All posts

Build a Todo App with React #5: Persistence and Wrap-up
7 min read

Build a Todo App with React #5: Persistence and Wrap-up

Persist data with localStorage so it survives a refresh, then wrap up with a series retrospective and pointers to next steps.

IT Literacy for Non-Developers #3: Servers, the Cloud, and Deployment
6 min read

IT Literacy for Non-Developers #3: Servers, the Cloud, and Deployment

This post explains what developers mean when they say "the server is down," "we're deploying right now," or "it's live in production" - without any code. It walks non-developers through where the backend actually runs, and what servers, the cloud, and deployment really are.

Build a Todo App with React #4: Editing
9 min read

Build a Todo App with React #4: Editing

Double-click an item to enter inline edit mode, save with Enter / cancel with Escape, and meet useRef for the first time.

Build a Todo App with React #3: Filtering
6 min read

Build a Todo App with React #3: Filtering

Add All / Active / Completed filters and a bulk operation that deletes all completed items.

Build a Todo App with React #2: Completion Toggle and Stats
6 min read

Build a Todo App with React #2: Completion Toggle and Stats

Add a checkbox to each item to toggle completion, distinguish completed items visually, and show a summary of remaining/total counts.

Hardware Basics #9: Reading Cloud Instance Specs — Choosing to Match the Workload
5 min read

Hardware Basics #9: Reading Cloud Instance Specs — Choosing to Match the Workload

Dissect an instance name like c5.xlarge into family, generation, and size, then read a spec sheet by vCPU, memory, storage, and network to pick a type that fits the workload. This post gathers the series' four-resource knowledge in one place.

The Cloud Is Just Renting Someone Else's Computer
6 min read

The Cloud Is Just Renting Someone Else's Computer

This post defines the cloud in plain terms anyone can follow, explains why you rent servers instead of buying them, and shows how that connects to services like AWS.

Building a Todo App with React #1 Getting Started, Add and Delete
7 min read

Building a Todo App with React #1 Getting Started, Add and Delete

Build a real Todo app using the React you learned in the basics course. The first post covers requirements, component design, and add/delete functionality.

Hardware Basics #8: Cloud — From Owning to Renting, from On-Prem to IaaS / PaaS / SaaS
6 min read

Hardware Basics #8: Cloud — From Owning to Renting, from On-Prem to IaaS / PaaS / SaaS

The shift of hardware from owning to renting, the difference between on-prem, colocation, and cloud, and how far IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS hide the hardware. The cloud seen through the lens of hardware ownership versus rental.

Hardware Basics #7: Virtualization and Containers — How One Physical Server Becomes Many
6 min read

Hardware Basics #7: Virtualization and Containers — How One Physical Server Becomes Many

How a hypervisor splits hardware, the difference in how virtual machines and containers share resources, and overcommit — the reason cloud performance becomes unpredictable. The principle by which one physical server becomes many.

React Basics #15: Routing overview (React Router)
9 min read

React Basics #15: Routing overview (React Router)

Cover SPA routing, React Router basics, dynamic routes, navigation, and nested routes — all in one article.

Hardware Basics #6: Network — Bandwidth and Latency, from the NIC to the Data Center
6 min read

Hardware Basics #6: Network — Bandwidth and Latency, from the NIC to the Data Center

The most-confused pair in operations — bandwidth versus latency — the latency floor that distance imposes, and starting from the NIC, why the same AZ, cross-region, and the internet all differ. Understand the network as two axes, not one word for speed.