Building Reliable Systems with Modern Tooling

Software engineering is full of shiny new tools. Every week there's a new framework, a new runtime, a new database that promises to solve everything. After years of building production systems, we've developed a set of principles for choosing tooling that actually lasts.

Start with the problem, not the technology

The most common mistake we see is teams choosing technology before they understand the problem. "We should use Rust" or "Let's build this on Kubernetes" are statements about technology, not about the problem you're solving. We always start by asking: what does the system need to do, how reliable does it need to be, and what are the constraints?

Our current stack

For most projects, we reach for the same core set of tools:

• TypeScript for type safety and developer experience across the full stack
• Bun as the runtime — fast startup, built-in package management, drop-in Node replacement
• React for UIs — mature ecosystem, excellent tooling, broad hiring pool
• PostgreSQL for data — battle-tested, flexible, handles everything from simple CRUD to complex analytics
• Cloudflare for deployment — edge-first, globally distributed, and costs a fraction of traditional hosting

The principle of least surprise

Good tooling gets out of your way. We favor tools that behave predictably, have excellent documentation, and follow established patterns. If a tool requires you to learn a completely new mental model for something that's already been solved well, that's a red flag.

When to deviate

There are absolutely times to reach for something different. High-throughput data pipelines might justify Go or Rust. Real-time collaboration features might justify CRDTs. The key is that the deviation should be driven by a specific, measurable requirement — not by curiosity or resume-driven development.

The best technology choice is the one your team can ship with, maintain, and scale. Everything else is noise.