building your skills
Posted on Become a Better Developer

Building And Reinforcing Your Foundational Skills

In the course of a technical career, there is a need to first build a solid foundation of skills and then extend that.  Unfortunately, it is essential to return to those foundational skills from time to time as well.  It is not that a good foundation is forgotten as much as this allows one to adapt to a new technology. As with most things in life, the first time is the hardest.  Building a solid foundation takes years of study, work, and effort.  However, it must be stated that putting in that time and hard work does not guarantee a good foundation.  Thus, we should look at what makes for a good foundation of skills and then how do we ensure... Read more

Posted on Podcast

Native Vs Mobile Friendly Applications

In case you have not noticed, mobile applications are all the rage.  In fact, the very definition of mobile is constantly evolving as well.  The apps that were aimed at tablets and phones now include those aimed at more devices.  These include devices like Google home and Amazon Alexa as well as general IOT devices.  This flood of platforms makes the native vs. mobile approach to building applications a key consideration. Native vs. Mobile Friendly Can Be Simple The choice between the two options can be a given in some cases.  The requirements of your solution may dictate one or the other.  For example, a need to work in a disconnected state eliminates responsive.  On the other hand, a requirement... Read more

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Switching Careers and Job Hopping

The modern landscape in almost every line of business makes it less likely than ever that we will stay in one job throughout our career.  Switching careers has even become more common as the Internet has opened up new avenues and lowered barriers to entry.  That being said, in this episode, we look at the pros and cons for ourselves and our employees of moving around. Switching Careers Can Be A Small Step Technology ties together a lot of businesses and pursuits.  It has even become a sort of common denominator.  For example, Microsoft Office skills can be useful in almost every industry and every job.  Email is equally as pervasive.  When you add to this how the Internet has reduced the... Read more

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Improving Your Odds of Crushing It

We get into a line of business to crush it.  At least, I assume that is our goal.  I cannot think of anyone that launched a business with the goal of barely getting by or outright failure.  Crushing it requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  However, there are things we can do to make success more likely. Do What You Love The most important part of crushing it is having a desire to see your goals accomplished.  When you focus on success rather than the steps along the way, you are almost guaranteed to fail.  This may seem a little confusing, but when your goal is the end (money, sales, fane, etc.) you will not have the energy to... Read more

Posted on Podcast

The Product Launch – A Todo List

The journey to a product launch can seem incredibly long.  However, the final steps in polishing a product for commercial availability cannot be ignored.  Doing so risks sinking the product or at least slowing its adoption. Commercial Products are Different A key point of this episode is that commercial software carries higher expectations than other types.  Whether it feels that way or not, there is far less selling required for other applications.  Bugs are part of any application, but workarounds and delays to fixes are easier to forgive for personal and internal applications.  A customer that paid money for your product is not going to be happy to hear that they need to “outsmart” a bug rather than it being... Read more

it career
Posted on Become a Better Developer

The Pros and Cons of an IT Career

The path of becoming a better developer must be intentional.  This is not a goal that one achieves without effort and planning.  Advancing an IT career is not different from any other.  You need a plan, and then you need to execute it.  Before embarking on our quest to be better developers let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the path we have chosen.   The Downside of IT I want to end on a positive note, so that leaves us to start with the negatives.  An IT career has some down-sides.  I think that this is not a career for the faint of heart.  The most significant challenge is the speed at which it moves. ... Read more