Software engineering blog
Recently I decided to learn Python seriously and studied Fluent Python: Clear, Concise, and Effective Programming by Luciano Ramalho. The hardest part was finding a project to apply the new skills. At work I mostly use Python to write small scripts and Apache Airflow DAGs. I wanted something more challenging with complex domain logic and real-world data ⚙️📊
A few months ago, my 13-year-old son and I were discussing his future high school options. He’s really smart and interested in technology (programming, robotics, 3D printing, etc.) but extremely bored with traditional school subjects. Finding a school that would fit his interests wasn’t easy, but fortunately my old friend Orłoś told me about TechniSchools.
🌞🔋 Since I last blogged about Home Assistant automations, I have taken a big step forward in sustainable living by installing a photovoltaic (PV) system with an energy storage unit. 🌱 This exciting upgrade has unlocked incredible opportunities for automating and optimizing energy usage in my home, making it smarter and greener than ever! 🏡✨
From the very beginning, I used an Infrastructure as Code (IaaC) approach in my homelab. However, due to privacy concerns, I couldn’t publish it as open source. Recently, I spent a lot of time separating sensitive information so that I could publish the rest as open source 😊
I built my homelab at the beginning of 2024, see Building your ultimate Homelab blog post. I hosted many services on it, for example: Home Assistant for home automation, Frigate for surveillance, Vaultwarden for password management, Paperless for document management, Omada Software Controller for network management, Prometheus, Grafana, and many more. I wanted to make my homelab more reliable and…
In this blog post, I will share how I use Home Assistant to automate my home in a pragmatic way. Pragmatic means that I’m not trying to automate everything, but only things that make sense to me. For example, for lights automation in the house, I use PIR or microwave motion detectors connected directly to lights, instead of fancy Zigbee switches.
This week, I attended Flink Forward in Berlin, Germany. The event celebrated the 10th anniversary of Apache Flink. Below, you can find my overall impressions of the conference and notes from several interesting sessions. If an aspect was particularly appealing, I included a reference to supplementary materials.
Foundations of scalable systems written by Ian Gorton, the book with my highest rate of 5 ⭐️ I highly recommend that every software engineer grasps the distributed system principles outlined in this book.
September this year is dedicated to reviewing software architecture books. This time, I’ve read Building Evolutionary Architectures written by Neal Ford. I appreciate the effort put into compiling this book. However, I found it to be more of a collection of existing books, articles and talks rather than offering new, original insights.
Recently I’ve read Fundamentals of Software Architecture written by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. I found this book valuable, even though my company doesn’t have a formal architect role. At Allegro, the most experienced senior software engineers take on the responsibilities of a software architect in addition to their regular development duties.