Link: https://thehardparts.dev
Currently I've created 4 main section:
- Failure Modes: ways project go wrong
- Red Flags: early signals that are worth taking seriously
- Tech Decisions: common and not so common trade-offs for hard choices
- Playbooks - guided approach for situations that repeat
I've also focused on creating links between them to show how connected many things are: a red flag usually precedes a failure mode, which might connect to a forced decision, etc.
Some entry points to give you an idea:
- The Invisible Deadline: a date that exists socially but not explicitly enough to manage honestly
- Eveyone Asks The Same Person: when one person becomes the default source of truth
- Build a Practical Rollback Strategy: how to build a reliable rollback strategy
It has 151 entries across the 4 sections.
Curious what you think about the content, format, grouping.
I’ve been reading through the SQL and NoSQL parts, and I really enjoyed them. Personally, I would have loved to see more detailed examples or code snippets to make the concepts even clearer.
From my own experience, NoSQL has worked well for blog-style sites where flexibility matters, while SQL tends to be a better fit for payments or larger, more structured systems. So it was interesting to see how you approached that distinction.
Thanks for putting this together — it’s a great resource.