Happy Friday!

Hope everyone is doing good. Welcome to the third edition of this newsletter with a roundup of the blog and some very interesting things from across the internet.

From the Blog

1. With the huge uptick in anti-microservice articles all over the internet, I believe we are finally coming out of the hype cycle to understand microservices for what they are - a complicated solution to the complicated problem of autonomy at scale. In my essay this week, I explore the use of API Gateways (or other edge technologies) as a means of defining business/technical domains which can encapsulate multiple microservices within them. This type of business aware use of API gateways is not traditional, but it is a very powerful way to evolve the overall architecture as a cooperating set of macro-components.
2. I published my review of "Thinking in Systems : A Primer" by Donella H. Meadows. This is one of the best "first principles" books I have ever read. Not only does it give a basic but solid introduction to the world of systems thinking, but it also provides the philosophical and moral context for reining in our intellectual arrogance because the world is very, very complex by design. If you have ever felt the curiousity to understand how such things as economies and evolution come to be, this book is a great place to start.

From the great Interweb

1. Uber published a blog post about how they are using domain modelling as a way to rein in microservice explosion. The ideas mirror my essay fairly closely (though Uber has a fancy name for it - DOMA), and some parts speak closely to my articles on extendable data models and the use of rule engines to build exensible platforms.
2. I finally got around to reading Farnham Street's guide to reading better, and I have to tell you that it is an absolute rabbit hole. They have a very systematic breakdown of how and what to read, perspectives on reading and understanding what is read by many leading thinkers and writers, and tons of book recommendations.
3. Eugene Wei wrote superbly on how Tiktok won the algorithmic engagement battle. If you weren't following the "TikTok ban in US" drama over the last weeks, you should start now. Not only does it involve some very interesting legal wrangling over how international tech should be regulated, it also features Microsoft's open bribe to the US government.
4. A peek into the Maproom project and how better data visualization and collaboration can help us understand our communities and cities better.

That's it for this week folks. Happy weekend!

-Kislay