An almanac of what I’m learning
Study Notes
A working reference for Java, data structures, system design and applied AI. Written to be re-read — the notes assume you have seen the topic before and want the part that actually matters.
142 notes·8 volumes·47 hours of reading·501k words
DSA · A field guide
Problem editorials
Curated problems, worked the way an editorial should be — why the obvious idea fails, the observation that forces the data structure, then the code.
18 editorials·
7 categories·
6h of reading
The volumes
catalogued by letter- A
Java
Encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, abstraction, interfaces, abstract classes, access modifiers, and the SOLID principles in Java.
- C
DSA
The subset of Java that earns its keep in coding interviews — the types that overflow, the collections that decide your complexity, and the small idioms you reach for in every problem.
- D
React
From first principles to live data — createElement, JSX, Babel, components, props, keys, useState, useEffect, Virtual DOM, reconciliation, CORS, shimmer UI, and controlled inputs.
- G
Python
The small, sharp tools experienced Python programmers reach for constantly — introspection (getattr / isinstance), * and ** unpacking, lambdas, the walrus, comprehensions, decorators, lru_cache & partial, dataclasses, ABCs vs Protocols, asyncio + httpx, and tenacity retries. Each with the gotcha that bites and the interview answer.
- H
AI & Retrieval
Combining keyword and vector retrieval — BM25 lexical scoring, FAISS dense-vector search, and merging both rankings with Reciprocal Rank Fusion.
- J
System Design
The networking concepts that actually show up in system design interviews — OSI layers, TCP vs UDP, HTTP/gRPC/WebSockets, load balancing (L4 vs L7), CDNs, and fault tolerance patterns like circuit breakers.
- M
DevOps & Infrastructure
A practical guide to container isolation, images and layers, Dockerfiles, build and run commands, registries, volumes, networking, and Docker Compose for wiring multi-container applications together.
- B
bbg
A one-hour, deliberately open-ended conversation where clarifying the problem matters more than any single "right" answer — and where the bar rises sharply with seniority.