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Long-form writing on databases, systems, and engineering.

The Probabilistic Gamble:
Why Redis Bets Your Data on a Coin Flip

Every sorted set in Redis is backed by a data structure that decides its own shape by flipping coins. It should not work this well. Here is why it does.

The Forbidden Data Structure:
Why Databases Refuse to Use Order Statistics B-Trees

An augmented B-tree that makes pagination O(log n) sounds like a perfect fix. So why has every major database engine silently rejected it for decades?

The Universal Blueprint:
Why Everything in Your Database is a B-Tree

From the physics of spinning platters to the geometry of NVMe flash, one data structure has dominated database storage for five decades. This is not a coincidence.