Why Another TIL Blog?
As a Data Engineer in Berlin's startup ecosystem, I spend my days wrestling with data pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and the ever-evolving landscape of data tools. Currently, I'm building out the data infrastructure at Kittl, but I've previously shaped data systems at Delivery Hero and Plan A.
Why Start This Blog?
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Documentation as Memory: After years of "I'll remember how I fixed that" (and then not remembering), I've learned that writing things down is crucial.
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Learning in Public: The best way to understand something is to explain it to others. This blog will force me to articulate my learnings clearly.
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Giving Back: The data engineering community has been incredibly helpful throughout my career. Time to contribute back.
Why Writing Matters in Engineering
With a background in both Computer Science and English Literature, I've come to appreciate how crucial clear communication is in engineering. My literature degree taught me that writing isn't just about documentation - it's a tool for thinking. Often, I don't fully understand a technical concept until I try to write it down.
In data engineering, where we bridge the gap between raw data and business value, being able to articulate complex ideas clearly is as important as writing efficient SQL. Whether it's documenting architecture decisions, explaining trade-offs to stakeholders, or sharing knowledge with team members, clear writing makes us better engineers.
What to Expect
- Quick solutions to specific problems I encounter
- Architecture decisions and their trade-offs
- Tips for working with GCP, Airbyte, dbt, Dagster, and other modern data tools
- Occasional musings about data engineering in Berlin startups
Current State
This blog is intentionally starting bare. No fancy styling, no complex features - just pure content. As I learn new things about Pelican (which powers this site), I'll improve the blog itself and document those learnings too.
Let's see where this goes!