Explore the conceptual architecture of monitoring systems and learn how to build your own system observation engine. — Have you ever seen products with status pages? Ever wonder how it all works and how to make your own? Most companies don’t do it themselves — they use a 3rd-party vendor like StatusPage combined with automated reporting tools like Pingdom. If you’re using this in a production environment…

Learn how to create a reusable export generation system using the template design pattern. — Reports. It’s often one of the first features developers are asked to build by the business. Once someone has data, what do they want to do with it? That’s right — view it. Engineers have problems with reports Many engineers approach reports in a use-case particular way. They’ll get a requirement such as “create…

A look back on my adventure as an amateur Medium blogger — wins, bumps along the way, and lessons learned. — I’m an amateur blogger and a professional software engineer. I initially started blogging on my personal website to collect my thoughts and build up an “online” presence. The standard advice given to new engineers was “start a blog so people know you’re passionate”. I wanted them to know. The only…

From compiler issues to Rube Goldberg machines, engineering is sometimes not as scientific as you’d like to believe — Software is complex, and in many cases, complicated. Even simple systems can have a lot of moving parts that interact with each other in mysterious, unintended ways. If you’re lucky, these interactions don’t cause serious issues. If you’re unlucky, they do and you get a bunch of errors.

Startups develop rapidly by applying different kinds of shortcuts — learn what they are and know when to take them yourself. — Startups survive because of their agility and speed — their ability to pivot and move quickly. They measure their execution tempo in hours, days, and weeks. This allows them to maneuver around larger lumbering organizations that operate in tempos of months, quarters, and even years.

Learn how to read your employment contract and how to protect yourself and avoid getting locked into a bad situation. — First off — I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. I may be wrong in any of this. Use this for entertainment purposes only, and get an actual lawyer if you need one. Over my career as a software engineer, I’ve signed a handful of employment…

Learn why popular programming mantras like YAGNI, DRY, and KISS can be as destructive as they are seductive. — Software development is full of mantras that are chanted by developers of all levels as prima facie evidence that justifies and proves the rationality of their decisions. Who amongst us hasn’t heard people or told people to YAGNI, DRY, or KISS? They’re popular mantras because, when followed properly, they work…

Management is an entirely different skillset from being an individual contributor — avoid these costly first-mistakes. — I’ve been fortunate enough to see a lot of first-time managers take up the responsibility of managing their teams for the first time. Almost like clockwork, they generally fall into a series of common traps and early mistakes. The good ones learn from them — the bad ones repeat them.

Learn a lightweight hiring process to help you quickly hire great engineers with as little overhead as possible — I was once the Director of Engineering at a startup that was always busy, busy, busy! We had people to help, processes to fix, and product to ship. Every day was a fire or pivot. Strategically we had some key skills gaps that I needed to close, fast. I knew…