The True Code Of A Complete Engineer The Hidden Career Skill Nobody Teaches You: Giving Clear Updates A blog series by Gaurav Sharma: The True Code of a Complete Engineer — lessons I wish someone had told me 20 years ago.
Featured From Code to Communication: How Your Career Hinges on What You Write, Not Just What You Build Code builds systems. Words build trust. This article dives into the silent skill every developer underestimates. From emails to status updates to design docs, see how your writing shapes outcomes, clears chaos — and moves your career forward.
5 Critical Things to Check if You Want to Optimize the Performance of an Existing System Performance issues are not always about writing better code or throwing more hardware at the problem. Often, the bottlenecks lie hidden in plain sight — inside your database queries, system logs, data flows, or architectural decisions. If you're looking to optimize the performance of an existing system, not a
Why Communication Breakdown — Not Infra — Is the Real Root Cause of System Failures Most teams design the system… but not how the system communicates. This article breaks down why that gap creates chaos in logs, support, and fixes—and how system-level communication must be architected like any other core component.
Featured Why On-Call-Friendly Systems Are the Real Measure of Good Architecture Most systems look great when everything is running fine. But architecture isn’t truly tested when things are working. It’s tested at 2:13 a.m. when something breaks. And someone gets paged. In that moment, one thing becomes painfully clear: Is the system on-call friendly, or not? In
The Only 10 Questions Developers Need to Ask in Requirement Discussions In every project, developers rush to code — but overlook the questions that shape the code. This article uncovers 10 razor-sharp questions every developer must ask during requirement discussions — with real-world examples across microservices, cloud, AI, and CI/CD.
Your Job Is Not to Write Code — It’s to Make Sure It Survives Production 🎯 Introduction: Why Most Code Fails Where It Matters Most Developers often equate success with merging a PR, completing a Jira ticket, or delivering a sprint commitment. And while these are essential markers in software delivery — they’re not the final exam. That exam happens in production. And here’s the
How to Document a Microservice Using the SLICE Framework — So Well That Teams Reuse It Without Asking Struggling to document your microservices clearly? Learn how to use the SLICE framework to write docs your teammates will thank you for. Real example. Real impact. Internal reuse guaranteed.
Featured System Thinking Is Not Architecture — And That’s Why Most Architects Get It Wrong Most architecture captures structure — not behaviour. This article explains why system thinking is different, why it matters, and how to build it using the S.T.A.B.L.E. framework. A must-read for developers, leads, and architects.
The G.R.A.S.P. Framework: How Smart Engineers Solve Production-Only Issues Without Panic Prod-only bugs don’t need chaos. This article shows how the G.R.A.S.P. framework helps engineers debug like owners, save hours of guesswork, and build career trust.
Don’t Just Take KT — Take Control: The Framework That Turns You Into a System Owner Most techies take KT passively. Smart ones use it to take control. This article gives you a battle-tested framework to turn any handover into a launchpad for clarity, ownership, and serious career growth.
Why System Thinking Is the Most Underrated Career Superpower in Tech Want to accelerate your dev career, earn deeper trust, and avoid messy escalations? Learn why system thinking is the most overlooked superpower that transforms good developers into respected leaders — while saving companies serious time, money, and stress.
Bug Fixes and Code Handovers Can’t Succeed Without Writing — 2 Frameworks Every Techie Must Know Poor bug reports and messy code handovers silently kill tech teams speed. This article shares two practical frameworks — TRACE for issue reporting and WATCH for dev-to-dev handovers — that can cut rework, boost clarity, and accelerate your tech career.
Why Most Tech Communication Fails — And 2 Writing Frameworks That Actually Fix It Every techie hears "communication is key." But no one tells you how to communicate in real dev life. In this blog, I’ll show you the 2 biggest gaps in real-world IT communication — and two simple, clear frameworks (FIRE and ROTA) to fix them. These aren’t fluff.
Featured The 5 Messages That Quietly Shape Your Tech Career (And No One Teaches You This) Think your messages are just routine updates? Think again. These 5 message types silently define how you're seen — as a doer, a leader, or just noise. Mastering them early can fast-track your growth in any tech team.
Featured Bad Bug Reports Are Costing You Thousands— Use B.O.S.S. to Fix It Bad bug reports and status updates don’t just frustrate devs — they bleed time and money across teams. Learn how to structure them using the B.O.S.S. framework and save hours (and thousands) every week.
Featured From Developer to Tech–Business Bridge: The Career Move No One Teaches You Learn 5 practical ways to move beyond code and become the bridge between tech and business. Improve clarity, build trust, and drive decisions—without leaving your developer role.
Featured The McKinsey Framework Every Techie Should Use for Clearer Emails, Updates & Proposals Struggling with unclear emails or updates? Learn how techies can use McKinsey’s Pyramid Principle to write with clarity and impact.
Featured Why Structured Writing Is the Most Overlooked Superpower in IT In IT, we chase precision. We build scalable architectures. We refactor code to remove ambiguity. We enforce strict types, linters, version control. But strangely, when it comes to our communication, —ambiguity wins. “Code not working. Help?” “Will do the needful.” “Some modules in progress.” Vague updates, cryptic status reports, jumbled
Featured They Delivered Everything — But the Client Wasn’t Happy. What Rishi Did Next Changed How I Think About Progress. The project was marked “done.” Every feature was delivered. Yet, the client wasn’t happy. A real-world reminder that checking boxes isn’t the same as delivering value — and how bridging the business-tech gap can turn things around.
Featured Why IT Projects Fail — And the 3 Communication Gaps That Cause It Most IT projects don’t fail because of bad code — they fail because of gaps in understanding. I saw this firsthand on a project that looked perfect on paper… until it wasn’t. Here’s the story, the lessons, and a simple framework to prevent it.
How ChatGPT Helped Me Refactor a Messy SQL Procedure Using Strategy Pattern Principles One messy stored procedure. A Strategy Pattern in SQL. ChatGPT didn’t decide for me—but it made the right design obvious, fast.
Featured A Real-World Use Case of ChatGPT in Stakeholder Communication The challenge wasn’t fixing the tech issue. The real test? Explaining it to stakeholders — clearly, quickly, and without a PPT. ChatGPT helped me nail that.
Featured Legacy SQL Debugging: When ChatGPT Did in 5 Minutes What Took Us an Hour A real-world debugging story: A legacy SQL Server job failed, the team hit a wall, and ChatGPT solved what we couldn't in an hour — in just five minutes. Here's how.
5 Essential Skills I Wish I Knew Earlier as an Engineering Leader Over the course of my career, I've seen a common pattern: tech professionals diving headfirst into the latest frameworks, languages, and platforms. It's almost like a never-ending race, jumping from one trend to the next. As someone who’s spent years in the tech world, I
