iDiallo

I write code for Humans & text for Robots

Ibrahim Diallo

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Building, Fast and Slow

Building, Fast and Slow

Most projects start with a burst of energy. Writing initial code, whether through vibe coding or meticulously setting up a new repository. This is the fast building phase: boilerplates are generated, frameworks are initialized, and thousands of lines of code appear almost magically. It's the era of rapid creation, where progress feels tangible, even exhilarating.

How to Form an Opinion

How to Form an Opinion

When I'm helping new developers, I often hear a familiar question: "Which is the best programming language?" They want a definitive answer, a shortcut to expertise. But I've learned that the question itself reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about how real opinions are formed.

How Spectrum made me write this post

How Spectrum made me write this post

I recently had to cancel my Internet service at home, and it was the worst experience I've ever had with customer service. A year ago, a new company that offers fiber internet was added to my neighborhood, so I decided to switch to the new service. I signed up online, entering all my information, including my credit card, only to find it wasn't available yet despite what their website claimed.

The Correct Term for “Upsert” is “Save”

The Correct Term for “Upsert” is “Save”

At an old job, our customers were early adopters of smartphones, and we had to ensure our web app worked flawlessly on their devices. As the newbie on the team, I was tasked with optimizing code to leave the smallest footprint possible without compromising features. This was before minifiers were commonplace, so I took it upon myself to write what I thought was beautifully compact code.

What Learning React Won't Teach You: Image Formats

What Learning React Won't Teach You: Image Formats

At the end of every month, I used to religiously check the total internet bandwidth we'd consumed at home. A decade ago, my ISP would throttle our connection if we crossed some loosely defined threshold, so monitoring usage felt essential. Those days are long gone. With gigabit internet widely available and everyone streaming Netflix in different rooms simultaneously, I've spared myself the monthly ritual of bandwidth anxiety.

Over-engineered Side Projects have Utility

Over-engineered Side Projects have Utility

I remember my first corporate job. The recruiter, hired just two months prior, hadn’t gotten a single candidate into the pipeline. In my interview, he kept asking: “Why didn’t you write about the things you clearly know?” I had trimmed my resume (advice from some blog) and lacked experience with big companies. He helped me rewrite it.

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The Machine Fired Me

The Machine Fired Me

It was 7am when my phone rang. Instead of an alarm, it was my recruiter disturbing me from a pleasant dream. It was too early for a phone call or to be caught off guard, so I did not answer. I went to take a shower and get ready for the day. On my way to work, I listened to the voice mail she had left.

Download a file from the command line in Windows

Download a file from the command line in Windows

As a Linux user, I can't help but spend most of my time on the command line. Not that the GUI is not efficient, but there are things that are simply faster to do with the keyboard.

I use Zip Bombs to Protect my Server

I use Zip Bombs to Protect my Server

The majority of the traffic on the web is from bots. For the most part, these bots are used to discover new content. These are RSS Feed readers, search engines crawling your content, or nowadays AI bots crawling content to power LLMs. But then there are the malicious bots. These are from spammers, content scrapers or hackers. At my old employer, a bot discovered a wordpress vulnerability and inserted a malicious script into our server. It then turned the machine into a botnet used for DDOS. One of my first websites was yanked off of Google search entirely due to bots generating spam. At some point, I had to find a way to protect myself from these bots. That's when I started using zip bombs.

Just Fired

a book by Ibrahim Diallo

After the explosive reception of my story, The Machine Fired Me, I set out to write a book to tell the before and after.

I started as a minimum wage laborer in Los Angeles and I set out to reach the top of the echelon in Silicon Valley. Every time I made a step forward, I was greeted with the harsh changing reality of the modern work space.

Getting fired is no longer reserved to those who mess up. Instead, it's a popular company strategy to decrease expenses and increase productivity.

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JavaScript Collection

Learn tips and tricks that will turn you into an Awesome® Javascript Dev.

JavaScript Tips and tricks

Tip of the day

Always avoid the DOM

The beauty of nodejs is that you don't have to work with the DOM. On the browser, that's where JavaScript power lies. The only problem is it is terribly slows. …

Are you new to JavaScript?

JavaScript can be a little bit challenging at first. There are a few things that once mastered will make your journey smoother. These are the little things that I want to explain to you here. I make the frustrating things as friendly as possible so you don't have to stress over it.

Photography

Every little corner has a story. Sometimes a camera tells the story and a picture is worth a thousand words.

There are professional photographers and then there is me who happens to have a camera on my phone. Here's to what came out.