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Hello World! My name is Mahendra Dani. I study computer science and spend a large amount of time trying to understand how computers actually work — often from first principles, usually by building things that are slightly harder than I am ready for.

During Summer 2025 (May–July), I completed my first internship as an SDE Intern at Heizen, working closely with the founder and team on projects involving both maintenance and new features, with exposure to the complete software development lifecycle.

My background is primarily in web development, where I’ve worked with technologies like React, Next.js, Node.js, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL and building a collection of projects — some solid, some unfinished, all part of the process.

I've contributed to open-source projects - Git, The Palisadoes Foundation, AsyncAPI and more as well as participated in programs such as GSSoC and Hacktoberfest.

Over time, my interests have shifted toward lower-level, AI and foundational topics — databases, operating systems, computer networks (Built a TCP/IP packet transfer app in C), file systems (File permissions in Linux, What's procfs in Linux?), command-line tools (ruborag, gitloom, head, cat), performance and the design of robust systems (What's load balancing?, What are message queues?).

As Aaron Swartz put it:

But I don’t consider this writing, I consider this thinking. I like sharing my thoughts and I like hearing yours and I like practicing expressing ideas, but fundamentally this blog is not for you, it’s for me. I’m sorry. Maybe that isn’t how it should be, but at least for now that’s how it is. In my defense, nobody’s making you come here.

I couldn't agree more. I write to think better, to bookmark something interesting I read today, to analyze a research paper, to show everyone that I finally understand how Git stores stuff, or how to SSH into an EC2 instance, or to write summary of books I've read. This blog is not a collection of polished tutorials or definitive answers. It is a public notebook. Some posts are careful explanations; others are thinking-out-loud essays.

I keep a weekly log of stuff I learnt, articles I read, and absolutely anything that I've found worth sharing - Growth Notes. I also keep a list of bookmarks of articles, essays, videos that I find interesting - linkblog and much more.

When I'm not writing or coding, I'm usually reading, learning random skills (like juggling balls), playing football (sometimes even alone!), or thinking about how good explanations are constructed, or following whatever question has recently refused to leave me alone.

The best way to reach me is via email or social media handles.