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On DevOps and product lifecycle

The idea of DevOps is kinda peculiar since there’s no real hard boundary between development and operations.

A common misconception is that the role of developers is churning out code, while operations are supposed to look over infrastructure. It…

On experience

Often in computer games, every next level requires more experience than the previous one.

Surprisingly, this is actually very true in real life as well. Engineers jump through MTS levels every year or so, a few of them get the Staff designation after five years, getting to…

On writing

I have been neglecting my blog for some time, but now I have a reason to go back.

Over the past few years, I noticed my memory failing. It takes me just a week to forget everything about the book I read, a movie I watched, or an idea I had.

On normalization

Fourth normal form is considered to be the pinnacle of database normalization. It is not.

Modeling relational data is straightforward. Take the raw data, extract relationships. When you’ve made all of them explicit, you’re good. The four types of relationships that you’re…

On specialization

Specialization is good, since it promotes trade.

However, trade introduces overhead of transactional costs.

As with every other design problems, the trick is to put the boundaries in the right place. Features that require unique skills from…

On trade and commerce

I love trade.

Trade makes the world go round. Trade allows us to focus on what we do best. Trade helps us build value and share it with the others. Trade requires diversity to work. Trade, simply put, is the ultimate enabler of progress.

On client-server and evolution

Part 1: emergence of the apex predator

Known from early Paleolithic era, client-server was probably the first and to this day, most successful, way to deal with scaling information systems outside of a single computer. We…

On databases

In the middle of SQL/NoSQL/NOSQL war it is easy to forget what a database is.

Database is the place where data resides. Note that I am using a definite article here. It’s not “a place”, nor there are such things as databases (plural). All of the work that is done on databases…