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The best problem-solving writing in software engineering — databases, performance, security, frontend and distributed systems, in one feed.

11,646 articles
Security — Rust at Scale: An Added Layer of Security for WhatsApp

Rust at Scale: An Added Layer of Security for WhatsApp

WhatsApp has adopted and rolled out a new layer of security for users – built with Rust – as part of its effort to harden defenses against malware threats. WhatsApp’s experience creating and distributing our media consistency library in Rust to billions of devices and browsers proves Rust is production ready at a global scale. […]

CWChris Wiltz·January 27, 2026Security
Frontend — Unstacking CSS Stacking Contexts — Smashing Magazine

Unstacking CSS Stacking Contexts — Smashing Magazine

In CSS, we can create “stacking contexts” where elements are visually placed one on top of the next in a three-dimensional sense that creates the perception of depth. Stacking contexts are incredibly useful, but they’re also widely misunderstood and often mistakenly created, leading to a slew of layout issues that can be tricky to solve.

GSGabriel ShoyomboGabriel Shoyombo·January 27, 2026Frontend
SRE & Ops — Route leak incident on January 22, 2026

Route leak incident on January 22, 2026

An automated routing policy configuration error caused us to leak some Border Gateway Protocol prefixes unintentionally from a router at our Miami data center. We discuss the impact and the changes we are implementing as a result.

BTBryton, Tom StrickxBryton, Tom Strickx·January 23, 2026SRE & Ops
Engineering — Open Props @custom-media Recipes

Open Props @custom-media Recipes

The @custom-media at-rule has landed in Firefox Nightly! I couldn't find it in the release notes but Adam Argyle's on the beat noting that it's behind a flag

GGGeoff GrahamGeoff Graham·January 23, 2026Engineering
Frontend — Responsive Hexagon Grid Using Modern CSS

Responsive Hexagon Grid Using Modern CSS

A while back, Temani tacked a repeating grid of hexagon shapes. Well, he's updated it with modern CSS features that result in fewer magic numbers. And it's impressive!

TATemani AfifTemani Afif·January 23, 2026Frontend
Distributed — Metronome + Stripe: Building the future of billing

Metronome + Stripe: Building the future of billing

Together, Metronome and Stripe are building the most flexible and complete billing solution on the market—one that works for everyone, from engineers in a garage figuring out their business model to public companies monetizing at global scale.

WHWisam HirzallaWisam Hirzalla·January 23, 2026Distributed
Architecture — Conversation: LLMs and the what/how loop

Conversation: LLMs and the what/how loop

A conversation between Unmesh, Rebecca, and Martin on how LLMs help us shape the abstractions in our software. We view our challenge as building systems that survive change, requiring us to manage our cognitive load. We can do this by mapping the “what” of we want our software to do into the “how” of programming languages. This “what” and “how” are built up in a feedback loop. TDD helps us operati

UJUnmesh Joshi, Rebecca Parsons, and Martin Fowler·January 21, 2026Architecture