we need a consistent toolchain.
My Book Processing Pipeline
12/09/2022
How I introduced technical debt into my writing and what I did to remove it.
Reading Code: GitHub Hotkey
20/08/2022
Reviewing the library GitHub uses for keyboard shortcuts, written in vanilla JS.
A Testing Philosophy
30/07/2022
I've neglected tests in the past. I no longer make this mistake.
Reading Source Code: React
18/07/2022
Examining React's codebase from the prism of software design.
Why I Like Hexagonal Architecture
24/06/2022
How hexagonal architecture helps to deal with shifting business requirements
Tao of Node is finally out!
31/05/2022
My latest book about building REST APIs with Node.js is now available
Reading Source Code: React-Query
23/05/2022
I'm back to reading open-source projects' code. This time it's React-Query.
The Time I Built a Game
30/04/2022
Working on a game was one of the most enriching experiences in my career.
Functions, Objects and the Principles I Follow
17/04/2022
Each time I find myself coding without known patterns to help me, I rely on fundamental programming principles.
Tings I've Learned About Interviewing People
30/03/2022
A few valuable lessons learned on the other side of the interview table.
Tao of Node
14/03/2022
My long form article with my principles for building Node applications is out.
Ramblings About Clean Code
28/02/2022
I've always considered clean code to be too subjective of a term.
The Hard Things About Front-End Dev
16/02/2022
Front-end development has never been harder than it is today. Here’s why.
The One Time I Needed Computer Science
28/01/2022
The only project I've needed algos and data structures knowledge to deliver
Reading Source Code - Redux
15/01/2022
Reading Redux's source code and reflecting on the decision to use overloading
Best of 2021
28/12/2021
My yearly reflections & the best software engineering resources I found in 2021
How to Understand Large Codebases
13/12/2021
The steps you should take when you're exploring an unfamiliar project
Micro-frontends & Black Friday Sale
25/11/2021
When building large UI applications becomes too hard we must learn how to split them.
Microservices in Patterns
16/10/2021
Thoughts on two microservice-related projects I've worked on in the past.
Writing Good TypeScript and Compiling it Fast
16/10/2021
Let's not forget that TS is its own language with its own learning curve.
Rethinking Design Patterns
30/09/2021
Is it time we put common design patterns under question? Do they help or narrow our design vision?
Functional Architecture
30/08/2021
High-level design using functional programming patterns has never been an easy task.
Functional Programming
26/07/2021
My favourite functional programming resources and why we don't apply it at scale.
Hexagonal Architecture
30/06/2021
The benefits of layered architecture to decouple domain from transport logic.
Tao of React Released
19/05/2021
I just released my first book - Tao of React! A collection of principles when building React apps.
Build. Overcomplicate. Build.
02/04/2021
We start by building, then when we see the software world's real complexity, we start overengineering.
Tao of React Announcement
26/02/2021
I have officially started writing my first book. Lodash library structure review.
Building Resilient Front-End Architecture
19/12/2020
Lessons learned from 2020 and how to architect front-ends so they don't have to be rewritten eveyr two years.
Architecture is More Art than Science
11/12/2020
I'm yet to see a good primer on software architecture - only advice and trade-offs. And that's OK.
Good Tools Solve Problems
05/12/2020
When you're wondering if a technology is worth your attention, consider if it's solving a real problem.
The First Version is Always a Prototype
27/11/2020
Why the first approach to solve a problem is rarely the best one.
Writing Code ≠ Building Software
20/11/2020
There are numerous resources on algorithms and data structures. Few about building non-trivial software.