Backend Engineering
Why Postgres SKIP LOCKED Eliminates the Message Broker Tax
Learn how PostgreSQL's FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED builds transaction-safe background queues without Redis, RabbitMQ, or dual-write headaches.
Topic
Distributed Systems
A collection of essays to explore, one idea at a time.
Essays
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Fencing Tokens: Why TTL Distributed Locks Still Corrupt Data
TTL distributed locks cannot prevent race conditions during process pauses. Learn why monotonic fencing tokens are necessary to guarantee data integrity.
API Design
Designing Idempotent APIs Without Race Conditions
Learn how to build robust HTTP idempotency using atomic state machines, payload hashing, and database-backed locks.
Distributed Systems
Stop Dual-Writing: Reliable Event Delivery with Outbox Pattern
Dual writes between databases and message brokers inevitably cause data drift. Here is how the Transactional Outbox pattern guarantees safe event publication.
API
Stop Naive Retries: Use Exponential Backoff with Jitter
Learn how naive retries cause retry storms and how combining exponential backoff with jitter protects microservices from cascading failures.