Like many technologists out there (see: nerds), I have an inordinate amount of obsolete technology that I can’t seem to make use of, nor part ways with. The thought of trashing perfectly good gadgets is a painful one, and not the least bit unsustainable. There are enough old smartphones and...
This last spring, my daughter expressed an interest in learning about computers—how they work, how to use them, what they’re made of. A lifelong computer geek myself, I jumped at the opportunity to bond with her over something that I have always been passionate about. I suggested that we build...
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about GitHub Copilot mostly as it pertains to code quality and copyright law. For the most part, I appreciate Copilot’s suggestions, but just like with Stack Overflow before it, I know better than to blindly accept code without reviewing it. That said, it’s...
Last year, right near the beginning of the pandemic, my family and I started enjoying going on drives. Nothing was open, so there wasn’t really anywhere to go, but we have the benefit of living in an area with a lot of nature to take in. While we occasionally parked...
“There is a limit to the time assigned to you, and if you don’t use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return.” — Marcus Aurelius
I’m not much of a morning person. I like the concept of mornings, “a new day filled with new opportunities,” but as a sleep-deprived parent working too many jobs I have a habit of starting my day in all the wrong ways. Why do things the right way when doing...
This is a collection of thoughts that started formulating in my head towards the end of the last year. With everything that has happened recently—global pandemic, political violence, racial injustice, tiger king—I’ve been feeling a fair amount of anxiety over the world we are leaving for our children.
A few years ago, I picked up this 1941 Royal Arrow typewriter at the local antique store. Originally, the plan for this beautiful piece of machinery was to use it to decorate my home office, but then 2020 happened. A few months into this godawful year, I picked my typewriter...
I’m a huge fan of shortcuts.
Nobody ever said it’s easy to write clean code. Successful software development isn’t just about making software work; it’s about making sure it will continue to work. While hardly an exciting objective, code maintainability is one of the most important elements of any application.
A few years ago, I checked off an item on my Open Source Bucket List when I pitched—and ultimately contributed—a brand new feature to HashiCorp’s Vagrant: command aliases. While aliases have been a core Vagrant feature for some time, there hasn’t been a lot of coverage about what they are,...
I’ve never been a particularly confrontational person. In the workplace, I would much rather maintain good relationships with my coworkers than engage in endless debates over something that ultimately doesn’t benefit the product or the team.
Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live — John Woods
Always write as if your reader is lazy, stupid, and mean… My 9th grade English teacher gave me that piece of advice nearly twenty years ago, and it has shaped the way I’ve thought about writing ever since.
Posted on February 12, 2020
writing
Prioritizing documentation can be a struggle at any organization but, in my personal experience, a well-crafted documentation strategy can make that struggle seem far less real. Included below is a template I have personally used to propose and promote good documentation standards in the past. While it is far from...
