Greetings!
Well, this is my very first post on any blog, ever, and I have good news right out of the gate. You can’t see the awkward pauses as I grasp for something to write. I used to believe that a blog should have a focus and strive to be informative lest it become a public confessional and not worth reading. Since I had convinced myself for years I had nothing informative to share (and even less focus) there was nothing to write about. It was an excuse to not make the effort. I now realize that any reason is the right reason when starting a blog. Which leads us to my reason (finally…).
I’ve been an active member in good standing on the internet since 1994. At that time it was constantly described as the “Information Superhighway!” *blech* and I have been writing web-based code for nearly the entire time. I’ve been a witness to, and often a willing participant in, every fad, fashion, and Flavor of the Month regarding development for the web. I saw the carnage of Browser War I and watched in horror as Microsoft unleashed the Doomsday Machine known as Internet Explorer 6 on an unsuspecting world.
While there was much to cringe about, there were many positive developments that reverberate to this day. The demand for the implementation and adherence of open standards compelled every major web browser (eventually) to acquiesce — for the most part — and adopt an agreed upon set of features. The explosion of Open Source generally has been a tremendous boon to developers. The existence of sites like GitHub has led to incredible levels of cooperation and participation with developers all around the globe. The sheer amount of tools at a developers fingertips these days would be inconceivable to anyone writing web software 15 years ago.
My goal for this blog is to discuss web development from various aspects. New technologies, tools, applications, industry trends, and the occasional trip down memory lane are all on the table. Coding topics outside the web will also appear from time-to-time depending on my current programming language fixation.
I fervently believe it vital developers learn a new programming language every 12-18 months. I’m currently on a system language kick, going back & forth between:
- D Language: D’s design goals attempt to combine the performance and safety of compiled languages with the expressive power of modern dynamic languages.
- Go Language: Go originated as an experiment by Google engineers Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson to design a new programming language that would resolve common criticisms of other languages while maintaining their positive characteristics.
- Rust: Rust is sponsored by Mozilla Research, which describes it as a “safe, concurrent, practical language”, supporting functional and imperative-procedural paradigms.
Find a language that is vastly different from your bread ‘n butter language if possible. Learn why it is so different and understand the primary problem domain the language addresses. You will not only gain knowledge from the language itself, you will gain new perspectives on a bevy of abstract concepts which are vital for problem-solving and other skills.
Lastly, I just hope to have a bit of fun. We’re not curing cancer here. As my old boss Fred would repeatedly tell our development team, “Its not rocket science, its computer science!”. I hope I can at least entertain you and perhaps, with focus, enlighten you as well.
