As I approach the final module of Flatiron School, I’ve been spending more time reviewing developer job postings. A few months ago, when I looked through software engineering role descriptions, I was pretty lost.

There were many terms and concepts that were unfamiliar to me. But as I’ve progressed through the Flatiron curriculum, that list of foreign concepts and acronyms—MVC pattern, RESTful APIs, front-end frameworks, etc.—has thankfully dwindled.

However, there was one technology that was still new to me, and that I’ve noticed appearing more frequently in job descriptions: GraphQL.

So, what’s GraphQL? Let’s take a look at the definition…

In early December 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced a new project called Bluesky, which will explore the possibility of converting Twitter into a decentralized social media (DSM) platform. This was the first I’d heard of DSM. I was intrigued and had a few questions.

What’s the purpose or benefit of DSM? How does it work on a technical level? Is DSM something that I could understand based on the topics I’ve covered so far in my programming education at Flatiron School?

A good first step in understanding DSM is to consider other open internet protocols. For instance, how…

Recently, I was curious to learn a little more about the different types of databases. In this article, I will look first at the main types of databases and will then dive into their appropriate use cases.

SQL vs. NoSQL databases

The two most common types of databases are SQL (relational) databases and NoSQL databases. Both are widely used across many types of computing and data storage. According to a March 2019 survey by ScaleGrid, SQL databases are used by approximately 60% of developers while NoSQL databases are used by approximately 40% of developers.

Recently, I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about software companies and investors on the middle way between traditional venture capital and pure bootstrapping. Erin Griffith’s article in The New York Times—“More Start-Ups Have an Unfamiliar Message for Venture Capitalists: Get Lost”—does an excellent job summarizing the movement, so I won’t rehash it all here.

The piece also covers several of the emerging alternatives to traditional venture capital, which are available to high-potential companies pursuing sustainable, intentional growth. Names like Zebras Unite, Indie.vc, Lighter Capital, TinySeed and Earnest Capital will sound familiar to those that have been following along.

Even…