DanLuu.com is the personal blog of Dan Luu, known for long-form essays that mix systems thinking with careful measurement and clear writing. The topics range from computer latency and input lag, testing versus informal reasoning, and concurrency bugs, to industry pieces on developer compensation and curated lists of programming blogs worth reading. Many posts include data, historical context, and reproducible reasoning, which is why the site is often cited in courses and shared across the developer community. The design is intentionally minimal, which puts all attention on the ideas.
128 articles from this blog
The article argues that Steve Ballmer was an underrated CEO who made crucial long-term investments that set Microsoft up for its future success under Satya Nadella.
Analyzing if a Codenames bot can win using only card layout patterns, without understanding word meanings.
Analyzes public reactions to AI bias claims, contrasting them with responses to traditional software bugs, using a viral example.
Analysis of internal FTC memos reveals a flawed 2011-2012 Google antitrust investigation, citing a lack of tech industry understanding.
Analysis of how modern, bloated websites perform poorly on low-end devices, despite high-speed internet connections.
Explores how larger platforms often have worse fraud, spam, and support issues compared to smaller, more curated services.
An analysis of why achieving consensus on platform moderation rules is impossible, using a simple game about park vehicle rules as an example.
An analysis of the Quinn Emanuel report on Cruise's handling of a 2023 pedestrian accident involving an autonomous vehicle.
![Why do people post on [bad platform] instead of [good platform]?](https://alldevblogs.blob.core.windows.net/thumbs/article-71b712c3071c-full-ca84d3c4.webp)
Analyzes why creators choose short-form social media over blogs, citing engagement, audience, ease, and monetization.
A comparison of search result quality across Google, Bing, and alternative engines, testing how well they handle generic queries.
A transcript of Elon Musk's controversial on-stage appearance with Dave Chappelle, correcting media reports about the crowd's reaction.
A cleaned-up, de-interleaved transcript of text message exhibits from the Twitter v. Elon Musk lawsuit, presented for clarity.
An analysis of futurist prediction methods, comparing accurate forecasters with those who have poor track records.
The article argues for using simple, monolithic architectures over complex ones, using examples like Wave and Stack Overflow to show effectiveness at scale.
The article explores why inefficient companies and poor-quality products persist in the market, challenging the idea that competition naturally eliminates them.
Explores how baseball scouts' subjective biases and focus on physical appearance lead to misjudging player talent, with parallels to hiring in other fields.
An analysis of how people with superficial knowledge confidently propose flawed solutions to complex problems in fields they don't understand.
An analysis of Twitter's most severe cache-related incidents from 2012-2022, exploring patterns and knowledge loss.
Analyzing Twitter's container CPU throttling issue, its causes, and potential solutions for significant performance and cost savings.
The article critiques generic writing advice and argues for finding a personal style, using examples from famous programming bloggers.
