Software engineers don’t just inherit systems, they inherit the constraints that shaped them. This post explores what I call Architecture Grief: the process of coming to terms with the reality that systems are shaped by constraints that cannot simply be engineered away, and how the five stages of grief provide a surprisingly useful framework for understanding architecture maturity.
My H1 2026 notes on AI coding assistants: where they make me faster, and where software engineering is still very human work.
My review of Software Engineering: After the Vibe Shift, a short book that is more about durable engineering judgment than vibe coding.
A snapshot of how I was using AI coding tools in August 2025, what changed, and where they were actually helping me.
My practical experience using AI in software engineering work, where it helps, and where the workflow still needs judgment.
A 15-year site update and a note on where I want the blog to go next.
My notes on Tidy First?, a small and practical book about making codebases easier to change one cleanup at a time.
My review of The Staff Engineer’s Path and why it is useful for people trying to operate well in Staff+ roles.
My review of Accelerate: useful research-backed vocabulary and confirmation, with more methodology detail than I wanted from the book.
My review of Software Engineering at Google: valuable engineering lessons, with the usual large-company navel gazing mixed in.