March 20th 2023
It's easy for developers (me included!) to hide out at either end of a spectrum, on one end doing what we're told and on the other doing what we want. But real work happens in between these. (6 comments)

June 15th 2022
If a developer is split across two projects, we often assume that each project will get one half of a developer worth of productivity, but in reality it's less. (2 comments)

April 15th 2022
After twenty or so years as a software developer, mostly in consulting, I felt like I could handle myself in even the most tenuous situations. As an independent, it instantly felt different.

March 15th 2022
As a full-time employee, I used to loathe "bullshit". But after going independent, I learned there's a flip-side to it. (1 comments)

February 16th 2022
As the pendulum has swung from monoliths to micro-everythings, we find ourselves with more "things" to build and maintain. And so it begs the question, who is responsible for what? (4 comments)

November 5th 2021
Deleting data within a microservices architecture can be more challenging than within a monolith, but there are different options. (3 comments)

October 13th 2021
A simple rule that every good, veteran programmer seems to follow with respect to managing their time. (26 comments)

July 26th 2021
Stuck in lock down with time on my hands and an itch to work on something new, I picked back up a side project I started about a decade ago, to build a better resume for developers. (10 comments)

August 24th 2020
We often frame our options as "rewrite or refactor", but these terms are really just stand-ins for a whole spectrum of choices (1 comments)

July 14th 2020
There's a deceptive allure to a rewrite, but they are subtly very difficult to pull off. Looking at the major risks. (5 comments)


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I'm an "old" programmer who has been blogging for almost 20 years now. In 2017, I started Highline Solutions, a consulting company that helps with software architecture and full-stack development. I have two degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, one practical (Information and Decision Systems) and one not so much (Philosophy - thesis here). Pittsburgh, PA is my home where I live with my wife and 3 energetic boys.
I recently released a web app called TechRez, a "better resume for tech". The idea is that instead of sending out the same-old static PDF resume that's jam packed with buzz words and spans multiple pages, you can create a TechRez, which is modern, visual, and interactive. Try it out for free!