Writing — Hammad Iqbal

Field notes

Notes from building real products.

What actually happens between the demo and something people depend on — engineering practice, client work, and the decisions in between.

Frontend·Nov 3, 2026

Dark mode is a token problem, not a color problem

Switching themes cleanly is mostly about naming colors by role instead of by value.

Web3·Nov 2, 2026

Do you actually need a blockchain?

A database is cheaper, faster, and simpler. Here is the short checklist for when a chain is genuinely worth it.

Engineering·Nov 1, 2026

NEXT_PUBLIC variables are not secret

Anything with that prefix is copied into the browser bundle. Treat it as published.

More writing

FlatList performance: the three things that matter

Most slow lists in React Native come down to keys, item re-renders, and fixed sizes.

Oct 28, 2026 · 5 min readRead →

Testing a smart contract before real money touches it

Local tests, mainnet forks, and a testnet run each catch a different class of mistake.

Oct 26, 2026 · 6 min readRead →

Archive

Tailwind: extract a component, not a class

Frontend · Oct 23, 2026 · 4 min read

Smart contract security basics: never trust the caller

Web3 · Oct 20, 2026 · 6 min read

Optimistic UI needs a rollback plan

Frontend · Oct 17, 2026 · 5 min read

Gas is a UX problem before it is a technical one

Web3 · Oct 14, 2026 · 5 min read

EAS builds and the environment variable that was only on your laptop

Mobile · Oct 12, 2026 · 5 min read

Wallet connect flows: the states a UI forgets

Web3 · Oct 9, 2026 · 6 min read