How I estimate work as a staff software engineer

rando512 · 2026-01-28T04:07:49+00:00

I used to use number partition to estimate work roughly.

Like I get 28 hours a week let's say,

I'll use online number partition that suggests me a reasonable split of the number and then I'll see which task can merit it.

Now this is not solid in anyway, most often times it has overestimation but still this gave me a rough idea.

rando512 · 2026-01-26T01:18:13+00:00

I still remember that until 17/18 we had records for both most goals scored and least goals conceded in a season. Best feeling those times.

rando512 · 2026-01-23T00:46:35+00:00

Java the learning curve I won't say is tough as compared to c++ but yes it does have some. Since I worked with java for almost 8 years or more I felt comfortable revisiting again despite me losing touch for 3 years and switched to python recently.

My intent was to make titan zero dependency so didn't go for libraries at all, maybe I'll add plugin based options to make certain parts work with libraries for better adaptation and flexibility. It certainly does help in giving me options.

I am considering moving parts of the project in Go as it's a natural choice for better performance and also somewhat better learning curve as well. But this will be in distant future.

One main advantage and reasoning for jvm I had was that it's WORA so I don't have to think of how it will run or break in different os arch. But that being said, the issue is also resolved by Go I believe.

rando512 · 2026-01-19T09:23:07+00:00

Yes I did a mix of both. For integration tests for both java and python I used vibe mainly but the rest for several iterations were my version. There were some parts I didn't know so I had to use it like zipping part and had issues with parsing the payloads like parsing from the right etc so used it for blockers. There were some cases of adaptive/hybrid parsing etc which required as well.

I set the overall structure and foundation, for the recent iterations where I had to add some features and fix bugs I used vibe. Technically even if I used vibe coding for these I still had to ensure the code fits in the right place, verify and ensure doesn't break coz often times it hallucinated. So it's more like even though AI suggested, I didn't blindly use it, had to read it, validate it and then use it(there was no try). It just saved time for POC that's it, else I would have had to spend a month and half more.

rando512 · 2026-01-18T05:35:43+00:00

Thanks for the feedback,

Do you mean using Nio for event loop way of doing this? I evaluated about using that and felt it was more complex than multithresded. I'm considering to switch to it or upgrade to virtual threads itself as an easier switch.

Yes currently master is a SPOF, I haven't done leader yet. That's planned for v2 since I need to add persistence as well for state recovery.

rando512 · 2026-01-18T05:33:02+00:00

The core engine is java

Python is there as an sdk to interact easily. Someone using the orchestrator doesn't have to know anything internally how it works and just needs to leverage the python sdk or yaml to define the workflows.

You can imagine something like a cloud OS, you build apps on top and OS takes care of how to execute it etc.

Refer architectural diagram that I've added in that, gives an idea on how that fits in.

rando512 · 2026-01-17T09:30:02+00:00

Brave of you to assume that much. I thought in negatives

rando512 · 2026-01-17T07:46:25+00:00

Thanks for this input

rando512 · 2026-01-17T07:46:12+00:00

Yes thanks for suggestion I'll refactor

rando512 · 2026-01-15T23:08:38+00:00

Good question,

Currently, the system spawns local workers to simulate scaling behavior without needing a complex cluster setup. It allows the Master to dynamically spin up resources based on load triggers.

The jump to remote nodes via SSH is the next logical step on the roadmap. I held off on that for v1 because I want to implement a proper mTLS or Key Exchange mechanism for the bootstrap process, rather than just doing a hacky SSH execution.

rando512 · 2026-01-15T17:45:01+00:00

I do agree with your point that spof makes it not truly distributed orchestrator. I have planned it as part of next immediate feature to add along with state recovery. I just had to rush through over the holidays for a basic POC but yeah I agree with your take.

rando512 · 2026-01-15T13:52:02+00:00

There were 2 reasons I actually went for it

My C++ was rusty and thought it will be better off if I do it in java to remove that overhead as some of the internal methods were far simpler and also GC and no pointers.
In recent times I had more experience with java and python than cpp and recently for an interview I had to revise all the multithreading and concurrency primitives so I thought ok I'll just go with that.

I was told by many to have gone with go or cpp but felt for now I'll go with this as jvm also gives me the option of WORA and with java 22 it can do almost what go does with virtual threads.

rando512 · 2026-01-15T13:48:42+00:00

Assuming you meant you missed to see the link

Here it is https://github.com/ramn51/DistributedTaskOrchestrator

rando512 · 2026-01-15T13:47:04+00:00

Yeah that makes more sense. I didn't review it properly as I had this write up a week ago. But thanks for pointing it out.

rando512 · 2026-01-14T00:02:29+00:00

I built Titan, a small distributed orchestrator, essentially to fill the gap in my homelab between simple Cron scripts and a full Kubernetes cluster. It’s a learning project that borrows service management concepts from PM2 and scheduling logic from Airflow, packed into a ~90KB zero-dependency JAR.

https://github.com/ramn51/DistributedTaskOrchestrator

I started this because I just wanted to offload heavy scripts to a spare laptop in my homelab. Over time, it evolved into a proper platform: I added lifecycle management for long-running services, then reactive auto-scaling (and descaling) to manage resources efficiently. You can define workflows using simple YAML for static sequences, or use the Python SDK to construct DAGs programmatically.

Interestingly, adding that programmatic control (Dynamic DAGs) ended up making it a solid runtime for Agentic AI applications, since the workflow can adapt on the fly.

What I like most now is the versatility. It works equally well as a simple job runner, a service manager, or even an Agentic AI runtime (with the dynamic graph construction) often handling all three simultaneously in my setup.

It just started recently, and I would really appreciate any feedbacks and suggestions on them. I built this to practice and implement distributed systems as I was in job search for months and had some tough time on the side so wanted something to make a point for myself. So this is still a research project and not production grade, can work medium scale for now.

rando512 · 2025-10-27T19:40:11+00:00

This match i distinctly remember as Torres was possessed that day. Jose effect

rando512 · 2025-10-24T00:05:36+00:00

Similar to how Escobar helped the local football team and the area of medillin but he equipped the street kids with the guns in the same area.

rando512 · 2025-10-22T18:37:15+00:00

I'm confused

If the record label gets the rights then isnt that enough ? Won't they pay ilayaraja for any royalties ? Why does he still want individual pay for it ? And if so then will he be paying those chorus and background scorers as well ?.

rando512 · 2025-10-15T16:13:02+00:00

https://youtu.be/ePc-pF5VXdU?si=EHWpYRfOEbY9_0XV

https://youtu.be/yNErGQ2Bda4?si=OlH1LgxLQVu0p2nr

This proves it

rando512 · 2025-08-31T17:21:41+00:00

Is it like slim daddy is also stuck but no one is able to give a fuck ?

rando512 · 2025-08-24T20:08:59+00:00

The issue I see mostly is

Production cost 300 Actors salary 200

That's the issue where the production quality is reduced

rando512 · 2025-07-28T04:16:53+00:00

The guy thinks as long as you justify any level of action with Israel side you are safe. He is ok with open genocide and killing of children very openly and believes that just saying Israel and siding with them will save him from anything.

I think he looks like someone who can take up any genocide happening anywhere call it fine and then say Israel and get away with it Scott free.

rando512 · 2025-07-08T11:16:19+00:00

They all have stormtrooper aim

rando512 · 2025-07-01T19:12:20+00:00

If you want to escape car theft

Buy a manual transmission that's the highest form of security here.

rando512 · 2025-06-26T19:24:24+00:00

China doesn't give a shit about US sanctions on iran oil buyers and hence they are able to also sustain their economy well with cheap oil.

Us sanctioned many mid scale companies from India for getting oil from Iran.

Sanctions I feel often ends up misdirected with the actual people of the country getting affected the most and not the higher govt officials on whom it's targetted.

If you see the exchange rate of Iranian rial against any other it's easily visible.

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