Blog
Practical writing on the small text languages developers read every day. Each cluster orbits a pillar post.
Reading code in plain English
Reading regex, SQL, bash, and Excel in plain English
A practical guide to reading the small text languages developers read every day. Decode by intent first, then by tokens; with AI explanation notes.
Excel formulas that look right but aren't
Volatile functions, VLOOKUP exact-match traps, absolute reference errors in copies, and other spreadsheet bugs that pass casual review.
When AI code explanation is right, and when it isn't
AI explainers are useful but fallible. Where they reliably help, where they confidently mislead, and how to use them without trusting them too much.
Why your regex matches more than you think
Regex bugs that look fine in source but match too much in production. Greedy quantifiers, missing anchors, character class assumptions, and how to catch them.
SQL bugs the explainer catches before EXPLAIN
SQL queries that look correct but produce subtle bugs: Cartesian joins, NULL comparison pitfalls, GROUP BY omissions. Each one a clean read-time catch.
Reading curl-as-bash safely before you paste
How to read a curl command or curl-pipe-bash one-liner before running it. Decoding the URL, headers, body, and what the surrounding shell will do.
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