As a developer working on a database, I often need access to a data set to test various features. Initially, I created cr8 insert-fake-data to solve this problem. cr8 insert-fake-data reads the schema of a table and then utilizes the faker library to generate random records that match the table’s schema and inserts them.

cr8 insert-fake-data is easy to use and often accomplishes exactly what I need. However, in some cases, it is not as flexible as I need it to be, which led me to create mkjson, another tool to generate random records.

I was first introduced to Hammock Driven Development several years ago, watching Rich Hickey’s talk. The idea stuck with me ever since.

Many software projects offer a script to install the application with a single command. For CrateDB we have one as well and I think it was a mistake to create one.

Over the last couple of years, several acquaintances approached me for help with an issue they had with their phone. Each time the phone ran some kind of customized Android. Sometimes it was heavily modified. Compared to stock Android the modifications made the user experience worse. That left me puzzled. Why do companies put so much effort into features that end up deteriorating the product?

They don’t do it intentionally - at least I’d hope - but why does that happen? I think I have an answer: They become too disconnected from their users.

For a while now we’ve experimented with asynchronous planning poker. Here I want to share how it works and why we started using it instead of traditional synchronous planning poker.

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand.

A writeup of how I’ve setup Neovim for Java development

Here is a short guide how to install steamlink on a Raspberry PI running Arch Linux ARM.

I’ve had a draft called “Is scrum the best we can do” lying around for months and the chance to finish it is tiny. So I decided to extract parts of it: Some thoughts on whether sprint commitments are beneficial or not.

TL;DR: Maybe, it depends.

This is a short introduction on how to apply a bit of performance theory in the context of tuning insert throughput performance in CrateDB.