Archive
Notes & Writing
Thoughts on compiler design, inference plumbing, and why determinism beats heuristics.
Determinism over heuristics
Note
A method, not a slogan. The argument for making the boring guarantee first and the clever behaviour second.
Name the product after the problem
Essay
Contex is a bad brand and a good name. The case for names that describe the work instead of decorating it.
Contex 0.9 — first year in production
Post-mortem
What broke, what held, and the two design decisions we would reverse if the format were not already in other people's hands.
A format is a contract with the future
Monograph
On versioning, epochs, and the obligation you take on the moment someone else writes a file you have to keep reading.