Writing
Series
Multi-part posts that follow a single story from constraints to conclusions.
Series index
Track long-form arcs across the blog, grouped by topic and ordered by narrative flow.
Splitmix32: Thirteen Lines of Beautiful Randomness
I went looking for a seeded PRNG in TypeScript and found splitmix32, a 32-bit pseudorandom number generator so elegant it made me want to understand every single bit.
Barcode Scanners Are Keyboards With Extra Steps
From bars and spaces to keystrokes in your input field. How UPC-A barcodes encode data, how scanners decode them, and why your barcode reader acts like a keyboard.
Investigating `createRequire is not a function`
A debugging journey through webpack internals, WebAssembly loading, and ESM edge cases. Four dead ends before finding the fix.
Stochastic Greedy: Scaling Submodular Maximization to Massive Datasets
Stochastic Greedy replaces greedy's full scan with random subsampling, reducing runtime from O(nk) to O(n ln(1/ε)) while losing only an additive ε in the approximation guarantee. This post covers the algorithm, its proof, and practical guidance.
The Greedy Algorithm for Submodular Maximization
The greedy algorithm achieves a (1 - 1/e) approximation for monotone submodular maximization, provably the best any efficient algorithm can do. This post covers the algorithm, its proof, Lazy Greedy, and when greedy fails.
An Introduction to Submodularity
A practical introduction to submodular functions, the mathematical framework behind diminishing returns, covering set functions, marginal gains, and real-world applications from sensor placement to influence maximization.
Fixing "SDK Build Tools is Too Low" in React Native
A Gradle-based solution using afterEvaluate to permanently fix SDK Build Tools version mismatches across React Native Android dependencies.
Streaming Excel to a Database Without Losing a Single Row
The data pipeline behind a warehouse system: exporting snapshots to Excel, streaming bulk imports over gRPC with typed error codes, staging tables, atomic database swaps, and the SQL Server migration that made it all possible.
Running a Warehouse System on a 4 GB Server with No Docker
The architecture behind a production warehouse system: Koa.js over Express, gRPC for process isolation, Unix pipes for log forwarding, systemd instead of Docker, and a polyglot monorepo where a Rust/WASM binary is just another npm package.
Three Generations of a Warehouse Routing Engine
From a Node.js solver built on npm libraries to a 144 KB Rust/WASM binary with Jump Point Search, compile-time code generation, and a nearest-neighbor + 2-opt solver that closes within 1% of the ILP optimum.
Walking Is the Most Expensive Warehouse Operation
How one engineer built a custom route optimization system for a small Italian warehouse: the problem, the constraints, and why naive pick sequences waste half an operator's shift.
Working with Me
A user manual for collaborating with me: communication preferences, working style, and what I care about.