Embrace the Grind

A plea urging beginner and intermediate developers to cast aside the regular 0 to 1 tools and to embrace the grind of

A plea urging beginner and intermediate developers to return to the fundamentals of software deployment. It is intended to challenge the overreliance on modern platforms and abstractions, encouraging developers to embrace the manual process of building and deploying applications.

By navigating purposeful and controlled failures, I am to highlight the value of understanding underlying systems and mastering the gritty details of deploying, maintaining, and scaling applications.

It's a call to action for developers to refine their craft by stepping away from convenience and into the empowering process of learning through doing.

Transcript

1. Ever tried, ever failed, no matter. Try again, fail again, fail better. ~ Samuel Beckett
2. Repl.it Railway Heroku Glitch Render Amazon ECS Fly.io Streamlit Supabase Vercel Digital Ocean Netlify Google Cloud Run PlanetScale Firebase ... 0 1
3. DON’T USE IT
4. INSTEAD
5. Write your code In a language of your choice
6. Buy a domain namecheap, pork.bun Write your code
7. Buy a server hetzner, vultr Write your code Buy a domain
8. Map your DNS cloudflare, namecheap Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server
9. Don’t containerize No docker, just no Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS
10. Install your runtime Python, Ruby, JS, .NET, Java … Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize
11. Install a database PostgreSQL, MariaDB Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime
12. Install other tools htop, dbcli, redis … Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database
13. Deploy Manually Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools
14. Expose to internet Caddy, NGINX Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy
15. Change your code Tomorrow or weeks later Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy Expose to internet
16. Re-deploy Manually / A script Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy Expose to internet Change your code
17. Setup backups For DB, Server Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy Expose to internet Change your code Re-deploy
18. Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy Expose to internet Change your code Re-deploy Setup backups
19. BUT WHY?
20. FAILURES
21. FAILURES Purposeful & controlled
22. Your runtime and dependencies won’t install
23. Your HTTPS certificates will expire
24. Your code won’t work on the server
25. Your code won’t survive a system restart
26. Your code won’t survive a burst of traffic
27. Your deploys will get tedious and boring
28. Your database will totally fill up the disk
29. Your database backups will fill up the disk
30. Your DNS map will not propagate as expected
31. Your OS will self update and break your app
32. Your runtime & dependencies won’t install Your HTTPS certificates will expire Your code won’t work on the server Your code won’t survive a system restart Your code won’t survive a burst of traffic Your deploys will get tedious and boring Your database will fill up the disk Your database backups will fill up the disk Your DNS will not propagate as expected Your OS updates will break your app
33. Your runtime & dependencies won’t install Your HTTPS certificates will expire Your code won’t work on the server Your code won’t survive a system restart Your code won’t survive a burst of traffic Your deploys will get tedious and boring Your database will fill up the disk Your database backups will fill up the disk Your DNS will not propagate as expected Your OS updates will break your app
34. Your runtime & dependencies won’t install Your HTTPS certificates will expire Your code won’t work on the server Your code won’t survive a system restart Your code won’t survive a burst of traffic Your deploys will get tedious and boring Your database will fill up the disk Your database backups will fill up the disk Your DNS will not propagate as expected Your OS updates will break your app
35. Your runtime & dependencies won’t install Your HTTPS certificates will expire Your code won’t work on the server Your code won’t survive a system restart Your code won’t survive a burst of traffic Your deploys will get tedious and boring Your database will fill up the disk Your database backups will fill up the disk Your DNS will not propagate as expected Your OS updates will break your app
37. BUT WHY?
38. If you don’t see the problem, you will never appreciate the solution.
39. Write your code Buy a domain Buy a server Map your DNS Don’t containerize Install your runtime Install a database Install other tools Deploy Expose to internet Change your code Re-deploy Setup backups 0 -> 1
40. Throw easy out the window Embrace the grind @shrayasr