The Engineering Notebook — page 23 of 32
Notes on building with AI, agents & the modern stack.
Deep dives on AI/ML, RAG systems, agent engineering, and senior-engineer architecture decisions — a new post every week.
Technology Software Rewrite from Scratch: Why It's Almost Always the Worst Engineering Decision [2026]
Rewriting software from scratch feels like the bold move. It's almost always the wrong one. Here's the framework for knowing when to resist the urge and what to do instead.
Technology AI No-Code App Builders: I Tested 5 Platforms and Found the Hidden Tradeoffs [2026]
I built the same app on five AI no-code platforms. The marketing promises speed and simplicity — but vendor lock-in, data privacy gaps, and the 80% problem tell a very different story.
Technology Gemma 3 on Raspberry Pi 5: Benchmarked [2026]
I benchmarked every runnable Gemma variant on a Raspberry Pi 5 — Gemma 3 1B, 4B, QAT models, and Gemma 3n — with real tokens-per-second numbers, RAM usage, and a definitive size guide for Pi owners.
AI and Machine Learning The AI Kill Chain Is Here: How Algorithms Are Choosing Who Lives and Dies on the Battlefield [2026]
The sensor-to-shooter loop is shrinking from hours to seconds. AI is now selecting military targets autonomously — and the technology is far more brittle than anyone wants to admit.
Cybersecurity AI Pentesting Agents: How Mythos AI Is Teaching LLMs to Hack (With DARPA's Blessing) [2026]
Mythos AI is building autonomous agents that find and exploit software vulnerabilities like a human pentester. DARPA is backing the idea. Here's what this means for cybersecurity.
Technology Hotwire vs Next.js in 2026: Is Server-Centric HTML the End of SPA Bloat? [Compared]
I built the same app with Hotwire and Next.js. The JavaScript payload difference was staggering — and it changed how I think about frontend architecture defaults.
![full stack developer laptop desk code — illustration for article on Full stack developer roadmap [2026]:](https://img.kunalganglani.com/images/vzekdneq/production/2efe5e3ef8fcde6e19dee2e234529c4a6005398c-1200x675.webp?auto=format&fit=max&q=75&w=600)
Technology Full stack developer roadmap [2026]: 5 skills that get you hired
A 2026 full stack developer roadmap that matches hiring reality: 5 skill clusters, proof-of-skill projects, interview signals, and the minimum production bar (CI/CD, security, observability).
AI and Machine Learning Fine-Tuning Gemma 2 for Code Generation: 31 Percentage Points of Accuracy for Under $15 [2026 Guide]
I fine-tuned Google's Gemma 2 9B model for Python code generation using QLoRA on a single GPU. Accuracy jumped from 42% to 73% — here's exactly how, what it cost, and what I learned.
Technology Your Old Kindle Isn't E-Waste: 3 DIY Projects to Give It a New Life [2026 Guide]
That dusty Kindle in your drawer is a perfectly good e-ink display waiting for a second life. Here are 3 projects that turn it into something genuinely useful.
Cybersecurity LittleSnitch for Linux: OpenSnitch Is the Outbound Firewall You've Been Waiting For [2026]
There's no official LittleSnitch for Linux, but OpenSnitch with eBPF is the application-level outbound firewall developers and sysadmins actually need.
Cybersecurity VeraCrypt in 2026: Is It Still the Gold Standard for Open-Source Encryption? [Security Review]
VeraCrypt just shipped Argon2id support, a C/C++ SDK, and screen protection features. After 10 years of audits and updates, here's whether it still deserves its reputation as the best open-source encryption tool.
Technology Windows Control Panel: Why Microsoft's 14-Year War on a Settings Page Still Isn't Over [2026]
Microsoft has been trying to kill the Windows Control Panel since 2012. Fourteen years later, it's still here. The reasons why reveal everything about legacy software, organizational dysfunction, and the real cost of backward compatibility.