Olaoluwa Ajibade

Backend • Security • Architecture • Production

From APIs to distributed systems.
Sharing the engineering decisions that matter before and after deployment

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

The real backend interview starts after you're hired.

Passing the interview proves you can code.

Your first few months prove you can engineer.

Here's how life after a successful interview goes:

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

@hiddenhenry NGL that shii is hard

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

“I’m too scared to deploy this to production.”

Your ancestors on a random Friday:

[eLDee @eLDeeTheDon]

What if people are not really defending creativity? What if they are defending difficulty?

The typewriter did not make writing more creative. The synthesizer did not destroy musicianship. The drum machine did not kill rhythm. Each tool simply made creation accessible to more people. AI is simply doing the same thing to music. Most defenders/gatekeepers of music creation difficulty as a measure of creativity today use computer generated music instruments, drum machines, synths, vocal tuning plugins, computer generated reverb, EQ, compression and all the mixing and mastering effects available in music generation software but somehow, a tool that simplifies the creation further is where they want to draw the line?

[Fortune @_JhsFortune]

Software Engineering 101:

Code reviews should reduce risk, not enforce personality.

The goal isn't to make everyone write code exactly the way you do.

It's to catch bugs, improve maintainability, ensure consistency where it matters, and help the team build better software.

Good code reviews focus on correctness, readability, performance, security, and long-term maintainability.

Not personal preferences.

There's a difference.

[Akintola Steve @Akintola_steve]

Last week, I mentioned that I had been working on a book called System Design for Builders: Volume 1, Foundations.

I’m pleased to finally announce that the book is now available.

I wanted to make it accessible to as many builders as possible, so there will be a special discount available for the next 2 days.

The book covers the foundations of system design, including scalability, reliability, storage, compute, communication, caching, messaging, observability, security, and the trade-offs involved in designing real-world systems.

It is particularly useful for developers getting started with system design, backend engineers looking to strengthen their fundamentals, and engineers who want to better understand the reasoning behind the systems they build.

I put a lot of thought and work into this, and I’m excited to finally share it.

System Design for Builders: Volume 1, Foundations.

Get your copy here:

https://t.co/XB5Y9VWq5G

[Kpaxs @Kpaxs]

Nobody is born low agency. Babies are the highest-agency creatures alive, they will absolutely try to eat a battery, they have no concept of "I can't."

Low agency is learned, usually from being punished for trying.

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

The best developers I've worked with have habits that are honestly annoying.

After working with a few over the years, I've got to admit maybe that's why they're exceptional.

Here are the habits I kept seeing:
↓

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

Train yourself to spot patterns.
Look for what repeats, what’s boring, and what happens again and again.

That’s where the opportunities are.

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

Time is the currency. Energy is your spending power.

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

I don't think exceptional developers are dramatically smarter.

They just build better habits and repeat them for years.

That's what compounds.

What's one habit you've noticed from the best engineers you've worked with?

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

The best developers I've worked with have habits that are honestly annoying.

After working with a few over the years, I've got to admit maybe that's why they're exceptional.

Here are the habits I kept seeing:
↓

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

7/ They write code for people not compilers.

Future teammates.
Future contributors.
Future themselves.

They optimize for readability before cleverness.

To them every line answers one question::
> "Will someone understand this six months from now?"

Because someone always has to.
Sometimes, that someone is you.

[Olaoluwa Ajibade @ajibadde]

I think the real conversation here is less about humility and more about agency.

I believe fortune favors the brave. Humility is not a bad thing, but when it turns into excessive self-doubt, shyness, fear of being seen, or an unwillingness to take risks, it becomes a disadvantage.

You can be humble and still be confident. You can be shy and still be daring. You can be proud of what you’ve accomplished without being empty or arrogant.

What matters is having enough agency to act when it matters to take the shot, challenge the status quo, go against the crowd, and put yourself out there even when you’re uncomfortable.

That’s why I think the stories of people who changed the world are so interesting. The people who invented, built, created, and pushed things forward didn’t necessarily lack humility. They simply had the agency to act on what they believed.

Shyness and agency can coexist. The difference is that agency doesn’t allow shyness to dictate your actions.

You can be humble. Just don’t be so humble that you become invisible.

I think everyone should read the article on high agency by George Mack. It changes the way you see what is possible and, importantly, your role in making it happen.

[Joseph Brendan @Joe_brendan_]

There is a reason you won't catch me preaching about humility

I myself I'm fine with anyone that's not humble.

Just have something to back the confidence and pride

That's why I idolise people like
- Isaac Newton
- John Neumann
- Steve Jobs
- My Chemistry teacher Mr Ideji
- Beyonce
- Jay Z
- Elon Musk.. etc

They are proud.

These people are not humble.
Doesn't mean they are proud and empty.

Look around the world
Come outside and look

Do you think humility can invent an aeroplane? Do you know the amount of confidence and arrogance you need to dismiss the naysayers?

Do you think humility built this civilization you are enjoying?

Electricity, Sky scrapers, etc.

Do you know the level of guts, madness and lack of humility it will take for humans to look at an ocean and say, fxxk you. Let's dredge it and build a city and if the Ocean dances too too much again, we rechannel it and drege it again?

The only problem with pride is when empty people embody it. That's the only problem I have with pride.