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Welcome to 8 Protocols

I’m Alvis Ng, a technical lead based in Malaysia.

I write about the systems that shape how we build—from software architecture and AI to product strategy, team culture, and the human mind behind the code.

At 8 Protocols, I share principles, stories, and experiments that keep work sharp and human. Sometimes that means untangling a stubborn frontend structure. Sometimes it’s questioning a “best practice” that everyone treats as gospel. Sometimes it’s about faith, psychology, and the quiet forces that shape why we work the way we do.

I write to keep asking better questions: about craft, about meaning, and about how we balance precision with purpose.

I share these notes and stories at least three times a month. Long enough to stay with you. Short enough for a cup of coffee.

Featured stories · Code, culture, clarity

Prompt Engineering and the Illusion of Instruction

Prompt Engineering and the Illusion of Instruction

We think we’re giving orders. We’re steering a next-token engine. Prompts work when they mirror patterns the model has seen. Tiny phrasing changes flip outcomes. Guide with short roles, small examples, and simple formats. Verify. Cooperation, not command.
What Makes a Senior Developer Senior?

What Makes a Senior Developer Senior?

Seniority isn’t a title. It’s how you work when it counts: choose the boring tool when it wins, ship with guardrails, teach without theater, cut complexity, and own outcomes after merge. Tradeoffs over tricks. Clarity over clever. Spotlight traded for team lift.
Sorting Words, Clustering Thoughts

Sorting Words, Clustering Thoughts

We sort words without thinking. Machines can't. They learn to draw boundaries and find themes: spam or not, tickets by topic. Use labels when you need decisions and clusters when you need discovery. Start there. Patterns come first, meaning follows.
Inside the Clockwork of an AI’s Mind

Inside the Clockwork of an AI’s Mind

Ask a question, get a fluent answer. Under the hood, no insight, just a fast loop picking the next token, guided by attention and a tiny memory. See the gears, not a ghost. When you learn the strings, you know when to trust it and when to steer.
Chopping Language, Weaving Meaning

Chopping Language, Weaving Meaning

Language models don’t read like we do. They slice text into tokens and map them to vectors. Meaning becomes pattern, not understanding. Learn the quirks of tokenization and embeddings to write tighter prompts, spot bias, and know what gets lost.
The Erosion of Virtue

The Erosion of Virtue

Speed is prized; thoughtfulness gets labeled “overthinking.” But 深思熟虑, think deeply and act with care, is not delay. It is judgment. Pause for choices that matter. Ask who benefits from the rush. Measure twice, cut once. Finish better, regret less.
From Bag-of-Words to GPT

From Bag-of-Words to GPT

We moved from counting words to modeling meaning. LLMs write, code, and summarize, but they also hallucinate and echo bias. Use them as partners, not oracles. Keep your hand on the wheel. In a world where language is cheap, make your thinking rare.
The Algorithmic Throne and the Cacophony of Democracy

The Algorithmic Throne and the Cacophony of Democracy

How our faith in perfect algorithms threatens real self-correction, and why democracy survives by making room for noise.

Latest

May 12
Exponential Backoff in Modern JavaScript

Exponential Backoff in Modern JavaScript

Stop hammering a sick API. Exponential backoff—with jitter and caps—turns retries into resilience. I show how to wire it in React/Next.js (client + Route Handlers) and Fastify, when to retry vs bail, and how to keep users happy in 2025.
13 min read
May 12
React 19’s New Hooks: Practical Relief or Added Complexity?

React 19’s New Hooks: Practical Relief or Added Complexity?

React 19: use() for async data, form actions with useFormStatus/useActionState, useOptimistic for snappy updates, and async transitions. Fewer effects and form libs—cleaner patterns for forms, fetching, and UX.
16 min read
May 11
Scarcity: The Rule of the Few

Scarcity: The Rule of the Few

When access shrinks, desire swells. We chase the last house, the final ticket, the cookie from the near empty jar. Scarcity makes ordinary things glow and blurs judgment. Pause and ask: do I want the thing, or only the thrill of almost losing it?
17 min read
May 11
When Shiny Apps Still Suck

When Shiny Apps Still Suck

A sleek UI can mask deep flaws. The aesthetic-usability effect means pretty products get the benefit of the doubt, but looks don’t equal quality. Real value comes from speed, clarity, and reliability. Shiny exteriors fade fast if the engine underneath is slow, brittle, or confusing.
9 min read
May 09
Vibe Coding Is the New Spaghetti Code

Vibe Coding Is the New Spaghetti Code

Vibe coding feels like magic: talk and code appears. But the first draft often hides spaghetti. Use it for prototypes, not production. Treat AI like a junior dev. Review, refactor, test, and own the architecture. Speed wins nothing if maintenance loses.
6 min read
May 09
Why Fundamentals Matter More Than Ever in the AI Era

Why Fundamentals Matter More Than Ever in the AI Era

AI can write features fast, but speed without understanding is a trap. Never merge code you cannot explain. Treat AI like a junior: good for drafts, not decisions. Review, test, and refactor. Fundamentals turn quick wins into systems that stand up under load.
13 min read
May 07
Herd Morality in Tech

Herd Morality in Tech

Teams go quiet not from lack of ideas, but fear of being seen as wrong. Herd morality rewards optics over truth. Real strength invites discomfort: the first honest voice, the hard question, the unpopular note. Say it. If the room can’t handle it, you’ve learned enough.
5 min read
May 07
The Cult of the 10x Developer

The Cult of the 10x Developer

Talent is table stakes. The real 10x comes from teams that argue well, write clearly, and ship from shared context. Hire for chemistry, not capes.
7 min read
May 05
Authority: Why We Obey First and Think Later

Authority: Why We Obey First and Think Later

Authority holds a powerful, often hidden sway over our decisions. From childhood, we’re conditioned to respect parents, teachers, and other
15 min read
May 03
Are React Server Components Improving Your Apps?

Are React Server Components Improving Your Apps?

React Server Components (RSCs) can deliver real performance wins. One team rebuilt their Next.js site with RSCs and achieved a 62 % drop in JavaScript bundle size and a 63 % boost in Google’s Speed Index. Less client‑side React logic means faster first paints.
9 min read
May 01
You’re NOT Big Tech

You’re NOT Big Tech

You’re not Netflix. Nor Amazon, Facebook, or Google—and yet many developers build systems as if you are. We spin up microservices, multi-region setups, and abstraction layers for users who don’t exist. We solve imaginary problems while missing the real ones.
9 min read
Apr 30
Why Continuous Integration Is Killing Your Productivity Instead of Helping

Why Continuous Integration Is Killing Your Productivity Instead of Helping

Continuous Integration promised faster feedback and fewer integration headaches. But when misapplied, it turns into a grind—slow, flaky pipelines that stall your flow and leave you staring at progress bars or midnight build failures. The very tool meant to help can end up draining your productivity.
13 min read

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