Web Development
WebSockets vs. Server-Sent Events vs. WebTransport
A practical comparison of WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, and WebTransport to help pick the right real-time transport for a given use case.
2 min read
Tag
Networking
9 articles
Spotify
From Peer-to-Peer to CDNs: How Spotify Actually Streams Audio
Why Spotify's early client-side streaming relied on peer-to-peer delivery, and why it later moved entirely to server and CDN-based delivery instead.
3 min read
Cloud
VPC Networking Fundamentals Every Developer Should Actually Know
A practical walkthrough of VPC networking concepts, from subnets and route tables to security groups, aimed at developers who deploy but don't design networks.
3 min read
Performance
Response Compression: gzip, Brotli, and zstd Trade-offs
A practical comparison of gzip, Brotli, and zstd for HTTP response compression, covering ratio, CPU cost, and where each one actually wins.
2 min read
Performance
HTTP/2 and HTTP/3: What Multiplexing Actually Changes for Real Apps
A practical look at how HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 multiplexing affect application design, when it helps, and where old HTTP/1.1 habits still hurt you.
3 min read
System Design
CDNs Are More Than Static Asset Caches
CDNs now run edge compute, cache dynamic responses, and shield origin from thundering herds — far more than a cache for static files.
2 min read
System Design
Load Balancing Strategies: L4 vs. L7
Transport-layer and application-layer load balancers make routing decisions with very different visibility — here's what each one trades off.
2 min read
Netflix
Open Connect: How Netflix Built a CDN That Lives Inside Your ISP
Why Netflix stopped renting third-party CDN capacity and started shipping its own caching appliances directly into internet service providers.
3 min read
Security
TLS for Backend Developers
Most backend engineers treat TLS as something a load balancer handles — until a service-to-service call or a certificate expiry proves otherwise.
3 min read