Welcome to Parallel Thoughts
Parallel Thoughts is a personal space for ideas, observations, experiences, and anything else that feels worth exploring.
I spend a lot of my time around technology and software engineering, so some posts will naturally be about backend development, system architecture, engineering practices, tools, and lessons learned while working on real-world systems.
But I do not want this blog to be limited to a single subject. I may also write about work, travel, things I am learning, opinions, or completely unrelated topics that happen to catch my attention.
The common thread is curiosity.
Why Parallel Thoughts?
The name reflects the mix of topics this blog is meant to explore.
Some posts may be about software engineering, architecture, or technology. Others may come from work, travel, everyday experiences, or something completely unrelated that happens to feel worth writing about.
This blog is a place for those different ideas to run alongside each other, each following its own direction, and eventually become something worth sharing.
What I’ll Write About
Some of the topics you may find here include:
- Software engineering
- Backend systems and architecture
- APIs, distributed systems, and messaging
- Java, Spring Boot, and related technologies
- Engineering practices and lessons learned
- Technology and tools I find useful
- Travel and personal experiences
- Anything else I find interesting enough to explore
There is no strict publishing schedule or fixed content formula. Some posts may be detailed technical write-ups, while others may simply be short observations.
Technical Notes
Technical posts often need code, diagrams, and structured examples to explain an idea clearly. Code blocks use syntax highlighting that follows the site’s light or dark theme, while inline code keeps method names and annotations easy to identify. Here is a simple Java example:
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello, world!");
}
}Inline code should work naturally as well, for example System.out.println() or a Spring Boot annotation such as @RestController.
Mermaid Diagrams
Mermaid diagrams help show how components communicate without describing every connection in prose. In this example, each box represents a service or messaging component, and the arrow labels describe what moves between them:
%%{init: {"flowchart": {"nodeSpacing": 24, "rankSpacing": 36, "diagramPadding": 12}}}%%
flowchart LR
order["Order Service"]
kafka["Kafka"]
inventory["Inventory Service"]
order -->|" Publish OrderCreated "| kafka
kafka -->|" Deliver OrderCreated "| inventory
The diagram stays alongside the article as text written in a mermaid code block, making it easy to update as the explanation changes. Diagrams also follow the site’s light or dark theme.
A Few Formatting Examples
This first post also serves as a small reference for the different Markdown elements supported by the site.
Lists
A typical technology stack might look like:
- Java
- Spring Boot
- Kafka
- PostgreSQL
- AWS
And an ordered workflow might look like:
- Understand the problem
- Define the expected behaviour
- Design the solution
- Implement it
- Test it
- Observe how it behaves in production
Quotes
Good software should make future changes easier, not harder.
Blockquotes like this may be useful when highlighting an idea, principle, or observation inside a post.
Tables
Tables are useful for comparisons, numbered scenarios, and service statuses. On smaller screens, wide tables scroll horizontally within the article; keyboard users can focus the table’s scroll area to navigate it.
| Technology | Typical Purpose |
|---|---|
| Astro | Static site generation |
| Markdown | Writing blog content |
| Mermaid | Rendering architecture and interaction diagrams |
| Shiki | Syntax highlighting for code examples |
| GitHub | Source control |
| Cloudflare Pages | Hosting and deployment |
A short scenario can use a numbered table to keep the sequence easy to scan:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Order Service creates an order. |
| 2 | It publishes an OrderCreated event to Kafka. |
| 3 | The Inventory Service receives the event and reserves stock. |
Reading Your Way
The site supports light and dark modes, with a theme switch in the navigation that remembers your choice. The layout adapts to smaller screens, and wide code examples and tables can be scrolled when they need more room.
If you prefer following posts in a feed reader, you can subscribe to the RSS feed. It provides a way to keep up with new writing without checking the homepage each time.
Where This Goes From Here
This site will continue to evolve along with the writing. The structure, styling, and topics may change over time as I figure out what works well and what I actually enjoy publishing.
For now, the goal is simple: write about things worth thinking about, document what I learn, and build a useful collection of thoughts over time.
Welcome to Parallel Thoughts.