About me

I’m Thanh Dinh, a programmer, engineering manager, co-founder and avid reader.

I’m a programming languages nerd, endlessly curious about different paradigms and abstraction models. Over the years, I’ve explored various languages from Forth to Haskell, using each language as a lens to sharpen my thinking.

At work, I helped creating AMQL, a pair of purpose-built configuration and query languages at the heart of Holistics, our flagship business intelligence platform. AMQL is our attempt to bring the declarative power of code to data modeling and analysis — think piped-SQL meets statically-typed YAML, designed for scale and collaboration.

As a co-founder at Holistics, I naturally took on roles beyond engineering — from shaping product strategy to navigating the trade-offs of startup growth. I’ve learned to combine systems thinking with business strategy, helping build a company where engineering and vision reinforce each other.

In my role as an engineering manager, I focus on the meta-skills of building great teams: problem-solving, technical writing, software design, and coaching. I’m especially interested in teaching juniors how to think clearly and design software that lasts.

I have a deep interest in building software as tools for thought — the kind of technology that augments reasoning and creativity, like Engelbart’s “bicycle for the mind.” I’m drawn to ideas that sit at the intersection of engineering, cognition, and design.

For personal growth, I’ve studied elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and Stoicism. These philosophies offer pragmatic perspectives for dealing with uncertainty, complexity, and life’s inevitable difficulties — both in code and beyond.

This blog is where I think in public — through essays, code, and questions worth asking.