Self-Hosting6 min read
How to Secure a New Linux VPS: 10 Steps for the First Hour
A practical hardening checklist for a fresh Ubuntu or Debian server: a sudo user, SSH keys, firewall, automatic updates, fail2ban and backups.
25 in-depth guides · 5 free tools
Practical tech guides that actually work.
Hands-on guides on AI tools, developer productivity and self-hosting, written by a developer who uses these tools every day. Plain explanations, real commands, no filler.
Featured guides
AI Tools7 min read
RAG Explained for Developers: How Retrieval-Augmented Generation Works
What RAG is, why it beats stuffing documents into prompts, and how each step works: chunking, embeddings, vector search, reranking and evaluation.
AI Tools6 min read
How to Write Better Prompts for AI Coding Assistants
A practical framework for prompting AI coding assistants: give context, set constraints, ask for a plan first and verify the output. With before-and-after examples.
Free developer tools
No signup, no tracking of what you type.
Cron Expression Explainer
Turn any cron expression into plain English and see its next run times.
Regex Tester & Explainer
Test a regular expression live, highlight matches and groups, and see each part explained.
Unix Timestamp Converter
Convert Unix timestamps (seconds or milliseconds) to dates and dates back to timestamps.
AI Token & Cost Estimator
Estimate how many tokens a text uses and what an AI API request would cost.
.gitignore Generator
Combine ready-made .gitignore templates for your languages, frameworks, editors and OS.
Latest articles
Developer Productivity6 min read
SSH Keys Explained: Generate, Add and Use Them Safely
Create an SSH key with ssh-keygen, add it to a server and to GitHub, use ssh-agent and a config file, and fix the most common SSH permission errors.
Comparisons5 min read
SQLite vs PostgreSQL: Which Should You Use for Your Project?
An honest comparison of SQLite and PostgreSQL covering performance, concurrency, features, hosting and backups — with a simple rule for choosing.
AI Tools6 min read
How to Run a Local LLM on Your Own PC (Beginner's Guide)
Run large language models on your own computer: hardware requirements, quantization explained, setup with Ollama, using the local API from code, and realistic expectations.
Comparisons6 min read
REST vs GraphQL: Differences, Trade-offs and When to Use Each
REST and GraphQL compared with real request examples: data fetching, caching, versioning, errors, security and tooling — plus a simple rule for choosing.
Developer Productivity6 min read
Regex Cheat Sheet: Syntax and Real Examples You Can Copy
A practical regular expression cheat sheet: characters, quantifiers, groups, lookarounds and flags, plus tested patterns for emails, dates, logs and more.
Self-Hosting7 min read
Self-Hosting on a Raspberry Pi: What Works and How to Set It Up
What a Raspberry Pi can realistically self-host, the hardware that makes it reliable, a step-by-step Docker setup and how to reach it securely from anywhere.
Browse by topic
AI ToolsHow to get real work done with AI assistants, APIs and automation.6 guidesDeveloper ProductivityWorkflows, command-line skills and habits that save developers hours every week.8 guidesSelf-HostingRun your own apps and services with Docker, Linux and cheap hardware.6 guidesComparisonsHonest, side-by-side comparisons of databases, frameworks and dev tools.5 guides