Summer Solstice and Generative AI
AI has made it possible for almost anyone to build small tools they've wanted to create for years.
Vishnu's Pages
A techie's posts on tech, life, and everything in between.
Latest posts
You Still Need Traditional Software Development Teams
Having AI doesn't mean that you no longer need traditional software development teams.
Everyone should have a pet project
Pet projects are great learning experiences and gives deep sense of satisfaction
Book & Movie: Project Hail Mary
My thoughts on reading the book and watching the movie Project Hail Mary.
You MUST Review AI-generated Code
A cautionary tale about the importance of reviewing AI-generated code to avoid potential pitfalls.
Degoogling
Moving away from Google services after 20 years, and the journey so far.
Writing a To-Do App in 2027
Imagining what software engineering will look like in 2027, with a fictional codebase for a simple to-do app built in plain English language, using the new paradigm of Agent Engineering
My Two Predictions for AI in 2026 (and they're Bad)
In 2026, people will start adding disclaimers for human-generated content. Also, AI will be used everywhere for no apparent reason.
Horizontal Volume Control in Apple Music — But Why?
A usability concern regarding the always-visible horizontal volume control in Apple Music iOS app where it can be easily mistaken for the seek bar.
Buying a Bluetooth Speaker (and I Chose Beats Pill)
Sharing an experience on buying a portable Bluetooth speaker for my studio apartment and how I ended up choosing Beats Pill over the other popular options.
On Storing TOTP in Password Managers
My argument is that storing TOTP in password managers undermines the very essence of two-factor authentication (2FA), and is still '1FA' in disguise.
UTF-8 is a Brilliant Design
Exploring the brilliant design of UTF-8 encoding system that represents millions of characters while being backward compatible with ASCII
50% of Roger Federer is "er"
A meme about Roger Federer led to a coding challenge: find the most repeated substring in a string. This post explores an elegant solution using Kotlin's standard library functions for sliding windows and grouping.
Copilot Features That Felt Like Magic
The story of discovering Copilot features that felt like magic — automating tedious tasks, batch processing, and building tools I didn't even ask for.
Custom App Licensing Security: What We Built When HTTPS Wasn't Enough (external)
Learn how we hardened licensing security for a client's kiosk app that is activated once and works offline.
Apple's Liquid Glass UI: Flutter Will Struggle
Explore why Flutter may struggle to keep up with Apple's Liquid Glass and what developers should consider next.
Not Every Em Dash Comes from ChatGPT
Suddenly everyone is using em dashes everywhere, and now people like me — who've always used them — look suspicious!
Things Learned: Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Discovering and learning about CLS, a web vital metric that measures user experience, and how I improved April⋅SSG static site generator to measure a CLS of 0
Why I Built April⋅SSG Static Site Generator
Why I created April⋅SSG, a minimalistic static site generator built for simplicity, clarity, and full control over publishing.
12 Weeks of “One Solution Every Week”
My experience completing 12 weeks of the "One Solution Every Week" streak, where I solve one interesting problem weekly, focusing on creativity, consistency, and fun. Explore the challenges, solutions, and lessons learned.
The Fascinating History of the QWERTY Layout
Discover the intriguing history of the QWERTY keyboard layout, its evolution from telegraph operators' needs, and the fascinating decisions behind its design.
Please Don't Force Dark Mode
A discussion on why forcing dark mode on users can lead to poor user experience, the impact of high contrast ratios on readability, and the need for better guidelines in dark mode design.
TIL: System Clock and Monotonic Clock
Learn the difference between system clock and monotonic clock in computers and when to use each.
Tech Talks - Extended Version
Extended interview discussing my journey, client guidance, staying updated, and the future impact of AI and conversational interfaces on mobile development.
Conversational AI is a Great Tool for Education
Learn how conversational AI tools like ChatGPT can enhance education by providing interactive explanations and answering follow-up questions, making complex subjects easier to grasp than traditional articles or videos.
Dear Websites, Stop Asking for "Ransom" Sign-Ups.
A rant about websites that collect user data before revealing that a sign-up is required to see the results.
List of My ChatGPT Experiments
A list of my experiments conducted using ChatGPT, exploring its code generation capabilities and more.
SnakeGPT, a game completely written by ChatGPT4
Experimenting with ChatGPT4's code generation capabilities to build a snake game. See the results and thoughts on AI replacing developers.
Native or Cross Platform: What's Best for Your Next App? (external)
A guide to choosing between native and cross-platform development for your next mobile app.
Things Learned: Do Not Use UTC to Save Future Timestamps
Why storing future timestamps as UTC is unreliable due to potential timezone/DST changes. Learn the best practices for handling future dates.
Document Your Code for The Next Developer (and You)
Learn why documenting your code is crucial for future you and other developers, with practical tips and examples.
Exploring the New Architecture for Android Apps (external)
Exploring the new layered architecture for Android apps announced by the Android team, moving away from MVVM, by building a simple Hacker News reader app with Compose.
Stop saying "Hi" and waiting for a response
Say what you need right away.
Building an Animated LED Matrix Display in Jetpack Compose (external)
Exploring Jetpack Compose by building our own UI component — a 5×7 LED Matrix Display
What is the "Bus Factor" of Your Project?
Learn about the 'bus factor' - a measure of risk in projects due to knowledge concentration, and why it's crucial to keep it above one.
Software Design Patterns in Real-Life Software Development
How software design patterns like Factory and SOLID principles are used in real-life software development to create readable, extensible, and maintainable code, explained with examples.
Reasons Why I Don't Like TWS Earphones
Discussing the reasons why I prefer wired earphones over TWS earphones
Nobody Uses Datastructures These Days!
A short anecdote about interviewing an experienced candidate.
A Professor Taught Me Some Lessons (of life)
Some life lessons learned from a professor at the start of my career that I still remember and practice.
The `finally` Block in `try-catch-finally` Executes Always
A quick look into how the finally block in try-catch-finally behaves, especially when return statements are involved in both try and finally blocks.
3 tiny tales in 180 characters
3 tiny tales that I wrote for a contest during the lockdown, each under 180 characters.
Searched for Cement, Got LED Bulbs Instead
A funny story about a search bug.
If it takes less than 3 minutes to do, then do it right now.
My version of the famous '2-minute' rule to prevent procrastination, extended to 3 minutes.
Minimalistic 2020
My journey towards a minimalistic workplace and blog in 2020, focusing on decluttering physical and digital spaces for better focus and aesthetics.
Kotlin: What are your favorite extension functions that you authored?
Exploring useful Kotlin extension functions for Android development, including examples for AlertDialogs, click listeners, and EditText validations.
10 predictions that I made about 2016 in 2008
10 predictions that I made about 2016 in 2008 and 6 of them turned out to be true.
Things Learned: 10 Articles Every Programmer Must Read
A techie's posts on tech, life, and everything in between.
The Story of “Acetomycene”
The funny story of a fictional chemical called Acetomycene that I used to prank friends during meals.
Think, There is a Simple Solution — A Lazy Solution!
A story illustrating how a simple, 'lazy' solution can often be more effective and cheaper than a complex, expensive one. Think before you spend!
A Mobile phone prank!
A funny story about a mobile phone prank involving changing contact names