Blog Archive
Going Remote Again
Going Remote Again I’m happy to report I will be going remote again in a few months time. As previously discussed here, I’ve been back
One Year of Blogging
One Year of Blogging This post marks one year of blogging or 52 consecutive weeks of publishing. I’d just like to highlight a few things
Documentation Rot
Documentation Rot Enterprise development teams have a bad case of documentation rot. Maybe not all, but the places I’ve worked that had a strong in-office
Work Remotely to Stay Healthy
Work Remotely to Stay Healthy Tell me it hasn’t crossed your mind once or twice that you’d rather work remotely to stay healthy. Especially when
Weight Control
Weight Control Have you battled with weight control before? It’s likely that most all of us have fought this dragon at some point. Especially as
Mental Nutrition
Mental Nutrition Much like how our food and drink choices determine our body weight, so too does our mental nutrition determine the health of our
Unplug to Get Things Done
Unplug to Get Things Done We’ve all had it happen to us. You’re right in the middle of solving a really vexing problem and then
The Hardest Part of Consulting
The Hardest Part of Consulting The hardest part of consulting is surprisingly not working with old tech. Nor is it working with difficult personalities or
A Problem with the Agile Manifesto
A Problem with the Agile Manifesto I have a problem with the Agile Manifesto. And while Festivus is over, I’d like to air one more
Asynchronous Communication
Asynchronous Communication How many times have you sat in a meeting where people just took turns talking past each other? Asynchronous communication is underrated and
Drinking from the Fire Hose
Drinking from the Fire Hose We all love drinking from the fire hose of new tech. Almost as much as we love hearing the phrase
The Hybrid Meeting
The Hybrid Meeting It seems to be the norm these days. The hybrid meeting where some people are in an office and some are remote.
The In-Office Developer’s Biggest Curse
The In-Office Developer’s Biggest Curse “Hey Peter…what’s happening?” The in-office developer’s biggest curse is what’s happening. The thing torpedoes developer productivity. The thing that causes
Multitask to Spike Productivity…Right Into the Ground
Multitask to Spike Productivity…Right Into the Ground It feels like only yesterday when everyone was expected to be a great multitasker! Most have since come
Java is Still King
Java is Still King It’s remarkable that Java is still king in 2019. It’s been roughly 20 years now and the language we mostly love
SpaceX Starlink is Full Speed Ahead
SpaceX Starlink is Full Speed Ahead SpaceX Starlink is charging full speed ahead in the race to offer high speed internet from above. While the
Reentering the Workforce as a Developer
Reentering the Workforce as a Developer It’s a scary time when you’re on the outside trying to get back in. Reentering the workforce as a
The 40 Hour Work Week
The 40 Hour Work Week The 40 hour work week is an odd thing for a developer or any knowledge worker for that matter. Even
The Many Hats of a Java Developer
The Many Hats of a Java Developer Back in the olden days on the mainframe, programmers wore one hat. There was basically one stack and
The Corporate Standup
The Corporate Standup Sometimes I think about the misfortunate developers who worked in a time before Agile. They had no daily corporate standup to turbocharge
Back in Office
Back in Office What’s a Remote Java Dev doing back in office you might ask? Well, as a consultant I recently started a new client
Flow State
Flow State Everyone wants to get into flow state these days. That magical mental space where your fingers can’t type fast enough. Everything compiles on
How to Get the Least Out of Your Consultant
How to Get the Least Out of Your Consultant This week we’ll flip the coin and talk about how to get the least out of
How to Get the Most Out of Your Consultant
How to Get the Most Out of Your Consultant Being a manager of software engineers is a tough business. Especially when you need to call
Managing Career Risk as a Remote Developer
Managing Career Risk as a Remote Developer When it comes to developers, there’s the regular kind and then there’s us. Managing career risk as a
What’s Holding Back Remote Hiring?
What’s Holding Back Remote Hiring? It’s easy to wonder what’s holding back remote hiring still in 2019. We have the technology to work remotely from
My Tech Journey from the Mainframe to the Cloud
My Tech Journey from the Mainframe to the Cloud My tech journey from the mainframe to the cloud has been an interesting one. I certainly
Listening is a Superpower
Listening is a Superpower They say listening is a superpower. Whoever they are, I think they’re right. It’s amazing that something so simple can be
Pluralsight vs O’Reilly Safari
Pluralsight vs O’Reilly Safari There’s Eclipse vs Intellij, tabs vs spaces, and then there’s Pluralsight vs O’Reilly Safari. While learning platforms may not be as
Remote Work and Backup Plans
Remote Work and Backup Plans It’s every remote worker’s worst nightmare. Your internet connection goes down, what do you do? If you’ve been in the
The Consultant Disadvantage
The Consultant Disadvantage If you read last week’s post, you might think it’s all sunshine and lollipops in consultant land. As you surely know, that’s
The Consultant Advantage
The Consultant Advantage All other things being equal, a consultant usually has a big advantage when it comes to delivering a project. And it’s not
Two Kinds of Developer Tasks
Two Kinds of Developer Tasks There are two basic kinds of developer tasks. Those that take a linear amount of time to complete and those
3 Simple Ways to Differentiate Yourself as a Developer
3 Simple Ways to Differentiate Yourself as a Developer You would think these would be obvious. And in fact they are. You already know 3
How to Get Hired Without an Inside Connection
How to Get Hired Without an Inside Connection If only there were an easy answer to how to get hired without an inside connection. Most
SpringOne Tour Minneapolis
SpringOne Tour Minneapolis The hardest part in writing about the SpringOne Tour Minneapolis is filtering out what not to mention. This post would otherwise turn
Pretending We’re Not Already Remote
Pretending We’re Not Already Remote It’s a curious phenomenon in today’s corporate world. We collaborate constantly with people all over the globe while pretending we’re
Working Remotely from the South Pacific
Working Remotely from the South Pacific There’s remote work and then there’s REMOTE work. The former is working from home in a major metropolitan area
10 Years of Quarkus Required
10 Years of Quarkus Required The average developer job description is absurd. “10 years of Quarkus required” and other such things are easy to find.
Why Meetings Fall Flat
Why Meetings Fall Flat If you’ve worked in the corporate world, you’ve likely experienced exactly why meetings fall flat in many ways. In fact, if
Is 100% Code Coverage a Worthy Goal?
Is 100% Code Coverage a Worthy Goal? If 75% code coverage is good, then 100% coverage must be better right? Like so many things in
Remote Work is at a Tipping Point
Remote Work is at a Tipping Point The future of remote work is at a tipping point. Did you almost buy Bitcoin back in
Best Podcasts for Remote Java Developers
Best Podcasts for Remote Java Developers The Best Podcasts for Remote Java Developers are focused on a mix of Java, Knowledge, and Remote topics. The
Engineers are Always the Smartest People in the Room
“Engineers are Always the Smartest People in the Room” I was on a conference call a few weeks ago when our Project Manager said “engineers
Why Working Remote can 10x Productivity
Why Working Remote can 10x Productivity Working remote as a developer can easily 10x your productivity. It might even be the only thing you’ll accept
An In-Office Day, Sound Familiar?
An In-Office Day, Sound Familiar? What does an in-office day feel like in 2019? If you’ve been working mostly remotely for any length of time
Empathy as a Developer
Empathy as a Developer Exhibiting empathy as a developer is a telltale sign of a true professional. If you’ve worked as a developer for any
The Code We Don’t Write
The Code We Don’t Write The code we don’t write is just as important as the code we do write. As long as humans are
Tools of the Trade – Hardware
Tools of the Trade – Hardware The hardware tools of the trade for a Remote Java Dev can be quite simple or involved if you
Technical Email Design
Technical Email Design A good technical email design can save hours or even days of wasted time. This translates into dramatic savings for your business
The Value of Simplicity
The Value of Simplicity The value of simplicity when writing business emails is highly underrated. In addition, our effectiveness depends on making our writings easy
Email is Still Important
Email is Still Important Email is still important in spite of the influx of numerous other communication tools. I’d contend that written communication, email specifically,
Hello World
Hello World Obligatory It wouldn’t be a proper Remote Java Dev site without kicking it off with a “Hello World” post. Stay tuned for content