
Hi! We’re Mak and Yasmin, software developers primarily focused on backend technologies such as C#, Java, Spring, and SQL. We believe in unit testing and refactoring to create high-quality clean code. We built this website to share what we’ve learned while working on projects solving real problems.
When we’re not coding we like to travel, hang out with our pups (Benny and Lucy), hike, read, watch movies, eat sushi, and try new restaurants.
- May 2007:
- Started my first blog as a personal knowledge base (on blogspot)
- Nov 2019:
- Started this site
- June 2021:
- Monetized with Ezoic after reaching 50k views / mo
- Sept 2022:
- Hit peak of 170k views / mo.
- Then got hit by a string of Google Algorithm Updates, just like everyone else.
- I lost 50% of traffic. I reacted by changing the site and thinking I needed to do more SEO keyword research.
- Writing for SEO purposes and trying to please Google is soul-sucking. It’s boring. It’s impossible to please Google, so don’t try.
- Oct 2023:
- After continuous Google Updates over a year, traffic reduced by 90%.
- I wasn’t having fun writing for SEO purposes. I gave up writing.
- Jan 2025:
- I decided I wanted to start writing again and working on the site.
- I wanted to get back to my original purpose – using this as a personal knowledge base for problems I’ve solved. And hey, it helps other people too, so that’s cool.
- First things first, I de-monetized by removing the site from Ezoic.
- Feb 2025:
- Re-enabled comments with a different anti-spam strategy. Hopefully it’s manageable again.
- Every system needs good feedback loops. That’s what comments are for.