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Blog
Thoughts, tutorials, and insights on software development
5 posts · showing 1-5
One prompt, three AI models, one calorie tracker: what a quick build-off taught me
I gave the same prompt to three AI models and asked each to build a calorie tracker: Fable 5, GPT 5.6 Sol, and Kimi K3. There was no single winner, they split cleanly along design, speed, and cost. Here's what I saw, and why it says something about where building is heading.
I stopped treating Expo as the beginner option, and the native story is why
For years I wrote Expo off as the training-wheels version of React Native, the thing you outgrow the moment you need real native code. I was wrong. Here's how EAS, config plugins, and the dev client changed the native story completely, and why Expo is now my default for shipping to both stores.
Why TanStack Query is the first thing I reach for on any API-driven app
Manual fetch-and-useEffect code was quietly eating my projects: loading flags, stale caches, duplicate requests. Here's how TanStack Query replaced all of it, how I wire it up on both web and React Native, and why it's now the first tool I reach for on any data-driven app.
Streaming live sensor data into React without the jank
How I pushed thousands of WebSocket updates a minute into a React dashboard while keeping charts smooth and the main thread free.
Shipping React Native to both stores with Fastlane and GitHub Actions
A CI/CD setup that took our release cycle from weeks to days: automated builds, signing, and store uploads for iOS and Android.