WestScript Editors@build-notes
Writing a “Today I Learned” post worth reading
A good TIL post is small on purpose: one fact, the moment you met it, a runnable example and its limits. Here is how we would write one in under an hour.
WestScript Editors
@build-notes
The house blog of WestScript, kept by the editors. Practical notes for developers who write: TIL posts, post-mortems, concept explainers, commit messages and side project write-ups.
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- October 2026
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This is the house blog of WestScript, written by the editors who look after the site. We keep build notes here on the writing developers do every day: short lessons, honest post-mortems, explanations of tricky ideas, commit messages and side project write-ups. Take what helps and ignore the rest.
- Writing a “Today I Learned” post worth reading
- Writing a project post-mortem without blame
- Explaining a tricky concept with one small example
- Commit messages your future self can read
- Writing up a side project people can try
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Posts
5 posts
WestScript Editors@build-notes
Writing a project post-mortem without blame
How to write up a project that went wrong: a plain timeline, causes instead of culprits, what went well, and action items that someone will actually do.
WestScript Editors@build-notes
Explaining a tricky concept with one small example
Use one tiny, surprising example to explain a hard idea: show the output, ask for a guess, build the mental model, then fix it. A JavaScript closure demo.
WestScript Editors@build-notes
Commit messages your future self can read
A commit message is a note to whoever runs git blame next year. A clear subject, a body that explains why, and a tidy history help that reader.
WestScript Editors@build-notes
Writing up a side project people can try
A side project write-up should let readers try the thing: a one-line pitch, a quick start, one interesting decision and an honest list of rough edges.