Plurrrr

The smallest Docker image to serve static websites

Until recently, I used to think that serving static websites from Docker would be a waste of bandwith and storage. Bundling nginx or various other heavy runtimes inside a Docker image for the sole purpose of serving static files didn’t seem like the best idea - Netlify or Github Pages can handle this much better. But my hobby server was sad and cried digital tears.

A recent HackerNews post about redbean, a single-binary, super tiny, static file server got me thinking. So begins my journey to find the most time/storage efficient Docker image to serve a static website.

Source: The smallest Docker image to serve static websites, an article by Florin Lipan.

See also the related discussion on Hacker News for even smaller solutions.

• docker

How Postgres Chooses Which Index To Use For A Query

Using Postgres sometimes feels like magic. But sometimes the magic is too much, such as when you are trying to understand the reason behind a seemingly bad Postgres query plan.

I've often times found myself in a situation where I asked myself: "Postgres, what are you thinking?". Staring at an EXPLAIN plan, seeing a Sequential Scan, and being puzzled as to why Postgres isn't doing what I am expecting.

This has lead me down the path of reading the Postgres source, in search for answers. Why is Postgres choosing a particular index over another one, or not choosing an index altogether?

In this blog post I aim to give an introduction to how the Postgres planner analyzes your query, and how it decides which indexes to use. Additionally, we’ll look at a puzzling situation where the join type can impact which indexes are being used.

Source: How Postgres Chooses Which Index To Use For A Query, an article by Lukas Fittl.

• postgres

Implementing a safe garbage collector in Rust

In my last post I introduced an Emacs Lisp VM I was writing in Rust. My stated goal at the time was to complete a garbage collector. I think Rust has some really interesting properties that will make building garbage collectors easier and safer. Many of the techniques used in my GC are not original and have been developed by other Rustaceans in previous projects.

Source: Implementing a safe garbage collector in Rust, an article by Troy Hinckley.

• rust