Guides

Longer explainers behind the tools: the formulas, the conventions and the mistakes worth avoiding.

• Validating and formatting JSON in CI and code review

  How to catch JSON syntax errors early, read common parser error messages, and use schemas and minification correctly in CI.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• UUIDs and random IDs: v4 vs v7, collision math, and why Math.random is wrong

  UUID versions explained, the real collision odds for v4, why Math.random is unsafe for IDs, and how ULID and nanoid compare.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• URL encoding explained: percent-encoding, encodeURIComponent, and + vs %20

  How percent-encoding works, reserved vs unreserved characters, encodeURI vs encodeURIComponent, and why double-encoding breaks URLs.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• TOML vs YAML vs JSON vs INI: choosing a config format

  A practical comparison of TOML, YAML, JSON and INI for application config, with real examples of where each fits.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• Reading a JWT safely: why decoding is not the same as verifying

  JWT structure, base64url decoding, why a decoded token proves nothing, and the alg:none and key-confusion attacks to know about.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• JSON vs YAML: which config format to use, and how to convert safely

  How JSON and YAML differ for config files, the Norway problem and indentation traps, and when to convert between them.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• Hashing explained: MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 and what broken means

  What hash functions do, why MD5 and SHA-1 are broken, checksums vs password hashing, and hex vs base64 digests.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• .gitignore rules explained: patterns, negation, and untracking files

  How gitignore pattern matching, negation and ordering actually work, global vs repo ignores, and how to untrack already-committed files.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• Converting CSV and JSON without losing data

  How headers, delimiters, quoting and nested objects behave when converting between CSV and JSON, and where data quietly gets lost.

  Updated 2026-09-25

• Base64 explained: what it does, what it doesn't, and where it breaks

  What Base64 actually is, standard vs URL-safe alphabets, padding rules, and why it is not encryption.

  Updated 2026-09-25