From Contention to Throughput (5/5): The Grand Finale — Database / Queue vs Kafka vs Workflow Engines

The ultimate decision framework. We resolve the holy war between Database / Queue primitives, Event Streams, and Workflow Engines by defining state lifespan and coordination boundaries.

April 13, 2026 · 5 min · Hiep

From Contention to Throughput (4/5): Scaling Beyond a Single Database — Partitioning & The Connection Collapse

When a single PostgreSQL instance hits its physical limits, we must shard. We explore the Connection Collapse trap, multiplexing proxies, and intelligent shard routing.

April 11, 2026 · 5 min · Hiep

From Contention to Throughput (2/5): Turning PostgreSQL into a Lock-Free Queue — The SKIP LOCKED Pattern

How to resolve massive database lock contention without deploying Kafka. We explore Quantitative Capacity, the Law of Non-Blocking Acquisition, and the SKIP LOCKED paradigm.

April 2, 2026 · 8 min · Hiep