Introduction: Choosing the right LLM for your task is one of the most impactful decisions you’ll make. Use a model that’s too small and you’ll get poor quality. Use one that’s too large and you’ll burn through budget while waiting for slow responses. The landscape changes constantly—new models launch monthly, pricing shifts, and capabilities evolve. […]
Read more →Category: Technology Engineering
Technology Engineering
Structured Generation Techniques: Getting Reliable JSON from LLMs
Introduction: Getting LLMs to output valid JSON, XML, or other structured formats is surprisingly difficult. Models hallucinate extra fields, forget closing brackets, and produce malformed output that breaks downstream systems. Prompt engineering helps but doesn’t guarantee valid output. This guide covers techniques for reliable structured generation: using native JSON mode and structured outputs, constrained decoding […]
Read more →Security as Code: Why DevSecOps Is No Longer Optional in 2025
The traditional approach to security—treating it as a final checkpoint before deployment—has become a liability in modern software delivery. After two decades of building enterprise systems, I’ve witnessed the painful evolution from “security as an afterthought” to “security as code.” In 2025, DevSecOps isn’t just a best practice; it’s a survival requirement for any organization […]
Read more →LLM Monitoring and Observability: Metrics, Traces, and Alerts
Introduction: LLM applications are notoriously difficult to debug. Unlike traditional software where errors are obvious, LLM issues manifest as subtle quality degradation, unexpected costs, or slow responses. Proper observability is essential for production LLM systems. This guide covers monitoring strategies: tracking latency, tokens, and costs; implementing distributed tracing for complex chains; structured logging for debugging; […]
Read more →LLM Security Best Practices: Protecting AI Applications from Attacks
Introduction: LLM applications face unique security challenges. Prompt injection attacks can hijack model behavior, sensitive data can leak through responses, and malicious outputs can harm users. Traditional security measures don’t fully address these risks—you need LLM-specific defenses. This guide covers practical security strategies: validating and sanitizing inputs, detecting prompt injection attempts, filtering sensitive information from […]
Read more →Prompt Engineering Best Practices: From Basic Techniques to Advanced Reasoning Patterns
Introduction: Prompt engineering is the art and science of communicating effectively with large language models. Unlike traditional programming where you write explicit instructions, prompt engineering requires understanding how models interpret language, what context they need, and how to structure requests for optimal results. This guide covers the fundamental techniques that separate amateur prompts from production-quality […]
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