Author Archives: Laurence

My Answer To: I want to learn programming, should I attend a code school?

by Laurence Posted on January 26, 2016

I recently had a reader ask me if they should attend a coding academy because they want to get into programming. Here is my answer: There are many success stories involving code schools. In fact my grandmother was one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Code, For New Developers | Tagged career, development, education, software | Comments Off

Three Failings of Scrum and the Old School Solution

by Laurence Posted on December 31, 2015

Everywhere I look I see software rapidly falling into obsolescence that will need to be re-written soon. A good example is how rapidly JavaScript (ECMAscript) is evolving. In a few years nobody will get excited about maintaining a ECMA5 code … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Development, Business, Code, Work | Tagged development, leadership, scrum, software | 2 Comments

Is localhost development obsolete?

by Laurence Posted on August 28, 2015

Topic explored: Someday soon developers will only need a basic Chrome Book and a wifi connection to do their work. No software will be installed locally other than a browser. I’m not so sure this trend will pan out across … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Development, Work | Tagged aws, development, tools | Comments Off

Example Django Model Count and Group By Query

by Laurence Posted on June 18, 2015

The Django framework abstracts the nitty gritty details of SQL with its Model library (the M in MVC). It is straight forward for standard lookups involving WHERE clauses. 10% of the time I need it to do something fancy like a … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Development, Code | Tagged django, python, scripting, sql | Comments Off

Design your own GitHub activity graph, mine is a DNA spiral

by Laurence Posted on May 11, 2015

I recently turned my github activity graph into an 8-bit looking DNA spiral! By setting GIT_AUTHOR_DATE and GIT_COMMITTER_DATE it is possible to log a commit at any point in time. The tool I wrote allows you to draw a pattern … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun Nerdy | Tagged fun, git, scripting | Comments Off

Mastery over Negativity – Dealing with Negative Geeks

by Laurence Posted on April 24, 2015

I think it is okay to be negative about a given software technology, but it has to be for the right technical reasons in the context of the problem at hand. For the most part what goes on is bashing … Continue reading →

Posted in For New Developers, Work | Tagged career, leadership, office | Comments Off

Sending emails through Comcast on Ubuntu using ssmtp

by Laurence Posted on February 14, 2015

Ssmpt is a light weight mail package that is easy to configure and suitable for my needs during local development. It is basically a mail forwarder, can’t receive email, and has very few settings relative to a program like sendmail. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sys Admin | Tagged linux, tools | Comments Off

A KeePass setting that might save your online identity

by Laurence Posted on February 1, 2015

Your KeePass file might not be as safe as you think, but it is easy to protect yourself with this simple settings change that does not require creating a new kdbx file. This helps make your KeePass file more secure by deterring … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Work | Tagged security, tools | Comments Off

Why I use GitHub (or Bitbucket) at every chance, and why you should too

by Laurence Posted on January 28, 2015

When I work on projects that don’t have GitHub or Bitbucket, I really miss it. It is the little things they do that speed things along and get me access to what I need in a way that looks visually … Continue reading →

Posted in Code, Work | Tagged development, tools | Comments Off

The Software Maintenance Efficiency Curve

by Laurence Posted on December 31, 2014

I have been told “there is no such thing as green field development”. While that statement is false for the hobbyist developer, in the business world it is nearly true. Those who code for a hobby or for pure enjoyment … Continue reading →

Posted in Application Development, Business, For New Developers | Tagged business, career, development, economics | Comments Off

Author Archives: Laurence

My Answer To: I want to learn programming, should I attend a code school?

Three Failings of Scrum and the Old School Solution

Is localhost development obsolete?

Example Django Model Count and Group By Query

Design your own GitHub activity graph, mine is a DNA spiral

Mastery over Negativity – Dealing with Negative Geeks

Sending emails through Comcast on Ubuntu using ssmtp

A KeePass setting that might save your online identity

Why I use GitHub (or Bitbucket) at every chance, and why you should too

The Software Maintenance Efficiency Curve

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Author Archives: Laurence

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