Software Development

Exception handling and Exception throwing principles

Return exceptions for exceptional situations. Return result objects for other non-happy-path results.

How to identify when is something “exceptional”?

• Exceptional is usually technical in…

Debugging a tricky production issue

Debugging a tricky production issue. Here is what I usually do, in order of preference:

• Replicate locally and step through code to figure out what is going on.
• Add logs and replicate in production, then use logs to…

Building quality public-facing websites

I’m busy adding two very simple screens to our website and feel anxious about how long the work is taking. That got me thinking about what kinds of things you need to consider when you’re building top quality public-facing websites.

How to understand an existing code-base

Developers usually love working on a “green fields” project: building something brand new. Green fields projects are fun because you have a lot of creative freedom, you can use the latest technologies and because it’s fast and easy when you don’t have to worry…

Why use the Console instead of a GUI?

Why use the console instead of a GUI? Or why use a simple text editor instead of an all-powerful IDE?

I was perplexed with the shift in the industry towards Consoles and Text Editors. Why would anyone in their right mind use VIM instead…