https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/Technical articles and learnings on Go, backend engineering, databases, and full-stack development.enhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-structs-and-json-in-go-a-practical-guide-with-examples/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-structs-and-json-in-go-a-practical-guide-with-examples/Thu, 08 Oct 2026 20:03:51 GMTA practical guide to Go structs, pointers, struct tags, JSON encoding and decoding, and common serialization mistakes.GoStruct TagJsonStructhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-closures-in-go-scope-lifetime-state-and-the-loop-variable-gotcha/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-closures-in-go-scope-lifetime-state-and-the-loop-variable-gotcha/Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:11:59 GMTUnderstand Go closures through scope, lifetime, captured state, and the loop variable behavior that can cause subtle bugs.GoClosureFunctionhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-functions-in-go-parameters-slices-maps-recursion-and-defer/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-functions-in-go-parameters-slices-maps-recursion-and-defer/Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:55:55 GMTExplore how Go functions handle parameters, slices, maps, recursion, and defer, with examples of copying and shared state.GoFunctionDeferhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-maps-in-go-key-value-pairs-nil-maps-and-the-comma-ok-idiom/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-maps-in-go-key-value-pairs-nil-maps-and-the-comma-ok-idiom/Wed, 30 Sep 2026 10:07:12 GMTLearn Go maps, key-value pairs, nil maps, initialization, iteration, and the comma-OK idiom through practical examples.GoMapsFundamentalshttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-arrays-and-slices-in-go-memory-copying-and-capacity/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-arrays-and-slices-in-go-memory-copying-and-capacity/Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:37:36 GMTUnderstand Go arrays and slices through their memory layout, copying behavior, length, capacity, and shared backing arrays.ArraysSlicesGohttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-strings-in-go-bytes-runes-utf-8-and-immutability/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-strings-in-go-bytes-runes-utf-8-and-immutability/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 15:45:49 GMTExplore strings in Go: bytes, runes, UTF-8, immutability, and the practical details of working with Unicode text.StringGoRuneshttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/access-tokens-expire-so-how-do-users-stay-logged-in/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/access-tokens-expire-so-how-do-users-stay-logged-in/Wed, 23 Sep 2026 17:27:02 GMTUnderstand how access tokens, refresh tokens, rotation, and server-side session state work together to keep users logged in.Refresh TokenJWTSession ManagementAuthenticationhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/jev-the-ai-model-that-doesnt-want-to-be-your-llm/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/jev-the-ai-model-that-doesnt-want-to-be-your-llm/Tue, 22 Sep 2026 04:11:21 GMTExplore JEV and the idea of giving AI agents a world model alongside language models for reasoning about actions and state.Ai AgentJEVLLMsAIhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/docker-networking-explained-why-do-we-need-a-custom-network/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/docker-networking-explained-why-do-we-need-a-custom-network/Wed, 16 Sep 2026 04:55:52 GMTA practical explanation of Docker networking, container isolation, service discovery, and why custom networks are useful.DevOpsDockerContainersDocker Networkinghttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/kubernetes-isnt-hard-you-re-probably-learning-it-backwards/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/kubernetes-isnt-hard-you-re-probably-learning-it-backwards/Sun, 13 Sep 2026 11:44:41 GMTBuild a mental model of Kubernetes, Amazon EKS, worker nodes, IAM, networking, and scaling before memorizing commands.KubernetesKubernetes ClusterAWS EKShttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-dockerfiles-from-run-copy-env-and-cmd/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-dockerfiles-from-run-copy-env-and-cmd/Wed, 09 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTUnderstand Dockerfile instructions FROM, RUN, COPY, ENV, and CMD, and how image construction differs from container startup.DockerfilesDockerCloudCI/CDhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-github-actions-workflow-yaml-a-beginners-guide/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-github-actions-workflow-yaml-a-beginners-guide/Mon, 07 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTLearn to read GitHub Actions workflow YAML: events, jobs, runners, steps, actions, and the structure behind CI/CD pipelines.GitHub ActionsCI/CDYAMLhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/what-i-learned-about-yaml-the-basics-every-devops-beginner-should-know/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/what-i-learned-about-yaml-the-basics-every-devops-beginner-should-know/Mon, 07 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTLearn the YAML basics used in DevOps, including key-value pairs, indentation, lists, nested structures, and common mistakes.DevOpsYaml BasicKubernetesDockerCloud Nativehttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/what-i-learned-about-managing-production-secrets-with-aws/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/what-i-learned-about-managing-production-secrets-with-aws/Sat, 05 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTLessons from managing production configuration and secrets with AWS, separating application settings from sensitive values.Aws Secrets ManagerAwsGithub ActionsJqAws Ecrhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/i-replaced-aws-access-keys-in-github-actions-with-oidc/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/i-replaced-aws-access-keys-in-github-actions-with-oidc/Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTA walkthrough of replacing long-lived AWS access keys in GitHub Actions with OIDC and temporary deployment credentials.Openid ConnectOidc AuthenticationAwsGithub ActionsGithubhttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/your-docker-container-is-running-so-why-cant-your-app-connect-to-the-database/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/your-docker-container-is-running-so-why-cant-your-app-connect-to-the-database/Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMTUnderstand service readiness, healthchecks, and depends_on in Docker Compose when an app starts before its database is ready.Docker ComposeControl Startuphttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/why-solid-principles-changed-the-way-i-write-code/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/why-solid-principles-changed-the-way-i-write-code/Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:30:00 GMTA practical look at SOLID principles and how they help organize responsibilities, dependencies, and maintainable application code.Solid PrinciplesScalabilityCode MaintainabilityCode ReusabilityClean Codehttps://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-linux-starts-with-the-big-picture/https://shivamkumar.me/blogs/understanding-linux-starts-with-the-big-picture/Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:30:00 GMTUnderstand Linux through the relationship between applications, user space, the kernel, system calls, and hardware.LinuxFundamentalsIntroduction