August 30, 2021

How to Organize JavaScript Imports

The import statements at the top of a JavaScript component file can be a confusing, duplicative, churning mess. Is there a way to organize them that makes sense and scales? In this post, I’d like to share the way I handle this detail.

August 26, 2021

Write Better Code by Knowing When Not To Refactor

When I review code, I sometimes request that refactoring changes be removed. Even when I think the changes are are objective improvements, and even when they support my personal preferences. My reasoning? Refactors are not free.

August 24, 2021

The Tutorial Anti-Pattern

Here’s a scenario: you’re applying for your first tech job. You’ve found a bunch of hands-on tutorials and you’re speeding through them. When you finish, you upload the code to Github and add a new line to the ‘Projects’ section of your resume. Maybe you even deploy the code as a production website. My advice: stop.

August 4, 2021

Consultancy Cycles

Working at a quality software development consultancy like Hashrocket early in your programming career could be a game-changing move.

April 2, 2021

What is the Sub Claim of a JSON Web Token?

Today I’d like to explain the sub, or subject, registered claim of a JSON Web Token.

February 26, 2021

Augmenting an Object With the Proxy Pattern

Let’s look at the proxy pattern in Ruby.

January 25, 2021

Do the Hard Things First

A concept that I admire is ‘Doing the Hard Thing First’ via Ben Orenstein. Ben described on the Art of Product Podcast Episode 50. Here’s my summary:

Choose the hard part of the problem, the part you’re unsure about, the part that success depends on, and solve that first!

December 30, 2020

My Annual Review 2020

Here’s my annual professional review covering 2020.

December 6, 2020

Exercism Raindrops in Python

I’ve been learning a bit of Python this Fall to facilitate conversations with a mentee. In this post, I’m going to share the first Python function I’ve ever written, a solution to the Exercism challenge ‘Raindrops’.

December 5, 2020

Programming Resources for Beginners

There is a glut of programming information online. You can’t read it all, and you shouldn’t, because much of it is outdated, wrong, or irrelevant to you.

So, what is the signal in this noise? I recommend aggregators, blogs, pair programming. And I offer a gentle recommendation against tutorials.