Frequently Asked Questions
How does it work?
Here’s how The Coder Cafe works:
Issue: From Monday to Thursday, you receive a daily issue in your inbox, exploring a specific concept related to the weekly theme.
Weekly theme: Each week, we focus on a given theme. A theme delves into one of these categories: coding, software engineering, testing, databases, distributed systems, reliability, systems, or soft skills & communication.
Recap: On Friday, you receive a weekly recap to help you solidify your understanding of the concepts covered and explore further.
The Coder Cafe isn’t centered around a single programming language. The goal is to make the content accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of your favorite language. Meanwhile, our focus is on exploring foundational concepts—the ones that form the cornerstone of a successful career—rather than tools or technologies that evolve quickly over time.
Who is it for?
The Coder Cafe is designed for backend software engineers, DevOps professionals, and SREs. Whether you’re a junior or mid-level engineer aiming to level up or a seasoned senior looking to refresh your knowledge, this newsletter has something for you.
I want to help people design, build, and run complex systems while becoming more effective professionals.
What’s the difference between free and paid subscribers?
Free subscribers: Access to only one full issue per week and the weekly recap.
Paid subscribers: Get full access to all in-depth content (four complete issues per week and the weekly recap).
How much does it cost?
A subscription to The Coder Cafe costs under the price of an expresso each day—only about $0.40 per issue1.
Why The Coder Cafe over learning with an LLM?
I’m not here to convince you not to use Gemini, ChatGPT, or any LLMs to learn about concepts. If that works for you, that’s great to hear.
In The Coder Cafe, my goal is to bring more value than what a classic LLM would do using my experience working at companies like Google and Docker combined with my own approach to teaching. Writing and explaining concepts is part of my DNA (I started writing even before graduating), and I think the best showcase is the reviews on my book.
Some of my colleagues would also be interested in reading The Coder Cafe. Can we arrange a company deal?
Yes! Reach out via email at contact@the*****.cafe or direct message, and we can discuss custom arrangements via group subscriptions.
I’m interested, but I can’t afford a paid subscription.
If you cannot afford a paid subscription for any reason, please don’t hesitate to email me at contact@the*****.cafe or send me a direct message. I trust you, and I’ll be happy to grant you a free subscription if it can be helpful for you.
Can I suggest a new topic?
Absolutely! Suggest your topics here.
Do you have a goal in terms of subscribers?
Yes, my goal is to reach 400 paid subscribers. Achieving this will allow me to dedicate more time to creating content and delivering even greater value to the readers.
Current goal (last modified: 1 Nov 2024):
52 weeks per year and five posts per week, which gives 260 issues per year. $99 / 260 = $0.38