Code Smart, Live Well: How Developers Can Stay Energised and Enjoy Their Evenings

I recently hosted an open space for new developers where a hot topic of conversation was how they could get to the end of the day and still have energy. As most people in that conversation were seeking advice rather than offering solutions we didn’t get too far in addressing the issue. With so many struggling, I thought it would be a good idea to hunt out some tips. Here’s a summary of what I found:
Fix your desk setup Using a computer takes a toll on our bodies, and it’s easy to have poor posture, especially when we’re working on a laptop.

Table Stakes: What is expected of a modern software developer?

Table stakes is a bit of business jargon, loosely taken from poker, that is used to describe the minimum offering it takes to be in the market. The essential features or attributes that have to be there for customers to even consider buying a product or service, the basic capability a team or department needs to demonstrate to be credible. I’ve used this as the title of this article as I’ve been reflecting on how our current batch of interns have fared over the last year and what could we could do to make things easier for the those joining us this time round.

Increase REST API development velocity by ditching application/json

After creating a few RESTful apis I’ve learnt the hard way that agreeing on the structure of the messages going backwards and forwards can be difficult but what can be even more difficult is managing the changes to these messages once the first implementation has been committed. Going with the default option of returning and accepting everything as application/json typically means that the client and server will need to synchronise their release cycles when breaking changes occur.

Getting Started With Clojure Links

Last week I gave an introduction to Clojure presentation to my client’s developers. With only an hour to work with I just scratched the surface of the language so recommended a set of resources that would allow them to find out more. I thought I’d share them here as well. Here are a few good articles that mainly talk about the reasons for choosing Clojure as your programming language http://blog.developer.atlassian.com/why-clojure/ https://medium.

Rethinking Java Application Packaging

I’ve recently been working on a couple of new applications and wondering, why is it that even though they are greenfield is there something that makes them a bit to awkward to work with? I’m sure you’ve experienced these kinds of problem once or twice. You know there’s a class that does something but can you find it. You want to make a refactor but you can’t quite get everything to line up where you want it.