Security
Practical guides on cryptography, authentication, and secure coding. Covers JWT, hashing algorithms, HMAC, Base64 encoding, and password security - with code examples and common pitfalls to avoid.
HMAC Explained: Data Signing, JWT, and Protection Against Tampering
A technical guide to HMAC for developers. Covers how HMAC works with inner and outer padding, comparison with plain hashing, HMAC algorithms, JWT signing, API authentication signatures, timing attacks, and code examples.
URL Encoding Explained: Percent-Encoding, Reserved Characters, and Common Mistakes
A technical guide to URL encoding (percent-encoding) for developers. Covers RFC 3986 rules, reserved vs unreserved characters, query string encoding, form encoding, double encoding, and code examples.
MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512: Which Hashing Algorithm to Choose
A technical guide to cryptographic hash functions for developers. Covers MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2, SHA-3, collision attacks with CVEs, password hashing with bcrypt and Argon2, and practical algorithm selection.
Password Security and Entropy: Why Length Beats Complexity
A technical guide to password entropy for developers. Covers entropy calculation, character sets, passphrases vs random strings, brute force and rainbow table attacks, and secure password generation.
Base64 Encoding Explained: How It Works and When to Use It
A thorough guide to Base64 encoding for developers. Covers the encoding algorithm, all variants (standard, URL-safe, MIME), real use cases, common mistakes, and code examples in PHP, Python, and JavaScript.
JWT Deep Dive: Structure, Algorithms, and Security Pitfalls
A thorough guide to JSON Web Tokens for developers. Covers the three-part structure, signing algorithms (HS256, RS256, ES256), standard claims, and the most common security vulnerabilities to avoid.