Notes on
building things.
Short, practical write-ups on Shopify, Next.js, the MERN stack, React Native — and the occasional lesson from freelancing.
Going headless: when Shopify Hydrogen is actually worth it
Headless is powerful, but it isn't free. Here's the honest decision framework I use to tell clients when to leave Liquid behind — and when to stay put.
Shipping a React Native app that works offline-first
A local store, a sync queue, and the patterns that keep logging instant when the signal drops.
Type-safe from MongoDB to the UI in a MERN app
Sharing TypeScript types across the stack so the compiler catches mismatches before users do.
Core Web Vitals: a practical checklist for Next.js
The handful of changes that move LCP, CLS and INP the most — without a full rewrite.
What two years of freelancing taught me about scoping
Most project pain starts at the proposal. Here's how I scope to avoid it.
Building a design system you'll actually reuse
Tokens, components and docs that survive past the first sprint and three engineers.
Role-based auth in a Next.js + Express app, end to end
Sessions, middleware and protecting routes on both the server and the client.