Every year about this time I am flooded with images and reminders that it is graduation time. This invariably reminds me of my own education. Several years ago I had the honor of graduating from Utah State University with a computer science degree. There is a solid amount of debate…

Several years ago I heard a man (I believe he was an airport architect) describe one of his job requirements as understanding wayfinding. Wayfinding is defined as encompassing “all of the ways in which people (and animals) orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place”. In more…

Whatever you are developing there is going to be at least some type of constraint you are working within. Often this can be something such as time or money. These are business-facing constraints. I have yet to see a project that had unlimited time to complete and where there were…

One of my favorite ways to learn is reading other people’s code and having others read mine. A place we have that opportunity often is during code reviews. I know that code reviews are not everyone’s favorite thing to do but I find them extremely valuable and enjoy doing them…

It is within human nature to take the easiest path from point A to B. This is very often a great thing. Why should we exert extra energy in accomplishing a task? Bill Gates is claimed to have said, “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because…

It is human nature to stay within our comfort zones. There is a reason “comfort” is in the name. That being said, it is no secret that very little learning is accomplished while staying in your comfort zone, and if there is anything we know about technology it is that…

In today’s quick post I would like to cover a pitfall that I have seen several developers fall into when using the Okta Java SDK when verifying JWT signatures. …

Imposter syndrome can affect anyone. It can affect a new parent or a seasoned veteran in a particular field. While some people and some situations lend themselves to imposter syndrome more than others, no one is immune. Often imposter syndrome is discussed as a negative thing that can stifle people…

Building a distributed system is not easy. There are many concerns a distributed system developer must take into account at all times. The more concerns a developer must keep track of, the more likely something is going to slip through the cracks and be missed. Often these concerns that need…