I’m Christian Del Monte, a software architect based in Berlin. This blog is about what happens beneath the abstractions of modern data systems: execution models, memory representations, storage formats, runtime behavior, and the infrastructure boundaries that shape security and reliability.
My perspective comes from designing and operating data-intensive systems, particularly with Spark and Delta Lake, and from examining how query engines and execution runtimes work internally. I care about implementation details when they reveal something larger about a system’s architecture, not as ends in themselves. My background in semiotics also influences how I look at representations, boundaries, and the assumptions embedded in technical systems.
I publish two kinds of articles:
- Essays develop an architectural argument across systems and technologies, such as Where Spark Changes Shape.
- Deep Dives investigate a specific mechanism through code, benchmarks, execution plans, or implementation details, such as The Hidden DSL in Catalyst.
I also contribute to open-source projects, write for German software-engineering publications including iX and Java Magazin, and speak at conferences such as W-JAX and Berlin Expert Days.
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