Backend
The Developer's Guide to Timeouts
Most HTTP clients ship with no timeout at all. How to set connect, read and database timeouts that fail fast instead of hanging forever.
Gareth Clubb 6 min read Backend
Server-side development, APIs, databases, and building robust backend systems.
Gareth Clubb 6 min read Backend
How to Design Webhooks That Don't Lose Events
Webhook design guide: at-least-once delivery, retries with backoff, idempotent consumers, HMAC signatures, and why you should never trust event order.
David White 6 min read Backend
Caching Patterns Explained: A Practical Catalogue with Code Examples
A working catalogue of caching patterns and mechanisms with code examples: cache-aside, read-through, write-through, write-behind, refresh-ahead and more.
Gareth Clubb 8 min read Backend
Database Connection Pooling Explained
A practical guide to database connection pooling for Postgres and Node.js. Pool sizing, timeouts, PgBouncer, serverless pitfalls, and real numbers.
David White 8 min read Backend
How to Design Idempotent API Endpoints
A practical guide to designing idempotent API endpoints. Covers idempotency keys, HTTP semantics, storage patterns and the edge cases that usually bite first.
Zubair Hasan 9 min read Backend
The Developer's Guide to API Versioning
A practical guide to API versioning strategies, from URL paths and headers to semantic versioning, with real-world examples and trade-offs.
David White 8 min read Backend
The Developer's Guide to Background Jobs and Task Queues
Learn when and how to use background jobs and task queues. Practical patterns for reliable async processing in modern web applications.
Zubair Hasan 9 min read Backend
The Developer's Guide to WebSockets
Learn when and how to use WebSockets for real-time features, with practical patterns for connection management, scaling, and common pitfalls.
Gareth Clubb 11 min read Backend
How to Choose the Right Database for Your Project
A practical guide to choosing the right database for your project, comparing relational, document, key-value and graph options with clear criteria.
David White 9 min read