Blog · page 23
Notes on engineering, design, and everything in between.
In Rust, context belongs on the line that actually fails
The question mark operator rethrows an error without saying which step failed. Structured errors in the core, Context in the application layer, with the input attached, is what makes a log line locatable.
When a crate should become a workspace
The trigger for splitting a workspace is build time and dependency boundaries, not tidy directories. Split when three signals hold, or you trade one compile for managing several packages.
Structured logging is not println replaced by tracing::info
Log lines built by concatenation can only be read by humans. Fields make them queryable. Fields, spans, levels and knowing when not to format are the four real decisions.
Islands are not Web Components: two different kinds of on-demand loading
Islands decide at build time where JavaScript is needed and when it hydrates. Web Components give the browser a self-contained element at runtime. Confusing them picks the wrong tool.
Cache headers for a static site: hashed files forever, HTML never
A cache policy depends on whether the filename changes with the content, not on file size. Long-caching HTML hands users an old entry point that points at deleted chunks.
When WebAssembly earns its place: less often than the pitch suggests
WASM pays off with heavy computation, bulk data and few boundary crossings. Rewriting an O(n) JavaScript loop as WASM usually buys slower loading and a harder stack to debug.