DEV Community: In One Minute

What Is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

Arun Saragadam — Fri, 16 May 2025 04:27:18 +0000

🧠 What Is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

TL;DR: Model Context Protocol (MCP) proposes a shared standard like USB for AI that lets assistants access relevant context directly from your apps.

Remember that one friend who turns finding a lost item into a twenty -question interrogation?

AI assistants have become incredibly helpful -- but sometimes, they feel just like that friend, especially as our expectations keep growing.

You: When was my 1:1 with Priya moved to?

LLM: I don’t have access to your calendar or email. Could you:

    – Upload your calendar file?

    – Paste the reschedule email?

    – Tell me when it was originally scheduled?

You: I think it was last Thursday. Priya mentioned the change in Slack.

LLM: Can you paste that message here?

You:

What if your AI assistant could channel its inner Sherlock...

You: When was my 1:1 with Priya moved to?

LLM: Checking your connected tools...

    ✅ Found reschedule email from Priya in Gmail — moved from Thursday to Friday

    ✅ Confirmed new event in Google Calendar: Friday, 11:30 a.m.

    ✅ Cross-referenced Slack chat from Tuesday confirming the change

LLM: Your 1:1 with Priya was rescheduled to Friday at 11:30 a.m., confirmed by calendar, email, and Slack. Elementary!

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is one way to make this possible, though not the only one.

Imagine a world without USB.

Every PC manufacturer would have its own ports for connecting devices like keyboards and mice.

Peripheral makers would need to build multiple versions of the same device to support different ports. That’s exactly what happens with electrical plugs today as each country has its own socket type.

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

Model Context Protocol (MCP), like any other protocol, is a set of rules, kind of like the USB standard for computers, that aims to help AI assistants connect to apps (email, todo / task apps etc) and data. Think of a protocol as a shared language that allows different things to understand each other.

To be fair in comparison, USB devices do need computers to work and vice-versa — it's a symbiotic relationship.

That's not the case with the apps as they can function independently.

Why does it matter?

Just like Apple or Android can’t build every app and Slack can’t build every bot, AI assistants can’t build every capability users need. They must rely on the wider developer community to extend their capabilities by adapting existing apps to work with AI assistants through the MCP architecture.

When should you use it?

It's still early days for MCP, like when USB was first introduced. Not all computers or devices used it right away. Similarly, for MCP to become really useful, both the companies that make AI assistants (like the "computer" in the USB analogy) and the companies that make apps (like the "keyboard" or "mouse") need to adopt it.

For end-users:

You can add more capabilities to your favorite AI assistant. These are referred to as MCP servers—a somewhat confusing name, as they function more like extensions to your AI assistant. MCP is still in limited beta and is aimed mainly at developers.

For developers:

Should you jump on the bandwagon of building an MCP Server—in other words, making your app’s capabilities available to be used in the AI assistant client?

That depends. Ask yourself: how long your product can stand out if users only access it through an AI assistant.

How does it work?

Here is a diagram from the MCP documentation.

As a developer, you build an extension to AI assistants aka MCP Server. The MCP Host / Client is your AI assistant, like Claude or ChatGPT. Here is a full list of supported clients.

💬 Your Turn — What Do You Think?

Do you see MCP as a useful standard or just another layer of complexity?
What’s one app you wish your AI assistant could “talk to” seamlessly?
Would you ever build (or use) an MCP Server?
Would you trust an assistant that automatically pulls info from your apps?

Comment below or DM me—I’d love to hear your take.

📚 Next Topic?

I’m on a mission to make tech as easy as ABC! Is there a topic — anything from ABC to AI — that you'd love simplified?

👉 Drop it in the comments, or send me a quick DM, and I’ll break it down in a future post!

✏️ P.S.

I’m always tweaking these to make them better — was this one clear, helpful, or missing something?

Let me know in the comments or send me a quick DM!

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What Exactly is a Data Structure?

Arun Saragadam — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 05:29:00 +0000

TL;DR: A data structure is how your computer organizes and stores information efficiently—think of it like sorting your dishes or finding words in a dictionary.

Ever imagined how confusing a dictionary would be if all the words were randomly scattered throughout the book instead of neatly arranged alphabetically?

Now picture yourself cozily reading a book, and suddenly you stumble upon a word you don't know. No problem, right? Normally, you'd confidently reach for your dictionary—but imagine you have the chaotic dictionary described above. Finding your word could take forever!

Thankfully, dictionaries are neatly organized in alphabetical order, so you can quickly flip to the right section and find your word in seconds. This simple organization saves you a ton of time and hassle. That's exactly how data becomes structured.

A data structure is essentially a set of rules that determines how information is organized and used—whether it's arranging words in a dictionary, listing student names in a classroom register, managing how people line up to buy tickets, or even deciding which dinner plate gets used next (usually the top one in a stack).

Realizing you’ve been repeatedly using the same plate when stacking them on top of each other could make you reconsider your stacking habits—perhaps it’s time to queue the plates instead for a fairer rotation!

Now, let’s dive into the classic breakdown: What, Why, When, and How.

What?

A data structure is your computer’s way of keeping its sanity by neatly organizing information ("data"), making sure nothing gets lost or mixed up.

Why?

Without these clever systems, everyday tasks like finding your friend's contact in your phone, tracing back replies to a message, or even grabbing a book from a library would feel chaotic—like endlessly searching for something important in a messy room.

When?

Every time you store, access, or organize information—whether in code or real life—you’re instinctively using a data structure. Think: always placing your keys in the same spot or sorting clothes into different drawers.

How?

You already use data structures in daily life: storing each friend's birthday alongside their contact information in your phone, or neatly sorting clothes into specific shelves for easy access.

When you start coding, you’ll apply the same logic—by choosing popular, predefined data structures like arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, or trees. You can even combine these structures to build new, efficient ways to organize and manage your data.

🎯 Your Turn!

Which of these best describes a data structure?

A) A random jumble of information
B) A system for organizing and storing data
C) A type of digital art
D) A way to scramble computer memory

(Type your answer—A, B, C, or D—in the comments!)

📚 Next Topic?

I'm on a mission to make tech as easy as ABC! Is there any topic—from ABC to AI—that you’d love to see simplified? 👉 Drop it in the comments, and I’ll break it down in a future post!

✏️ P.S. I'd love to hear your feedback—What did you think of this explanation? Was it clear, helpful, too detailed, or missing anything? Let me know in the comments—I’m always looking to make these even better for you!

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Bazel in 1 Min

Arun Saragadam — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 21:05:02 +0000

What is Bazel?

Bazel is a blazing-fast build and test tool originally developed at Google. It’s designed to handle projects of any size with speed and efficiency.

Why should you use Bazel?

✅ Supports multiple languages (Java, C++, Python, Go, etc.)
🌍 Works cross-platform
🧠 Only runs affected tests after code changes — saves time and compute
🧱 Built to scale with massive codebases
⚡ Parallel builds and tests for faster dev cycles

When does it make sense to adopt Bazel?

When you’re starting a new project
When your existing builds/tests are slow

⚠️ Disclaimer: This is a 1-min overview, not a full deep dive. If you've used Bazel in the real world, I'd love to hear your insights. What’s been great? What’s tricky?

📚 This post is part of in-1-min — dev concepts and tools explained in under a minute.

✍️ By Arun Saragadam • Follow for quick takes on dev tools, workflows, and productivity.

🏠 Explore more posts at dev.to/in-1-min