Software development often feels hurried. Frameworks promise full-stack applications in thirty seconds. AI tools produce pages of boilerplate that nobody has reviewed. Shipping features gets more attention than maintaining the architecture behind them.
I like the comparison with tending a field. Rice seedlings need clear irrigation channels, the right minerals in the soil, and well-defined boundaries between plots. Rushing them won’t help.
The database schema and data models need that preparation too. Unclear relationships, weak constraints, and careless transactions can leave you with corrupted data and slow queries that application code alone can’t fix. I try to keep schemas clear, normalize where needed, and choose indexes for the queries the application actually runs.
When writing Go or TypeScript services, I avoid abstractions until I need them. I’d rather use one clear function than three layers of indirection. I also take time to write deterministic tests that simulate real network failures.
A backend that reliably does its job each day rarely gets much attention. I’m happy with that.
Left on the passenger bench beside the open field view.