Notes

Technical notes, project write-ups, and learning logs.

SHOWING 16 OF 16 KNOWLEDGE FILES

Learning Notes3 min read

The node_modules Problem — Debugging Expo APK Builds

Notes on dependency resolution failures, native module conflicts, and EAS build errors encountered while shipping React Native apps with Expo.

ExpoReact NativeEAS BuildNode.js

Mar 18, 2026Read

Learning Notes9 min read

Building Websites with Claude — A Developer's Workflow

Notes on using Claude effectively for web development — why structured planning files, phased builds, and a strong PRD make all the difference.

ClaudeAIWorkflowWeb Development

Jun 24, 2026Read

Learning Notes1 min read

Learning .NET — A JavaScript Developer's Perspective

Notes from my journey learning ASP.NET Core, C#, and the .NET ecosystem coming from a JavaScript/Node.js background.

.NETC#ASP.NET CoreBackend

Jun 10, 2026Read

Project Notes7 min read

Integrating Stripe Webhooks into a Next.js SaaS — What Actually Goes Wrong

A practical account of the real problems I hit while wiring up Stripe subscriptions and webhooks in LoomCV — from event ordering surprises to local testing quirks.

Next.jsStripeWebhooksSaaS

Dec 10, 2025Read

Project Notes7 min read

One Backend, Two Token Strategies — Dual-Surface Auth in Reverie

How I designed a single Express authentication service to serve HttpOnly cookies to a Next.js web app and body-delivered tokens to an Expo mobile app, without duplicating auth logic.

AuthenticationJWTReact NativeExpo

Feb 3, 2026Read

Learning Notes4 min read

Real-Time Sync Is Harder Than It Looks — Clock Drift, RTT, and Server Authority

Notes on building real-time collaborative features with Socket.IO and WebRTC, and why naive timestamp-based sync falls apart under real network conditions.

Socket.IOWebRTCReal-Time SystemsBackend

Dec 30, 2025Read

Learning Notes4 min read

System Design Notes — From Building Real Apps to Thinking in Systems

Notes on system design fundamentals, written while connecting concepts back to real architectural decisions made in personal full-stack projects.

System DesignArchitectureScalabilityBackend

Apr 22, 2025Read

Learning Notes13 min read

AWS is AWS — Why Every Cloud Service is the Same Architecture in a Different Costume

Once you understand compute, storage, messaging, and observability as concepts, every AWS service is just an implementation detail. Learn the skeleton once, map every service to it.

AWSCloudLambdaS3

Jul 2, 2026Read

Project Notes4 min read

Building HeartWave — Real-Time Synchronized Listening Rooms

A technical deep dive into building a real-time collaborative music platform with React, Node.js, Socket.IO, and the YouTube IFrame Player API — including why YouTube replaced Spotify as the playback engine.

ReactNode.jsMongoDBSocket.IO

Nov 15, 2025Read

Project Notes2 min read

Building ConverseCloud — Real-Time Language Exchange Platform

A technical deep dive into building a full-stack language exchange platform with React, Node.js, Stream SDK, and WebRTC video calling.

ReactNode.jsMongoDBWebRTC

Nov 15, 2025Read

Learning Notes9 min read

Backend is Backend — Why Switching Languages is Easier Than You Think

Once you understand MVC, dependency injection, middleware, and ORMs, every backend framework is the same skeleton in a different costume.

BackendNode.jsJavaPython

Jun 27, 2026Read

Project Notes6 min read

When Your Execution Engine Goes Dark — The Piston API Deprecation

Documenting the moment the public Piston API became whitelist-only and what it exposed about building on free public infrastructure.

Next.jsConvexCode ExecutionInfrastructure

Feb 16, 2026Read

Project Notes4 min read

Building a Java Audio Player — Working with the Java Sound API

A technical look at integrating Java's native Sound API for desktop audio playback, covering Clip-based buffering, EDT-safe UI updates, and native resource management.

JavaSwingJava Sound APIDesktop Development

Nov 15, 2024Read

Project Notes5 min read

When a Public API Dies Mid-Project — Piston to Wandbox Migration

The public Piston code execution API went whitelist-only in February 2026. Notes on what broke, how it was fixed, and the broader lesson about third-party API dependencies.

APICode ExecutionWandboxPiston

Jun 26, 2026Read

Learning Notes4 min read

React Native Performance Pitfalls — Lessons from a Full App Audit

Notes from a performance and QA pass on a React Native/Expo app — hooks-in-loops violations, animation memory leaks, and layout overlap bugs that don't show up until real devices.

React NativeExpoPerformanceMobile

Jun 5, 2026Read

Project Notes7 min read

When the AI Is Down — Building a Graceful Degradation System for Gemini

How I designed the AI reflection pipeline in Reverie to never surface a raw API error to the user, including error normalization across inconsistent Gemini SDK failure shapes and structured fallback content generation.

AI IntegrationNode.jsGeminiError Handling

Apr 10, 2026Read