01
Inception
Introduction to foundational tools and frameworks in web development.
Visual code setupHello world in HTML/JSCDN, React Hello World
Current state & writing
Blog
What I'm currently building, reading, and learning — plus chapter-by-chapter notes from the books I'm working through.
Reading Notes
Notes from the books, chapter by chapter
Detailed summaries and diagrams I write while reading — the bits I want future-me to be able to search.
- 00
Master Revision Sheet
One-page-per-chapter distillation of the highest-yield ideas across all 14 chapters, plus cross-cutting themes and a rapid-fire flashcard bank for whole-book review.
2026-06-2812 min read
- 01
Trade-Offs in Data Systems Architecture
No data system is universally best, every architectural decision is a trade-off. The skill is learning to ask the right questions to evaluate them for your application.
2026-06-2626 min read
- 02
Defining Nonfunctional Requirements
Beyond what a system does, its performance, reliability, scalability, and maintainability decide whether it's usable at all. This chapter gives the vocabulary to define and measure them.
2026-06-2624 min read
- 03
Data Models and Query Languages
The data model you pick shapes how you think about a problem. A tour of the relational, document, graph, event-log, and DataFrame models and their query languages, and when to use which.
2026-06-2725 min read
- 04
Storage and Retrieval
A database stores data and gives it back, and how it does that splits into two worlds: OLTP storage engines (log-structured LSM-trees vs update-in-place B-trees) and column-oriented OLAP engines. Knowing the internals lets you pick and tune the right one.
2026-06-2725 min read
- 05
Encoding and Evolution
Old and new code run side by side during rolling upgrades, so every byte must stay backward and forward compatible. A tour of JSON, Protocol Buffers, and Avro, and the ways data flows between processes.
2026-06-2721 min read
Deep Dives
Long-form write-ups
Original articles where I unpack how something is built — diagrams, real code, and the reasoning behind each decision.
Courses
Courses I've worked through, episode by episode
Handwritten notes and the code I wrote following along — each episode links out to the PDF and the GitHub folder.
Namaste React (Akshay Saini)
13 episodesHandwritten PDF notes + the code I wrote for each chapter.
02
Igniting our App
Essential package managers and module bundlers for React projects.
npm, ParcelNode modulesReact app file structure
03
Laying the Foundation
Understanding JSX, React components, and their composition.
JSX, React componentsClass-based vs Functional components
04
Talk is Cheap, Show me the Code
Implementing React's core features, managing state, and working with UI data.
React app buildingprops/statefunction mapping
05
Lets get Hooked
Exploring React Hooks and understanding their importance.
File structureImport/exportReact Hooks (useState)
06
Exploring the World
Architecture insights, the useEffect hook, and working with APIs.
Architecture, useEffectConditional RenderingAPI usage
Now
What I'm building, reading, and learning right now
A living snapshot of where my time and attention are going — refreshed whenever the focus shifts.
Updated Apr 4, 20262 building1 reading5 learning
Building
2 items
The production work and experiments taking most of the keyboard time right now.
Day job — full-stack applications
Production work
Shipping production features end to end: React/Next.js on the front, NestJS services, TypeORM, and PostgreSQL.
Next.jsNestJSTypeORMPostgreSQL
Reading
1 item
A slower feed for systems thinking, architecture, and better engineering judgment.
Learning
5 items
Notes, reps, and reference projects I am using to sharpen fundamentals.
In this world, there is nothing so purifying as true knowledge.
— Bhagavad Gita, 4.38