The Franconian
Coder Studio

Over the years, I’ve watched containers evolve from a niche technology into the backbone of modern development. But with that growth comes a danger: we’re layering on so much abstraction that we risk losing sight of what makes containers powerful in the first place. In this article, I want to revisit the core ideas—namespaces, cgroups, and the elegance of Docker Compose—and discuss why sometimes, stepping back from complex orchestration can give us faster, more transparent, and more efficient systems. It’s not about rejecting tools like Kubernetes, but about remembering what’s underneath them.

Lately, I’ve noticed a troubling trend in our industry. The term ’pragmatism’ has been co-opted, twisted into a justification for cutting corners and shipping subpar code. It’s now used as a synonym for ’quick and dirty’, casting a long shadow over what should be a core principle of good engineering. But I believe we’ve lost the plot. The real meaning of pragmatism is something far more powerful and intentional. It’s not about ignoring best practices; it’s about deeply understanding them so you know when and how to mindfully bend them to serve a greater purpose. This article is my attempt to reclaim the word and explore what it truly means to be a pragmatic developer in a world full of rigid frameworks and pure theory.

We've reached a point where questioning our reliance on the internet feels as absurd as debating our need for electricity. Yet while we accept power grids as essential infrastructure, we still treat internet connectivity as somehow optional. This perspective limits our ability to design truly resilient systems. Rather than fantasizing about offline solutions, we should focus on creating architectures that acknowledge our connected reality while minimizing fragility. The following thoughts explore how we might shift this conversation toward practical, future-proof approaches.

Most developers trust the cloud—or Git—to safeguard their work, but that’s a risky assumption. Data loss can happen anywhere, and rebuilding toolchains or environments from scratch is a nightmare. My backup strategy is simple: a Taskfile, a shell script, and restic for encrypted, platform-agnostic storage. Whether you’re migrating machines or just avoiding disaster, here’s why backups still matter—and how to automate them.

Programming languages often reflect a trade-off between flexibility and simplicity. Go’s strict conventions enable clarity, but Rust’s expressive power invites experimentation—sometimes at the cost of cohesion. After wrestling with Rust’s lack of idiomatic guardrails, I’ve come to appreciate its strengths while imposing my own structure. This article unpacks that journey, from macro complexities to iterator debates, and why a curated approach might be the key to harnessing Rust’s potential.