May the Source Be with You

I’m Navendu, and welcome to my brain dump.

I write about my work and life as an open source contributor/maintainer (what am I doing now?).

If you’re here for the first time, try my featured posts or learn more about me. Make sure to subscribe via email or RSS to get regular updates.

A Comprehensive Guide to API Gateways, Kubernetes Gateways, and Service Meshes

A comprehensive comparison of API gateways, Kubernetes gateways, and service meshes with actionable insights.

May 5, 2023 · 10 min

Comparing Kubernetes Gateway and Ingress APIs

Exploring the new Kubernetes Gateway API and comparing it with the existing Kubernetes Ingress API for handling external traffic.

October 14, 2022 · 5 min

How I Ask Questions as a Software Engineer

I ask a lot of questions to my peers and to strangers on public forums in the internet. This year, I have been trying to improve this process to ask better questions. Here is how I do it.

December 25, 2021 · 8 min

An Introduction to Monitoring Microservices with Prometheus and Grafana

This tutorial walks you through setting up monitoring on a microservice application using Prometheus and Grafana.

December 9, 2022 · 8 min

Best Practices for Building Reliable APIs

As the size of your APIs increase, the need for making them reliable and robust also increases. This article discusses the best practices for designing reliable APIs by introducing you to a special kind of reverse proxies called API gateways.

August 19, 2022 · 6 min

Vada (Fritters) Profitable

This article is about a project I built and open sourced three years ago and our journey to make it uzhunnu vada (UV) profitable™.

April 7, 2023 · 4 min

AI-Generated Spam Pull Requests

Someone tried to open pull requests to open source projects with AI-generated code.

March 29, 2023 · 4 min

Custom Plugins in APISIX Ingress

A hands-on tutorial on using custom APISIX Plugins in Kubernetes environments with APISIX Ingress.

March 24, 2023 · 4 min

Write Stuff Down

Writing as a way to think clearly and articulate your thoughts.

March 10, 2023 · 3 min

Kubernetes Gateway API With APISIX Ingress

A hands-on tutorial on using the new Kubernetes Gateway API with Apache APISIX Ingress.

January 20, 2023 · 3 min

On Open Source Communities

A note on the role of communities in open source.

December 30, 2022 · 4 min

ChatGPT Explained by ChatGPT

A conversation with ChatGPT about ChatGPT. Who are you?

December 21, 2022 · 9 min

Extending Apache APISIX Ingress with Annotations, CRDs, and Plugins

A hands-on tutorial on leveraging the full features provided by APISIX in Kubernetes Ingress.

December 16, 2022 · 4 min

Signed Commits and Encrypted Communication with GPG Keys

Exploring how symmetric-key and public-key cryptography works by using GPG keys to sign commits and send encrypted messages.

December 2, 2022 · 5 min

Retro Gaming With RetroPie, GPi CASE 2, and a Raspberry Pi

A complete tutorial on how to set up RetroPie and play retro games on a GPi CASE 2 with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 under the hood.

November 25, 2022 · 5 min

No Thanks, Crypto, UPI Already Solved Digital Payments

Cryptocurrencies are trying to be a solution to a financial problem that does not exist. UPI solved digital payments years ago.

November 18, 2022 · 5 min

My Reasonable Birthday Goals

Evaluating where I am and deciding where I want to be next.

November 11, 2022 · 4 min

A Quick Start Guide for Mastodon

Learn to get up and running with the microblogging platform everyone is talking about.

November 2, 2022 · 3 min

You Might Need a College Degree for a Programming Job

Many companies and tech gurus claim you don’t need a college degree for a programming job. But here’s why you might want to get one regardless.

October 28, 2022 · 3 min

Canary Release in Kubernetes With Apache APISIX Ingress

A hands-on, from-scratch tutorial on setting up canary releases in Kubernetes with Apache APISIX Ingress.

October 21, 2022 · 5 min

Lessons Learned From Three Years of Open Source Contributions

Insights from my three year journey as an open source contributor.

October 7, 2022 · 6 min

My Blog Setup and Writing Process

I’ve been writing blogs for almost three years now. Recently, I’ve been putting a lot of effort into building and maintaining my blog. This article documents my blog setup and my writing process from idea to publishing.

September 23, 2022 · 6 min

Set Up Ingress on Kubernetes With Apache APISIX Ingress Controller

A tutorial on using Ingress in your Kubernetes cluster with Apache APISIX.

September 9, 2022 · 5 min

How the LFX Mentorship Program Helped Me Level Up My Career

Sharing how I got involved in the LFX Mentorship Program and its life-changing impact on my career and personal life.

September 2, 2022 · 4 min

Adding Diagrams to Your Hugo Blog With Mermaid

This article shows how you can add diagrams to your Hugo site with Mermaid.

August 26, 2022 · 4 min

How and Why I Migrated My Blog From Github Pages to Netlify

This blog is now deployed on Netlify. Here is how and why I did it.

August 12, 2022 · 7 min

Why Developers Should Blog

I have been blogging ever since I started out as a software engineer. Here is why you should do it too.

February 17, 2022 · 3 min

The Psychology of Money

Key takeaways from Morgan Housel’s international bestseller “The Psychology of Money”—brief and to the point.

February 9, 2022 · 4 min

Everything you Need to Know About Google Summer of Code (GSoC): Important Dates, Eligibility, Application, Getting Selected and Other Tips

Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a great way to start contributing to open source while getting paid to do so. This article dives deep into everything GSoC from the application procedure to tips from real experience on being successful

December 2, 2021 · Updated On April 2, 2023 · 5 min

Contributing to Documentation

Contributing to documentation is really impactful for an open-source project. It can also be a stepping stone to make code contributions. Learn how.

November 8, 2021 · Updated On April 4, 2023 · 3 min

Non-Code Contributions to Open Source

As open source becomes the default way to build software, contributions required to create, manage, and sustain projects go beyond code. This article teaches you to make non-code contributions.

September 21, 2021 · Updated On April 2, 2023 · 5 min

Pull Requests like a Pro

Tips to make High-Quality Pull Requests.

September 15, 2021 · Updated On April 4, 2023 · 3 min

20+ Open Source Internship Programs (Updated for 2023)

A curated list of open source internship/mentorship programs with all the necessary details.

August 28, 2021 · 9 min

Meshery, the Service Mesh Manager

Meshery is an open source service mesh management plane that enables the adoption, operation, and management of any service mesh and their workloads.

August 26, 2021 · 1 min

Awesome README: A Template for Writing Useful READMEs

A template for writing useful READMEs.

July 13, 2020 · 2 min