“Just in time knowledge” and the value of knowing a little

To be a good software developer you need to know some things very well. You can’t get away without actually knowing your programming language of choice, or learning good software development practices. Beside mastering some skills, you should also have a large amount of general, high-level knowledge. This blog post is about this knowledge.

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What makes a good software developer CV?

Writing CV is a bit of a game. You are trying to create a short piece of writing, focused on yourself, that will get you to the interview. Ideally, this short text will also help set you up for a successful interview and boost your chances of landing a job. I have screened hundreds of CVs over the past few years, here I want to share with you some advice on how to win the CV game.

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Deliberate Practice for Software Developers

You might have heard of the 10,000-hour rule. It supposedly takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master at something. This number will, of course, vary depending on what you are trying to master- some skills have a much higher bar than that, others may be easier. What is also important is the quality of that practice. In this blog post I will look at different ways you can carry out a deliberate practice as a developer.

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I wrote 100 blog posts in 2018 – how it went and what’s next?

I wanted to write 2 blog posts a week in 2018, which would result in at least 100 blog posts in a year… This is the number 100! I could not be happier! In this centenary blog post, I look back at the journey that took me here. I will also share with you some of the ideas for this blog in 2019.

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Software architecture in the world of microservices

The topic of software architecture comes up often when discussing microservices. Many newcomers to microservices are not sure how to handle discussing architecture and how to make decisions. Should they bring the more traditional role of the software architect, or should everyone just do what they think makes sense? In this article, I will give you my answers to these questions and share some additional advice. Continue reading “Software architecture in the world of microservices”

Having just the right amount of technical debt

Today I want to talk to you about technical debt. This is a topic that comes up a lot and often generates some emotions. Developers often want to have a minimal amount of technical debt. Some will go through great efforts to eliminate any technical debt they see. Let me tell you what I think about it all. Continue reading “Having just the right amount of technical debt”

Making your machine learning idea real with AWS

Machine Learning and its applications are getting more popular every day. For many developers, building a machine learning powered application seems like a daunting task- all this learning, data collection, and computing power needed! In reality, it is not as difficult as it sounds- as long as you harness “the power of the Cloud”… Continue reading “Making your machine learning idea real with AWS”

Reddit API Authentication with Java/Spring

I am a big fan of Reddit. The platform is great for learning and sharing programming knowledge… In fact, it contains so much knowledge and opinion, that there is no chance for any single person to analyze it all. Sounds like a job for a machine? Before we get started, we need to learn how to authenticate with the Reddit API. Continue reading “Reddit API Authentication with Java/Spring”