About

I’m Cody Tanksley — a software engineer in the Albany, NY area with a master’s in physics who loves building clear, reliable systems and writing about the practical side of making things.

By day I ship backend services and integrations; by night I’m usually iterating on a project: photography, aquariums (Walstad methods, planted tanks), mechanical keyboards (ZMK, split layouts), 3D printing functional parts, or fountain‑pen tinkering. I try to keep my work and hobbies grounded in good craft, thoughtful constraints, and ethical consumption.

What I write about here

• Engineering notes: Java/Spring, build pipelines, auth, and integration gotchas.
• Making things: CAD/prints, custom keyboards, fixes that actually stick.
• Photography: learning in public, small‑moments storytelling.
• Aquariums: low‑tech planted setups, observations over time.

Values

• Clarity over cleverness. Simple, legible solutions age better.
• Intentional minimalism. A few good tools used well.
• Care. For people, animals, and the things we make and maintain.

Around the site

This site is built with Astro and Sass. It supports light and dark themes, and keeps navigation fast and accessible. I’m slowly collecting notes into longer essays; posts might start as field logs and get refined over time.

Elsewhere

I’m gradually rebuilding my online presence under tanksc.com. If you want to get in touch, the easiest path is a quick email: hello@tanksc.com.