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Software Engineering's Timeless Patterns

In 2000 I wrote JavaScript inside HTML: onclick="javascript:doStuff()". In 2026 I ship React Server Components that run on edge workers, hydrate on clients, and blur the stateless-HTTP boundary I thought I understood. Over 25 years, I was forced to "unlearn and relearn" frontend 4-5 times.

Here's the thing: I didn't actually re-learn the concepts. I re-mapped the same ~50 durable ideas onto each new technology. Frameworks churn. Tensions persist.

This repo catalogs those durable ideas -- 264 concepts across 19 domains -- and tells the story of how to see through technology churn to the concepts underneath.

The Red Queen's paradox

Every software engineer working more than a decade recognizes this feeling: running as fast as possible just to stay in place. The tech stack under your feet changes every few years. You're not an expert; you're a perpetual beginner. This repo argues that feeling is a lie -- the concepts don't move as fast as the tools do. You've been learning durable things the whole time. You just need the translation.

What's inside

Three layers:

  • method/ -- how to extract durable concepts from any field. Reusable; apply it to ML, biology, product design, whatever.
  • knowledge/ -- what was extracted. 19 domains x ~14 concepts each, tiered from mathematical foundations (Tier 0) to applied judgment (Tier 3). Presentation-agnostic markdown.
  • presentations/mkdocs/ -- one reference adapter that renders knowledge/ into a readable static site. Deployed at engineering.denis-darkin.xyz. Fork it, swap in your own branding.

The separation matters: knowledge/ is the primary artifact. MkDocs is just the first way someone chose to render it.

Three entry paths

I want to read the compendium -> browse knowledge/domains/ directly on GitHub, or visit the live site.

I want to apply this method to my own field -> read method/process.md, then method/extraction-template.md and example method/domain-briefs/.

I want to render this content differently -> read knowledge/CONTENT_FORMAT.md for the contract; use presentations/mkdocs/ as a starting point or build a new adapter (Hugo, Obsidian, LLM index, whatever).

Stats

Metric Value
Domains 19
Tiers 4 (0: foundations -> 3: applied)
Concepts 264
Fundamental tensions ~75
Canonical sources 150+
Presentation adapters 1 (MkDocs Material)

Status

v1 release. The compendium is complete but imperfect. Expect:

  • Some tensions appear in multiple domains without cross-linking
  • Some canonical sources are paraphrased rather than linked
  • Coverage gaps the author didn't see

PRs welcome. See knowledge/CONTENT_FORMAT.md for the adapter contract; changes to structure require major-version bumps.

Licensing

Content (knowledge/, method/ prose, docs/, this README) is CC-BY-4.0. Fork it, remix it, publish your own version -- just credit this repo.

Code (knowledge/tools/, presentations/mkdocs/scripts/, any YAML config) is MIT.

Credits

Method devised and applied by Denis Darkin. Extraction performed with LLM assistance. The durable concepts belong to the field.