How much do you know about Saga and CDC patterns?
Learn about important architactural patterns for distributed systems - Saga and CDC, learn how to communicate more effectively and why you don't want to be a "hero" for your team
We have two great articles focused on the architectural patterns for distributed systems in this one. With AI-boosted productivity gains that pure coding is gaining, some say that system design knowledge will become more relevant for software engineers than ever before.
So grab a coffee and sharpen those architectural skills ☕ 👀.
How Halo on Xbox Scaled to 10+ Million Players using the Saga Pattern (15 min)
The Saga pattern is not something that often comes up. This article will first introduce you to this important architectural pattern and then walk you through how the Halo team on Xbox implemented this pattern. One interesting note is that instead of using the backward recovery mechanism (where you undo all successful sub-transactions and then try the whole saga again), they used forward recovery, where they just retry (with a backoff) the sub-transactions that failed/remained.
Audience: Software Engineers
Value: Learn about the Saga pattern
ToT Rating: ⭐⭐
Why You Can’t Ignore Change Data Capture in Event-Driven Architectures (7 min)
A nice introduction to the Change Data Capture architectural pattern.
goes into making a distinction between the CDC and business events. The distinction is very important to know, so do not miss it if you have microservices that need to keep data in sync.
Audience: Software Engineers
Value: Learn about the Change Data Capture pattern
ToT Rating: ⭐⭐
What you give airtime to will expand (6 min)
This brief article contains a simple message - focus the attention of your listeners towards what you can do, not towards what you can not. Once again
gives very practical advice (with multiple examples) on how to communicate more effectively. This technique will help you get your message across and emit the aura of someone who can get things done.Audience: All professionals
Value: Learn how to sound more positive when communicating
ToT Rating: ⭐⭐
Are You a Hero Engineering Manager? (And Why It’s a Problem) (8 min)
A lot of new managers fall into the trap of playing the role of a hero for their team. They save the day by making the toughest technical decisions, they protect their team’s focus from all the distractions happening around them, and fight to the death for raises and PTO days. In this article
will tell you why those behaviours can be harmful and how you can avoid them.Audience: Engineering Managers
Value: Learn how not to overprotect your team
ToT Rating: ⭐
What’s Changed in 50 Years of Computing: Part 4 (9 min)
This is the fourth part covering the seminal book “The Mythical Man-Month” by Fred Brooks. If you do not have time to read the book, this series of articles could be good enough to cover the main ideas expressed there. For me, the book was a time machine into how software was built 50 years ago. The most fun parts were the ones that describe the same problems we are facing even now, half a century later 😅
Audience: Software Engineers / Engineering Managers
Value: Learn how software was built half a century ago
ToT Rating: ⭐
That’s all for this Thursday, see you soon! 👋