Software Engineering

A collection of 54 posts

Productivity

The Funny Truth About Why You’re Always Behind Schedule

Yak Shaving. The phrase alone is odd enough to make you pause, but once you’ve experienced it—and trust me, you have—you’ll never forget it. I first encountered the term while watching a talk by Aaron Patterson (a.k.a. tenderlove), who had the audience in stitches

System Design Featured

Why Every Developer Should Read Alex Xu's Guide to System Design

A few years ago, my daily work revolved around writing clean, functional code and occasionally dipping into discussions about deployment pipelines or minor infrastructure tweaks. It was a comfortable, predictable routine. But as my career advanced and the platforms I worked on began to grow in complexity and scale, I

Software Engineering

Getting Familiar with Big O Notation

I've been watching quite a few mock code interviews lately (and reading Cracking the Coding Interview), and one topic that always comes up is Big O notation. Realizing its importance in discussions about algorithm efficiency—specifically regarding time and space complexity—I decided it was high time I

Post-Mortem Featured

Whoops - When Did My Image Links Start Breaking?! - Technical Post-Mortem

Last week, a routine visit to my blog, intended to retrieve information for a work project, unveiled a series of broken image links that sparked a comprehensive review and rectification process. This post-mortem report outlines the discovery, analysis, and resolution of the issue, highlighting the steps taken to prevent future

Svelte

Make It Dark - Hooking up the Engine to the UI

After meticulously crafting the foundational classes like GridManager, LightToggleStrategy, WinConditionChecker, and assembling them into our "finely tuned engine," the GameEngine, the stage is set for the final act: bringing Make It Dark to life with a user interface. The groundwork in previous posts ensures the game's

Svelte

Make It Dark - Turning Requirements into Code

Ah, finally, the moment has arrived where we transition from meticulous planning to the exciting phase of writing code. Up to this point, the focus has been on laying a robust foundation: establishing the project's architecture, embracing the principles of Test-Driven Development (TDD), and refining my coding style

Advent of Code

Advent of Code 2023 - Trebuchet?! (Day 1, Part 2)

Having successfully solved Part 1 of Day 1 in the Advent of Code, I was greeted with an intriguing, albeit not overly complex, twist in Part 2. This new element in the puzzle presented a unique challenge: the calibration document's digits were now occasionally spelt out in words

Yearly Review Featured

Wrapping up 2023 - Technology, Speaking, and Strumming

As 2023 comes to a close, I'm taking a moment to reflect on a year full of significant changes and noteworthy experiences. Starting with the lingering excitement of joining Clock in late 2022, this year has been about diving deep into new challenges and opportunities. In my role,

Code Challenges

Mastering Problem Solving in the Advent of Code

Every December, as the world gears up for the festive season, another kind of excitement takes hold in the programming community – the Advent of Code. This annual event, a beacon of challenge and discovery, brings a series of daily coding puzzles that range from straightforward tasks to complex conundrums, each

Programming Languages Featured

Unwrapping Ruby - Discovering the Gems of Elegant Coding This Christmas 🎄

Ruby, with its unique and elegant features, stands out in the programming world. It's not just a language; it's an expression of creativity, a testament to the beauty in code.

Typescript

Why should I use Typescript?

As a language that has reshaped the contours of modern web development, TypeScript now finds itself at a crossroads. Recent trends and discussions in the tech community suggest a surprising shift, with several significant projects and organizations contemplating a move back to vanilla JavaScript. This emerging narrative presents a complex

Security

The Best Place for Your JWTs - Comparing Local Storage and Cookies

In the fast-paced world of web development, where Single Page Applications (SPAs) and mobile apps are increasingly becoming the norm, the seamless integration with various APIs is more crucial than ever. This integration often involves authenticating with these APIs using tokens—specifically, JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). Once acquired, these tokens

Software Engineering Featured

Bring Back Constraints in Software Engineering

When I was a young chap, my adventures were often lit by the glow of various gaming consoles – the Sega Megadrive, the iconic PlayStation, the original Game Boy with its distinctive yellow/green screen, and even the Commodore 64, an old favourite from my dad's loft collection. Despite

Career

The Unseen Value of Low-Level Programming

Embarking on a journey into the world of programming often conjures images of sleek interfaces, high-level languages, and abstracted frameworks. However, my own path diverged early on, leading me into the intricacies of low-level programming — a domain where the connection between software and hardware is intimate and palpable. It was

Frameworks Featured

Building a High-Performance Library Management API with Bun and Bao, Powered by Prisma, and Containerized with Docker

The dynamic landscape of web development is constantly being reshaped by innovative tools that promise to enhance performance, improve developer productivity, and simplify the deployment process. Node.js has been a significant player in this arena, providing the backbone for server-side development for many years. However, a new challenger has

Imposter Syndrome

Curiosity Killed The Developer

Hello again! Do you remember the feeling of insatiable curiosity that used to grip you as a child? Oh, the irresistable pull to dismantle every gadget and toy, just to peer into its mechanical soul. Confession time: that was totally me. But here's the kicker—I often found

Software Architecture

Rethinking Decomposition in Software Design

Much like any intricate art form, software development is teeming with methodologies and patterns. As a seasoned developer, I've often found solace in the structured world of functional decomposition, segmenting colossal software juggernauts into digestible, functional services. This method, akin to a trusty old map, has guided me

Software Architecture

Halt! Observer Pattern in Braking Systems

In my previous exploration, "Drive and Code - The State Pattern Meets Car Transmissions," we journeyed through the intricacies of car transmissions. We marvelled at the fascinating connection between software design patterns and vehicular systems. Our minds were set in gear (pun intended) to view the world of

Meetups Featured

Reflections Of My (Tech) Life

Firstly, an immense shoutout to Fran Hoey for offering me the incredible platform of Chester Devs. Seeing the overwhelming turnout was both heartwarming and slightly nerve-wracking - despite having done many talks, I still get butterflies. What added a more personal touch to the event was having some very special

Meetups

A Journey of Reflection @ Chester Devs

In just a few days, I'll be standing before a passionate group of developers at Chester Devs, sharing the winding path I've taken through the world of software engineering. Over the past 18 years, I've navigated a myriad of challenges, savoured countless victories, and,

Philosophy Featured

Leveraging Instincts in Software Engineering

Before we venture into the thrilling world of instincts, let’s have a proper chinwag about how this crazy brain of mine functions. To be honest, half the time, I’m not sure I fully grasp it myself. I’ve binged my fair share of YouTube videos – the ones that

Artificial Intelligence Featured

The Evolution of Language Models - and how we are all AI Experts...

Language models have undergone remarkable advancements in recent years, transforming from mere dreamlike concepts to powerful tools that aid us in various domains. These advancements have been primarily fuelled by artificial intelligence (AI) research and the availability of large datasets for training. In this blog post, we will explore the

Software Architecture

Drive and Code - The State Pattern Meets Car Transmissions

Ever since I took an interest in the inner workings of vehicles, I've been astonished at the sophisticated engineering and the intricate components beneath what seems like a simple action – driving. Most of us hop into our cars, drive from point A to B, and rarely ponder the

Productivity

Let's Talk About Developer Productivity

In the first post of my LinkedIn newsletter, Steve's Talking Tech Again, I unveiled the vast world of tech through my lens. But today, I'm peeling back another layer. I'm diving into a topic that's constantly on my mind and influences my

Software Architecture

Singleton Design in Engines and Software Initialization

The hum of a car engine starting, the vibration as it springs to life – it’s almost poetic. As a senior software engineer, I've come to appreciate that the mechanisms powering a car mirror, in many ways, the intricate systems of software design. Like a car, each software