# Israel Mendes - Tech ## Posts - [What is the best data compression for data lakes? (with benchmark!)](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2026/06/22/what-is-the-best-data-compression-for-data-lakes-with-benchmark/): Every time that I’m in a project starting a data lake or storing some information in a blob storage like S3, I start to think about a few basic things. Such as: And much more. Data engineers can spend hours debating those topics but one thing that I see less or not even being discussed deeply online is about data compression itself. Recently I was reading Choosing Between gzip, Brotli and zStandard compression from Paul Calvano and I decided to do a similar work he did but thinking on big data patterns instead of focusing on web consumption. To be […] - [Claude Certified Architect: How I got it](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2026/05/12/claude-certified-architect-how-i-got-it/): Important to mention that the certification is quite new, and I assume that the tips here can become a bit outdated in a few months. So consider that before studying for the certification and always check the Exam Guide for the latest information from Anthropic. I decided to take advantage of the fact that the company I work for, Caylent, is an Anthropic partner and study for the Claude Certified Architect – Foundations exam. I’ve written about my experience with other certifications, and this one was special because it doesn’t have a lot of materials out there. Because of that, […] - [Learning (Neo)Vim in 2026](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2026/02/28/learning-neovim-in-2026/): This month, I decided to take a small challenge and try something new for my coding process by using NeoVim. The trigger was performance: I had several Cursor windows open, managing different projects with git worktrees, and my computer started crawling. Memory consumption was spiking way beyond other apps. So I started looking for alternatives. I tried Zed, as some coworkers suggested, but a deeper thought came to mind: here I am, learning a new IDE, again. Over the years, I’ve gone through Notepad++, Brackets, Atom, Sublime, VSCode, and finally Cursor. Each time, I spent weeks customizing themes, memorizing shortcuts, […] - [Should Data Engineers Learn CSharp? My Experience Moving Beyond Python](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2026/01/15/should-data-engineers-learn-csharp-my-experience-moving-beyond-python/): TL;DR: I joined this C#/.NET project as a data engineer (DE) using Python for the last 5 years. Saw an opportunity to learn the language and make some comparisons. For me, it is worth it for DEs to explore other languages during their careers, one that is strongly typed and that has a different ecosystem than they might be used to (like with C# in the Microsoft world). At the end of 2025, I found myself working on a massive migration project from SQL Server to PostgreSQL. The customer’s codebase was built entirely in .NET/C# with NHibernate, plus hundreds of raw […] - [AWS re:Invent - What I Wish I Knew Before My First Event](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2025/12/28/aws-reinvent-what-i-wish-i-knew-before-my-first-event/): My experience going for the AWS re:Invent for the first time. Tips and suggestions. - [My List Of Best Books From 2024](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2025/12/24/my-list-of-best-books-from-2024/): I decided to continue with my tradition of listing the best books I read yearly. Starting by bringing some numbers of my reading habits and talking specifically about what I consider the top books for the past year. Small remainder, some people may disagree, but I considered audiobooks as “reading”. Summary of the Year Here are some of my metrics: Books read per month, first based on the format and the second graph based on language: Here are the tags that I classified the books: Some results first on the ratings that I added, in the middle per language in […] - [My process for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2024/11/28/my-process-for-the-aws-solutions-architect-associate/): I decided to share a bit about my experience while being a more “data” person and passing for the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate. I will use this article to explain my process, talking what I did differently from the other certifications that I took,, and list some things I learned. I started studying for this certification around September 18, 2024. My last study day, the exam, was November 8—so, counting around 51 days, or close to 2 months, studying a few hours. The Process I always use similar methods to start studying for a new technical certification and plan […] - [My Journey at Caylent An Inside Look](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2024/11/23/my-journey-at-caylent-an-inside-look/): For the past three years (and a few months), I have worked at a consulting company called Caylent. I have actively participated in more than ten projects, from machine learning proof-of-concepts to full data architecture implementations moving terabytes of data around. I decided to write about my experience and help some people who want to know about the company’s culture and how it is to work here. A few essential elements to bring it up: The Intro Before going into the details of my experience working here, I want to talk about a few questions: The Good Where I work, […] - [AWS Machine Learning Specialist certified - My process and performance in details](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2022/12/16/aws-machine-learning-specialist-certified-my-process-and-performance-in-details/): I decided to take a new exam this year, to learn more about machine learning and data science in general. For me, one great path was related to the AWS Machine Learning Specialist. I don’t have a huge background in those areas but I have been working with data for a few years now (and with two AWS certifications, one I explained here about AWS Data Analytics Specialist), I decided that was the time to take that exam and get more familiar with those fields. After almost four months of studying one to two hours per day, I was able to get […] - [How to Start in Data Engineering?](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2022/04/20/how-to-start-in-data-engineering/): I started to work with data a few years ago, messing with databases and SQL while building dashboards for my boss to report in some meetings. One thing that I noticed was how hard it was to get quality data at a decent frequency. I could clean a few CSV files using Excel, but if I had to do every week, this would mean that I had to do this manual process over and over again. This necessity made me trigger the search for knowledge to experiment and see more about data engineering because I wanted to make my life […] - [All the books that I read in 2021](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2022/03/01/all-the-books-that-i-read-in-2021/): I decided to make a small analysis of the books that I read in 2021. This might be interesting to revisit my habits and the content that I consumed over time. Metrics for 2021 Summary The initial plan was to read one book every two weeks. As you can see, I didn’t get too close. Only 65% of the goal was achieved. There were some months that I went very well (like January and October), but what affected me was the months that I didn’t continue with the habits (like March, June, July, November) or I did keep reading, but […] - [Learning better with a personal knowledge management system](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2021/11/29/learning-better-with-a-personal-knowledge-management-system/): I was talking with some friends a few months back about a book, which is The Power of Habit from Charles Duhigg. I remember reading this book when I was in my second year in college. There were some points that I could recall, but right there in that conversation, it seems like I haven’t read the book at all. Then I realized that doesn’t matter the number of books or articles you read, but the amount of those content that you keep over time. I decided that moment that I needed a better system to remember stuff. I did […] - [First impressions of the bachelor degree in CS from University of London](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2021/11/15/first-impressions-of-the-bachelor-degree-in-cs-from-university-of-london/): First impressions for the University of London bachelor of computer science - [My process to be AWS Data Analytics Specialist certified](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/2021/11/01/my-process-to-be-aws-data-analytics-specialist-certified/): Recently, I was assigned to a few specific projects involving AWS and I decided to take a certification from that platform. My first choice was to go straight to the AWS Data Analytics Specialist exam, although could be tough because I never took a certification from AWS before, but still decided that I could learn a lot even if I would not pass the exam. After one month and a half, close to 70 hours of study and a lot of anxiety, I passed the exam and became certified by AWS. It was a great experience, I learned so much […] ## Pages - [Blog](https://israelmendes.tech/blog/) - [Contact](https://israelmendes.tech/contact/): If you’d like to connect, collaborate, or chat, feel free to reach out! I’d love to hear from you Get in Touch Email silva.mendes.israel@gmail.com LinkedIn in/israel-mendes Instagram @izzymendezpics - [About Me](https://israelmendes.tech/about-me/): Hey! I’m Israel, a data engineer and architect. I’m here to share some ideas and learnings that I had over the years. What is this blog about I like to talk about a range of topics, but the main ones, in case you’re interested: Technology Discuss a wide range of subjects about computing, programming languages, cloud, and others. Personal Experiences Write about some activity or event that I participated in and how it was from my perspective. Hobbies I like to take photos, I like to work out, and I like to read books. And here is a chance to […] - [](https://israelmendes.tech/): I split my time between writing code that solves real problems and photographing the places I visit. Here, I document both journeys: the technical challenges I tackle and the cities I explore along the way. Latest posts Take a look at the most recent things: - [Privacy Policy](https://israelmendes.tech/privacy-policy/): Who we are Last updated: December 24, 2025 Our website address is: https://israelmendes.tech. This is a personal blog owned and operated by Israel Mendes. Content ownership All written content, photographs, and media on this website are created and owned by Israel Mendes unless otherwise stated. All photographs published on this site were taken by me personally. You may not reproduce, distribute, or use any content from this site without explicit written permission. What data we collect This is a personal blog that does not actively collect, store, or process personal data from visitors. 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