Build, Run, Repeat

  • Server Side Rendering Racing - Next.js vs. PHP

    When working on Mince Pie Rank at christmas, I was caught a little off guard when I was working on the “All pies” page. It seemed like the page would take a good 3-5 seconds to load - at first I thought it was the cassandra queries being slow, or just returning too much data. After a bit of playing around, what I actually found was that the HTML of the page seemed to be taking much longer to render that I would have expected.

  • Why I TDD

    Over the last couple of years, my focus has been on process. As I experimented with more languages and frameworks, it became clear that it was where there was the most room to grow, without boxing myself into a corner. Part of this has been a real drive to not just practice Test Driven Development (TDD) by rote, but to really understand why to do it on a personal level - which I’ve whittled down to four core pillars.

    Messy Workshop - Source https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Railway_workshop_museum_exhibition_in_Ljubljana,_Slovenia.jpg

  • Beware the Increment

    Conflict and grief in our working lives often comes from expectations of what is happening not matching the reality. Misrepresentation of work can take different forms - such as unrealistic expectations from upper management, teams not being transparent in what they’re doing, and trying to force tactical work to fit with a predetermined strategic plan. What this blog post focuses on is projects that are planned incrementally, then try to be executed with iterations.

    Picture of mushrooms growing on an old tree stump: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daedalea_quercina_-_Eichen-Wirrling_-_oak_mazegill_-_maze-gill_fungus_-_d%C3%A9dal%C3%A9e_du_ch%C3%AAne_-_08.jpg

  • Cut Down to Size: Doing Less to Ship More

    Working on mincepierank.co.uk over the last little while has been an absolute pleasure. However there was something that hadn’t been implemented - mince pies aren’t sold all year.

    Rather than talking too specifically about the code, I’m going to take this chance to talk about how I break down features into smaller chunks, with a focus on getting value shipped.

    A Slice of Reality: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Slice_of_Reality_by_Richard_Wilson,_Greenwich_Peninsula_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3850722.jpg

  • Nurturing Creativity: Do Dumb Things Quickly For No Money

    If there is one myth that I try to rail against, it’s the idea that creativity and ingenuity are inherent talents you just have rather than skills you can train and improve. In fact I’d go as far as arguing that training these skills can be incredibly useful, both inside and outside of work.

    This article is mostly through the lens of a software engineer, however there won’t be big chunks of code or technical jargon thrown around, so it should be relatable for anyone.

    Picture of a Useless Box: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Useless_box.jpg

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