junaid.guru/writing/react-hook-budgets
01/18 Sept 2025·8 min read
What happens when 600 cards each open a websocket. (Nothing good. Then we fixed it.)
Treat hooks like budgets, not utilities. The 601st card is the one that takes you out.
junaid.guru/writing/hiring-principal-engineers
02/30 Jul 2025·10 min read
Less heroics, more thermostats. The job is to set the temperature of the room.
You are not hired to be the smartest person in the room. You are hired to make the room smarter.
junaid.guru/writing/open-source-without-burnout
03/14 May 2025·11 min read
Notes from two years of maintainer life. The PRs you don't merge matter most.
Saying no with grace is the first skill. Saying no with a CONTRIBUTING.md that explains why is the second.
junaid.guru/writing/editorial-design-systems
04/8 Feb 2025·12 min read
Tokens are not enough. The system is the rhythm — bands, numbers, pauses, italics.
A design system without a rhythm is a fontconfig. The rhythm is what makes a page feel intentional.