Personal Blog

This is why we can't have "clean code"

The idea of clean code has been circulating around the internet for a while now, and as most things in life, the longer they persist and tra...Read more

December 12 2018 - 5 min read

How to not over engineer your code

I do it all the time. And it is hard not to sometimes when you get into the flow and you keep thinking of cool new feature after cool new fe...Read more

December 02 2020 - 5 min read

Mistakes I made at my first programming job

Just like in the Matrix, everybody falls their first time. You don't know what you don't know and what you don't know can sometimes cause th...Read more

December 07 2020 - 5 min read

4 potential routes to becoming a web developer

This is a popular question that I often get asked from people who are familiar with coding, but not quite skilled enough or confident enough...Read more

December 17 2018 - 6 min read

#Web Development

Is The Future Written In Code?

This week was a historic week for computer programming, as our President became the first in history to "write" a computer program. He sat ...Read more

December 11 2014 - 6 min read

#Programming #technology

How Much Do I Make As A Web Developer?

A while back the twitter hashtag #talkpay went for a viral spin and people were encouraged to post their job titles and salary in an atte...Read more

May 21 2015 - 4 min read

#Web Development #Employment

Working As A Full Stack Developer

I've been a 'full-stack' developer for the better part of 6 years now, and it's been an amazing time. In comparison to when I was just that...Read more

June 30 2015 - 5 min read

#Programming #Full Stack

Trying Out: Google's Material Design Lite

Google just unveiled Material Design Lite out into the wild for all to use, and so I'm going to be trying it out on a few of my websites th...Read more

July 10 2015 - 4 min read

#Web Design

The Pros And Cons Of Working Remotely

Most jobs nowadays, still require you to get up early and get ready and to then spend a percentage of your life sitting inside of a vehicle...Read more

March 22 2016 - 5 min read

#Remote #Freelance

Why Programming Can Take A Toll On Your Health

If you look at the top 10 healthiest jobs in the world, being a software developer won't be in the top 100. For obvious reasons. Mainly, th...Read more

October 05 2016 - 7 min read

#Programming #Health

Battle of the Bots

And not at all in a cool way unfortunately. But in a more "that's kind of annoying..." way. For the most part, bots roam the interwebs hour...Read more

October 30 2016 - 5 min read

#Security

Can Your Learn To Program From A Book

I've read one or two programming books in my day. Around 20 I would estimate, both in college and after. And I can't remember what's in mos...Read more

November 01 2016 - 5 min read

#Programming #Learn

Stop Asking People What They Think

What do you think of this? You do it, I do it, alot and lately I started to wonder why I bother. You know the moment. You just designed a w...Read more

November 04 2016 - 4 min read

The Programming Zone

There's this place that a programmer goes to at times. Sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for a few days. It's a good place. A place o...Read more

November 08 2016 - 4 min read

Can Programs Write Other Programs

We always hear about this "doomsday" scenario in the near future. Where programs will learn to write other programs. Where for loops will e...Read more

November 17 2016 - 6 min read

Building Your Programming Portfolio in 5 Steps

The year is off to a fresh start, and as such, it is time for many people to make those new year's resolutions and to maybe get a new job. ...Read more

January 04 2017 - 4 min read

#Interviews #Programming

Notepad Is The Most Useful Programmer's Tool

You may never notice it, as you shortcut your way across your keyboard with Winkey + R => "notepad", but you use it more than anything else...Read more

March 04 2017 - 4 min read

Landing your first programming job

Regardless of the field that you find yourself in, landing your first job is one of the most difficult challenges that you will face in you...Read more

May 01 2018 - 5 min read

#Programming #Career

What does a programmer do exactly?

This question will have a completely different answer depending on who you ask. If you ask a front-end developer, then programming will rel...Read more

May 15 2018 - 5 min read

This is why you need side-projects

In 2008, when I first began my professional programming career, I was tasked with working on a relatively high traffic website performing v...Read more

May 25 2018 - 4 min read

The challenge of learning something on the web

Just recently I was in the process of writing a new blog post on Progressive Web Applications. In the post, I was going to document my conv...Read more

May 26 2018 - 5 min read

Advice for younger programmers looking for work

I get asked very frequently about the best route to take when looking to land that next big programming job, particularly when starting...Read more

August 22 2018 - 4 min read

#Career

The challenges of working remotely

So you want to sit on the beach with your laptop answering emails, dishing out for loops and making out like a thief while doing it?The funn...Read more

September 17 2018 - 6 min read

#Programming #Remote

Learning to code is going to get harder

We have more resources today in terms of documentation, guides, video tutorials, and how to's than at any other time in human history. We ar...Read more

October 04 2018 - 4 min read

#Coding #Programming

This is why programmers are so important

To those new individuals entering the programming job world currently, thoughts and ideas of high paying salaries, high tech sounding titles...Read more

October 12 2018 - 4 min read

#Computer Science #Programming

Picking Your First Programming Language

Many people will have you believe that language A is better than B, is better than C. And if you're new to programming, you might be inclin...Read more

July 18 2017 - 5 min read

How To Not Burnout As A Programmer

Programmer burnout is a common occurrence in this day and age. And probably back in the day too. It's hard to imagine that people like Alan...Read more

August 01 2017 - 6 min read

#Programmers #Health

Should you work at a startup?

I get this question frequently from many people, mainly those just starting out on their programming careers, and having both been a job-see...Read more

November 02 2018 - 5 min read

#Career #Startup

3 mistakes programmers make when learning to code

Learning to code can be a difficult and time-consuming endeavour for many. And while there are plenty of online resources out there today,&n...Read more

November 08 2018 - 4 min read

#Programming #Learning

This is why you should spend a few years in corporate America

Whenever you hear about programmers and coding, you eventually end up hearing about working remotely from your bed in your pajamas while a f...Read more

November 13 2018 - 4 min read

#Career

Happi Pi Day

For as long as I can remember, I was both aware and unaware of Pi. And I took it for granted really. 3.14. That's all that was known from...Read more

March 15 2017 - 3 min read

The Loading Icon

The little guy that helps us decide whether we should click again, or wait it out for another 2 minutes. It's a love hate relationship with...Read more

November 02 2016 - 4 min read

#CSS3

New design for 2021

Taking everything that I've learned from 2020 about what works and what doesn't work on the blog, I have made adjustments and upgrades to th...Read more

January 04 2021 - 4 min read

Why you don't need more than one programming language

More is usually better, right? More cookies, is noticeably better than less cookies. Unless those cookies are bad. In which case, nobody wan...Read more

December 26 2018 - 5 min read

Our code is getting old and outdated and we need to fix it soon

Hear me out. I love StackOverflow and Google. Alot. It has made my job overall much less frustrating and has made for some short work days. ...Read more

January 14 2019 - 5 min read

#Computer Science

A robot called me last night, and I'm sort of okay with it

Google impressed everyone with it's project Duplex a few months back. We were glued to our screens as we saw a wonderful human-like conver...Read more

February 01 2019 - 7 min read

#AI

I tried the Pomodoro Technique for a week

For the past week, I've gone ahead and actively and almost religiously lived through the Pomodoro time-management Technique. And this m...Read more

February 25 2019 - 6 min read

Do you need to be good at math to be a programmer?

Ideally, you should be familiar with mathematics in whatever field you find yourself in life. At least to the extent that it makes sense to ...Read more

March 06 2019 - 5 min read

Checking Out The Microsoft Edge Developer Tools

I just download my fresh copy of Windows 10, which if you haven't you can either wait for it to install automatically if you qualify for th...Read more

August 01 2015 - 3 min read

The Pros And Cons Of Working With Recruiters

Recruiters have a tight hold on tech jobs these days, for a few reasons. But mainly that tech jobs are hard to fill and they pay substant...Read more

February 20 2014 - 5 min read

#Career #Interviews #Recruiters

The best way to prepare for a programming interview

You received that email, welcoming you through the doors of a prestigious (or not so prestigious) software company in order for you too show...Read more

October 16 2018 - 5 min read

#Interviews #Career

How to quit your job and feel good about it

If you're 23+ years old, odds are that you either currently don't like your job very much, or that you just left a job that you didn't like ...Read more

November 08 2018 - 5 min read

#Career

How To Be A Better Programmer

Being a programmer can a fun and rewarding career. Particularly in the later stages when your experience has grown and you have more freed...Read more

October 30 2017 - 5 min read

Is The Surface 3 A Good Developer Laptop?

When I originally picked up the Surface 3, it was mainly because of it's lower price point and smaller size. It's not targeted towards deve...Read more

May 15 2015 - 4 min read

#Surface3 #Surface

How I Landed My First Programming Job

One of the hardest things that I've had to do in life was to convince a company, a money making institution, that they needed my awesome sk...Read more

January 23 2014 - 5 min read

#Career #Interviews

Why Windows 7 Is Still So Popular

It's been some years since Windows 7 came out, and apparently, I never got over it, as I sit here today on my Windows 7 laptop with about 8...Read more

January 16 2016 - 4 min read

#Windows #Windows 7

The most difficult part about programming

Recently I rediscovered an old project on my hard drive that had some potential to change the world (maybe). It was a year old project that...Read more

March 26 2018 - 4 min read

The truth about teaching yourself to code?

I see this question come up frequently enough with my students, so I decided to give my 2 cents on it. And let me start off by saying that t...Read more

October 29 2018 - 4 min read

#Coding #Learning

How has programming changed during the past 15 years?

I first began "programming" in 2002 during my senior year in High School. I chose Python as the language of choice, mainly because it was th...Read more

December 03 2018 - 6 min read

Do you think like a programmer?

A popular thought experiment that I often give my students who are early in their programming careers is the following: There is a basket i...Read more

December 10 2018 - 4 min read

What's the difference between a text editor and an IDE?

A common question that I often is why do I use Visual Studio 2019 instead of VS Code? Good question. Complex answer. Let's get into it.The t...Read more

December 09 2020 - 4 min read

#IDE #Programming

The 5 Minute Rule To Get Things Done

Every individual has their own method for getting things done in their life. Whether it's through some online to do list application or thr...Read more

August 28 2017 - 4 min read