About Cafer Şimşek

Still curious. Still building. Since 1997.

The short version: I like knowing how things work, and then making them work better.

My journey started with BASIC and C in the late ’90s. Over the years, the work expanded from writing applications to designing the systems they depend on: APIs, databases, networks, platforms, and security infrastructure. I’ve taken on leadership responsibilities along the way, but I never stopped enjoying the hands-on work.

I care about practical engineering, clear thinking, and understanding the layers beneath the abstraction. I like tools that do their job well, systems that can be explained, and technology that earns its complexity.

Black-and-white portrait of Cafer Şimşek inside a dark red ring that reads “CONN REFUSED”.
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From one layer to the next.

  1. 1997

    BASIC, then C

    Where it started: writing my first programs in the late ’90s.

  2. Applications

    Writing software

    Building applications, and learning what it takes to ship and maintain them.

  3. Systems

    What the software stands on

    The work expanded to the systems applications depend on: APIs, databases, networks, and platforms.

  4. Trust

    Security infrastructure

    PKI, TLS, and certificate lifecycles: the plumbing that decides whether anything can be trusted at all.

  5. Now

    Both ends of the stack

    Software and infrastructure, with leadership responsibilities along the way and my hands still on the keyboard. In my own time, I build small tools that run at the edge.

A few things I believe.

  • Understand the system, not just the interface.

    Abstractions are wonderful until they leak. Knowing what sits underneath is what turns a long outage into a short one.

  • Complexity should justify its existence.

    Every moving part is something to run, secure, and explain at 3 a.m. The simplest design that does the job usually wins.

  • Stay hands-on. Keep learning.

    The tools change every few years. Reading the code, the RFC, or the packet capture never goes out of style.

Away from work, the curiosity doesn’t switch off: computing history, photography, cars, and well-designed hardware all get more of my attention than is strictly reasonable.

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