Author: jroell

The world of programming is always changing. And changing FAST at that. We are constantly finding better ways to do what it is that we do. That is a great … Continue reading A Simple Introduction To Data Structures: Part One – Linked Lists

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about unit testing and its importance in developing quality software. You can find that here. A topic that is seen a lot when … Continue reading MOCKS: What are they? When should you use them?

Throughout my career (and life) I’ve been on many different teams. Obviously, this implies that I’ve been a teammate to others and had many teammates of my own. I bring this … Continue reading What Makes A Great Teammate?

SPOILER ALERT: Yes. Code without tests is such an old idea that in his book “Working Effectively with Legacy Code” (written in 2004!) Michael Feather defines “Legacy Code” as code … Continue reading Unit Testing. Is it Worth It?

If you know me personally, you know that I love to read. It started in grade school where the elementary school I attended offered points and prizes for those who read … Continue reading The Books That Have Changed My Life (and will change yours)

Not a day goes by anymore where you don’t hear someone mention “The Cloud” in some context. Cloud services and solutions are all the rage these days. Why though? What … Continue reading “The Cloud”: A Beginners Introduction To Cloud Providers

This is one of my all time favorite dialogs between a developer and his wife over a subject (HTTP and REST) that is the backbone of the web. The truth … Continue reading How I Explained REST to My Wife

Software applications are getting more and more complex and each platform for developing applications these days seems like its operating on a higher and higher level of abstraction to hide that … Continue reading Is Managed Code (.NET/Java) Slow?

I am currently (at the time this article was written anyway) working for a large (6,000+ people) Fortune 500 company. However, this was not always the case. Actually, I started my career … Continue reading Tech Startups vs Large Enterprise: A Insider’s Perspective

Sadly, I am coming to the end of my twenties (I plan to be a centenarian so it’s okay). I’ve learned more in my twenties than I ever thought would be … Continue reading Tips for Twenty-Year-Olds

Whenever I interview candidates for a position (whether a developer position or not), I want to know one very important thing about them. Something that, for me, has been the … Continue reading How to Develop the Right Solution to Any Problem

Design patterns in software development have been around for a little while now. They were made famous in 1994 from the book Design Patters: Elements of Reusable Software and consequently made … Continue reading The Decorator Pattern