Alexandre Zajac

How to reply to:
“When is it going to be fixed?“


Bad:

❌ “It's done when it's done.“
→ No predictability.

❌Micromanagement
→ Kills focus & trust.


Better:

✅ Devs:
→ Pad estimates (1hr → 2hr), block focus time, and communicate early.

✅ Managers:
→ Ask “blockers?“ not “done yet?“, use async updates, buffer deadlines.

✅ Both:
→ Timebox fixes (1hr try → reassess).


What's your way?


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How to reply to:
“When is it going to be fixed?“


Bad:

❌ “It's done when it's done.“
→ No predictability.

❌Micromanagement
→ Kills focus & trust.


Better:

✅ Devs:
→ Pad estimates (1hr → 2hr), block focus time, and communicate early.

✅ Managers:
→ Ask “blockers?“ not “done yet?“, use async updates, buffer deadlines.

✅ Both:
→ Timebox fixes (1hr try → reassess).


What's your way?


~~~
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~~~

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#softwareengineering #coding #programming

The Sunk Cost Fallacy Explained:


Riding the wrong train just because you already paid for the ticket.

Wrong path?

Exit fast.


The longer you wait, the costlier the fix.


~~~
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The Sunk Cost Fallacy Explained:


Riding the wrong train just because you already paid for the ticket.

Wrong path?

Exit fast.


The longer you wait, the costlier the fix.


~~~
👉🏻 Join 50,001+ software engineers getting curated system design deep dives, trends, and tools (it's free):
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2023: “Prompt engineers are going to replace software engineers...“

2025: “Yeah, right“ 🤣

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Service availability 101:


0. 99.00000% ~ 3d 15 39m downtime/year.
↳ Basic reliability. Single points of failure are still a risk.

1. 99.90000% ~ 8h 45min downtime/year.
↳ The standard for many SaaS apps. Requires basic redundancy and failover.

2. 99.99000% ~ 52m 35s downtime/year.
↳ Multi-region setups, automated failover, and health checks become important.

3. 99.99900% ~ 5m 15s downtime/year.
↳ Real-time monitoring, active-active systems, and chaos engineering are now needed.

4. 99.99990% ~ 31s downtime/year.
↳ Hyper-specialized systems, near-perfect automation, and advanced traffic management.

5. 99.99999% ~ 3s downtime/year.
↳ You’re now in the realm of NASA-level reliability. I don't even know at this point.

But adding one more “9“ every time is exponentially more difficult.

Most services provide a decent availability SLA, but it gets really hard to go beyond 3 nines.

An additional layer to understand is that:

A 12-hour downtime at once can be much more dangerous than 144 downtimes of 5 minutes spread over the year.

And timing matters:

Downtime during peak hours (e.g., Black Friday for Amazon for example) is way worse than during off-peak times.

Service availability is not just about hitting a number:
↳ It’s about understanding the impact of downtime, the trade-offs in engineering effort, and the business priorities behind it.


What did I miss?


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Code is read more often than it is written.

8 patterns to improve code readability:


0. Avoid novelty:
↳ Stick to familiar patterns instead of using new or complex constructs.
✅ This makes your code easier to understand because readers don’t have to learn new styles.

1. Simplify conditionals:
↳ Keep your conditional checks short and straightforward.
✅ Avoid mixing different logical operators like `&&` and `||` in the same condition.

2. Minimize nesting:
↳ Avoid deeply nested logic by breaking it into smaller functions.
✅ Flattening your code makes it easier to follow and debug.

3. Group logic:
↳ Break long chains of functions or iterators into smaller steps.
✅ Use helper functions or intermediate variables to make the flow clearer.

4. Use distinct variable names:
↳ Choose descriptive and unique names for your variables.
✅ Avoid names that look similar, like `i` and `j`, to prevent confusion.

5. Keep variables short-lived:
↳ Declare variables as close to their usage as possible.
✅ This reduces the mental effort needed to track their values.

6. Write smaller functions:
↳ Keep your functions small and focused on a single task.
✅ Smaller functions are easier to read, test, and reuse.

7. Avoid gotos:
↳ Use gotos only when absolutely necessary.
✅ They can make your code harder to follow and debug.


What practices makes code easier to read?


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