In integration work, many of the hardest problems don’t come from mappings, transformations, or logic.
They come from somewhere quieter — the network layer we often take for granted.
Over time, I realised that understanding just a little about how the internet actually works — clients and servers, DNS, ports, HTTP, security — changed how I approached integrations entirely. Debugging became calmer. Conversations with infra and security teams became clearer. Architecture decisions started to make more sense.
This piece is not about becoming a network engineer.
It’s about building a strong enough foundation to design, troubleshoot, and explain integrations with confidence.
If you work with APIs, middleware, cloud platforms, or AI agents, these basics quietly shape everything you build — whether you see them or not.