10 software essays that changed how I think Over the years, I’ve read many software essays that fundamentally changed my engineering mindset. Each one delivered an important lesson. Check it here: newsletter.techworld-with-milan.com/p/the-softwa...

𝗛𝗧𝗧𝗣 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗽 Most engineers use HTTP every day Few understand where the objective complexity hides HTTP is no longer "just request–response over TCP." It’s a whole ecosystem: protocols, infrastructure, tooling, and clients, all stacked on top of each other. Here’s a simple mental model:

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 Most engineers know 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 AI tools. Few know 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄. I mapped the tools I actually use, from research → UI → backend → prototypes → deployment.

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝟰𝟴𝟵𝗠 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀/𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵 Many engineers assume this scale forces microservices. Shopify keeps proving a different playbook: 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮 🧵

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 Most engineers know 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 AI tools. Few know 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄. I mapped the tools I actually use, from research → UI → backend → prototypes → deployment.

Most software mistakes aren’t technical. They’re decision mistakes. I break them down using software laws, mental models, and real cases. Follow if you want fewer bad decisions and more leverage.

Why can't we innovate in the EU? The EU collects more revenue from fines imposed on American tech companies than it does from taxing all public European tech companies combined.

5 hours of debugging can save you 5 minutes of reading documentation

Software developers are lifelong learners

It was a null pointer exception inside the Lua script. This impacted 28% of all HTTP traffic served by Cloudflare. Check details: blog.cloudflare.com/5-december-2...

What I read daily: app.mailbrew.com/milanm/milan...

Friday Developers Fun 🤣 Explain to me Tech debt as I'm 5.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗧𝗧𝗣𝗦 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is fundamental to secure web communication. It encrypts data using Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks, data interception, and tampering. This is how HTTPS works: 🧵

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 I've spent 23 years writing code across 9 languages. Along the way, certain essays changed how I think about software. Not the ones everyone lists. The ones that hit at the right moment. 🧵

An API is any defined contract for interaction between software components

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟲𝟰𝗞 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟯 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 I've just released a new 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 breaking down exactly how I built a LinkedIn audience from scratch. 👉 Read the complete breakdown here: newsletter.techworld-with-milan.com/p/from-invis...

What purchase under $1000 has significantly improved your life?

I've just launched my first digital course, where 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟲𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 and turned it into paid sponsorships, consulting offers, and newsletter revenue Launch price: $79 (regular $149). Available until Friday 👉 patreon.com/posts/you-ca...

𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗖𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 Where are you on the cycle?

History of the C# language

Most engineers would rather debug a race condition than sit through their weekly 1:1. Here's what nobody tells you: It's not supposed to be your manager's meeting 👉 Read the full guide: newsletter.techworld-with-milan.com/p/how-to-run...

There are no hacks in life Great things take time and effort I wish you a great week ahead 👋

𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗤 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 – 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 The latest InfoQ report shows DevOps entering a consolidation phase. The focus has shifted from adopting more tools to integrating what's already in place. Here are the key insights: 🧵

Backend survival kit. 👇

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗗 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 are a cornerstone of object-oriented programming that guide developers in creating maintainable, scalable, and robust software architectures. 🧵

In software, legacy means it makes money

𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 is the process of defining the architecture, components, modules, and interfaces of a software system 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 🧵

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 If you want to learn about Software Architecture, you can start with the book: 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 (amzn.to/4nfBWHd) by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. 🧵

𝗔𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 The AI developer tools market is split into two layers. Most teams miss it. 🧵

Friday Developers Fun 🤣 Managers have been vibe coding forever

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀? When we choose programming languages, we usually decide based on their syntax, performance, or even learning curve. Portuguese researchers benchmarked 27 popular programming languages for runtime, energy use, and peak memory. 🧵

Winter will be hot 🔥!

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 In their book "Framework Design Guidelines," Krzysztof Cwalina and Brad Abrams, who created a set of design principles on how to design frameworks at Microsoft in the early days of .NET development. 🧵

𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. No single metric captures programming language popularity perfectly. We track Google searches, job postings, and developer surveys to understand what's actually being used. Based on these indices and surveys, here's the 2025 ranking: 🧵

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘆 Postman Postman surveyed over 5,700 developers, architects, and executives about how APIs are evolving in an AI-driven world. This year's report reveals a gap: developers are AI-native, but most APIs aren't built for AI agents yet. 🧵

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 Google’s monolithic repository provides a common source of truth for tens of thousands of developers worldwide. They use it for 95% of their source code, leaving Google Chrome and Android on their specific ones. 🧵

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗣𝗜? An API is a contract between software systems 🤝. It defines how one application requests data or actions from another, using structured payloads (JSON, XML, Protobuf) over secure transport (HTTPS/TLS). 🧵

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹 Most developers use these terms interchangeably. That's a mistake. 🧵

One AI year is seven Internet ones We never saw technology which was spread so fast in the history

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. You can learn from experts by working with them or by reading their work. Books scale better. Here are 55 books organized by what they'll help you master. 🧵

𝗔𝗜, 𝗠𝗟, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗤 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 - 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 InfoQ's latest trends report maps the direction of AI, ML, and data technologies. The shift is clear: AI is moving from software to the physical world. Here are the key insights: 🧵

𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 DORA's 2025 report (5,000 professionals) confirms: 95% of developers use AI. 80% say it increased productivity. But 30% don't trust the code it generates. 🧵

𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 DORA's 2025 report (5,000 professionals) confirms: 95% of developers use AI. 80% say it increased productivity. But 30% don't trust the code it generates. 🧵

Your AI agent works in testing, but fails with real customers You write perfect prompts. Your agent ignores them the second a user says something unexpected. Here's why most AI agents are unreliable (and how an open-source project, Parlant, fixes it) 🧵

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝟭𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜 I've just released a new issue of my newsletter, breaking down how we built an AI-powered document processor that transformed a manual bottleneck into an automated pipeline. 👉 Read it here: newsletter.techworld-with-milan.com/p/advancing-...

How does C# code actually run? You write a .cs file. The compiler (Roslyn) turns it into IL (Intermediate Language). That IL is stored in assemblies (.dll / .exe). 🧵

𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. Here’s a breakdown of the key areas you should focus on: 🧵

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗔𝗜-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲? Every week, engineers at Meta exchange tens of thousands of code review comments. Reviewers point out issues, authors make changes, and the cycle repeats. It’s effective but time-consuming. 🧵

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺? Throughout my 20-year career, I have been part of both good and bad teams. Initially, it was difficult to understand why the team was struggling, but it was clear that things were not going well. I learned a few important lessons about how good teams work: 🧵

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗴 𝗶𝘁 Are you aware of Kernighan's Law, which states that "𝘋𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦"? 🧵 Image: Forrest Brazeal