https://joelnbl.com Thoughts on software engineering, product design, and building for the modern web. https://joelnbl.com/writing/spec-driven-development-is-how-you-ship-with-less-guesswork Spec-driven development is not bureaucracy. It is the discipline of making behavior explicit before implementation so teams ship faster, argue less, and break fewer things. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:30:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/why-i-chose-nextjs-for-my-latest-saas Why I picked Next.js for a SaaS product: fast iteration, solid defaults, server-first rendering, and trade-offs I was willing to accept. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/the-art-of-building-clean-ui-with-tailwind Clean UI is usually the result of constraints, not decoration. These are the Tailwind habits I use to keep interfaces sharp, calm, and consistent. Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/learning-python-crash-course After finishing Python Crash Course—venv, safe dict access, and writing your own context manager. Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/why-react-list-keys-matter Understanding React keys and why they're essential for optimal performance and avoiding common bugs in list rendering. Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/introducing-ignauth A story about a common developer papercut—manually handling Bearer tokens—and the small, focused Chrome extension I built to solve it. Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/your-terminal-is-a-temple Beyond languages and frameworks, the most critical tool a developer has is their own environment. This article explores the philosophy of treating your toolkit as a product. Fri, 08 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://joelnbl.com/writing/the-algorithm-grind Inspired by the high-performance mindset, this article argues that daily algorithm practice is not about interviews, but about forging a sharper, faster, and more effective engineering mind. Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT