Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

January 18, 2026 at 12:29 AM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

The Death Star blew up because someone put a critical dependency on a single exhaust port.

Learn how single points of failure kill projects.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2026/01/12/fundamentals-of-software-project-management

#projects #projectmanagement #softwareengineering #productmanagement […]

Model Context Protocol (MCP) explained: why it exists, how it works conceptually, and how it solves AI-LLM integration challenges through standardized protocols.

January 17, 2026 at 10:44 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

I see you, aspiring developers. 👀

#ai #genai #it #career #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment #coding #softwareengineering

January 17, 2026 at 10:42 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

I’m not sure if MCP is better than USB yet, but it has a 50/50 chance. 🪙

What is this Model Context Protocol anyway?

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2026/01/15/what-is-mcp/

#mcp #modelcontextprotocol #ai #llm #apis #jsonrpc #protocols #systemdesign #integration #devtools

What Is MCP?

January 17, 2026 at 10:41 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Integration with your API shouldn’t require psychic powers.

Learn how explicit semantics reduce guesswork.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2026/01/16/fundamentals-of-api-design-and-contracts/

#apidesign #apis #softwareengineering #distributedsystems #systemdesign #apicontracts #platformengineering […]

January 17, 2026 at 10:39 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

We’ve spent ~80 years in computer science, to name one class: ManagerManager.

An examination of the pitfalls of naming and a return to functional, descriptive basics.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/31/fundamentals-of-naming/

#softwareengineering #softwarearchitecture #maintainability […]

January 4, 2026 at 6:59 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Every legacy system started as a “clean MVP.” Even the Death Star.

Learn how technical debt forms and why fundamentals prevent catastrophic rewrites.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/30/fundamentals-of-software-maintainability/

#maintainability #software #technology #programming […]

Fundamentals of Software Marketing

January 4, 2026 at 6:59 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

You shipped the code, but forgot to ship the meaning.

Why messaging translates technical value into human terms.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/30/fundamentals-of-software-marketing/

#marketing #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment #coding #softwareengineering

Understand why software marketing works: how positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy connect software products with customers and when each approach matters most.

January 4, 2026 at 6:56 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Does your software org run like a group chat where everyone thinks they’re the admin?

Learn how clear roles and structure can make you an operator.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/26/fundamentals-of-software-business-management/

#softwareengineering #techleadership #productmanagement […]

December 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Most debugging sessions end the same way Netflix shows do, unsatisfied.

Discover how closing the loop prevents repeat episodes.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/25/fundamentals-of-software-debugging/

#debugging #softwaredevelopment #engineeringprinciples #systemthinking #observability […]

December 30, 2025 at 7:06 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Agile isn’t Jira. Jira is where agile goes to die.

Learn agile fundamentals without tool worship.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/23/fundamentals-of-agile-software-development/

#agile #softwaredevelopment #productdevelopment #systemthinking #techleadership #continuousimprovement […]

December 29, 2025 at 12:37 AM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

If your release checklist has more steps than an IKEA manual.

Learn how automation removes human bottlenecks and mitigates deployment risk.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/23/fundamentals-of-ci-cd-and-release-engineering/

#cicd #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment […]

December 28, 2025 at 9:53 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Your on-call rotation log knows exactly how available your system really is.

How availability design directly affects sleep and sanity.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/23/fundamentals-of-software-availability/

#availability #reliability #software #technology #programming […]

December 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Scalability is what separates a side project from its villain origin story.

I explain how systems handle growth without collapsing.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/22/fundamentals-of-software-scalability/

#scalability #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment #coding […]

Fundamentals of Capacity Planning

December 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Your cloud bill didn’t wake up and choose violence.

Learn how capacity planning controls cost creep.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/22/fundamentals-of-capacity-planning/

#capacityplanning #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment #coding #softwareengineering

Learn capacity planning fundamentals: how to predict resource needs, avoid over-provisioning, and scale systems efficiently. Essential guide for engineers and operations teams.

December 28, 2025 at 9:48 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Skipping fundamentals is like mashing buttons on Street Fighter and calling it a day.

Learn why understanding beats rushing every time.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/13/why-should-i-learn-software-fundamentals/

#softwarefundamentals #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment […]

December 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

What is load shedding, and why does it save systems under stress?

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/16/what-is-load-shedding/

#distributedsystems #softwarearchitecture #reliabilityengineering #systemdesign #performanceengineering #scalability #sitereliability #backendengineering […]

Retry storm: when retries multiply load and turn partial failures into outages. Learn how they happen, how to detect them, and how to prevent them.

December 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Here's what happens when network clients aren't told to relax. 😅

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/16/what-is-a-retry-storm/

#distributedsystems #reliabilityengineering #systemdesign #softwarearchitecture #sitereliability #backendengineering #performanceengineering #resilienceengineering

What Is a Retry Storm?

December 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Congratulations. Your system DDoSed itself.

Learn how thundering herds create self-inflicted outages.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/16/what-is-a-thundering-herd/

#distributedsystems #reliabilityengineering #systemdesign #backendengineering #softwarearchitecture #sitereliability #caching […]

December 19, 2025 at 8:58 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Your dashboard says green. Your users say slow. Guess who’s right.

Learn why observability alone doesn’t equal performance understanding.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/16/fundamentals-of-software-performance/

#softwareperformance #distributedsystems #performanceengineering #latency […]

December 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

Debugging networking without the fundamentals is like being Luke Skywalker without the Force.

Let's explore the rules that govern your software's behavior.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/13/fundamentals-of-networking/

#networking #software #technology #programming #softwaredevelopment […]

December 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM

jeffabailey

@jeffabailey.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

The fastest way to solve problems is to realize they’re not unique snowflakes. ❄️

Preuse a catalog of pattern families that repeat constantly. It’s useful because it turns “unknown problems” into “known patterns”.

https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2025/12/12/fundamental-algorithmic-patterns/ […]