What happened to August
Published: 09/03/2020
July 30, that is the last day you posted. Now 3 posts in 3 days? What is going on MAN? Glad you asked, rather I asked it for you. August was a whirlwind of things:
bash creating scripts to do cool things
Published: 09/02/2020
Bash is awesome. Specific, useful, sadly can’t use it on windows; but its a powerful tool. I wrote a script to allow me to easily generate markdown files in the correct format with all the correct inside guts, so I can quickly & easily write blog posts. Doing things allows me to forget about “How do I format the document? Whats the right file naming convention?” to “Lets write, I’m feeling inspired”.
Adventures in consulting
Published: 09/01/2020
I’m a consultant. Up until recently I was working for MBO partners. They contracted to one of their clients to me, they’re more of a middleman. Basically MBO acts as my employer, paying taxes and providing insurance coverage. Its good and not good at the same time. They provide all the legal coverage I need but take a hefty fee. They’re restructuring the service I’m on and because of that, I’m going to be getting a 1099 from them instead of a W2.
Lets explore console log
Published: 07/30/2020
Console.log is an effective and useful tool for debugging, but have you read the documentation or dug much into it? I did and I wanted to share a few neat tricks for you to make your debugging more effective.
Lets stop being stupid about security
Published: 07/26/2020
I hate it when I run across what is reported to be an epic hack involving Russians, Chinese or spies only it turns out the hacking victims were not taking any form of basic security seriously. Its like asking Bonnie and Clyde to rob a bank where the combo is printed on a large banner outside the vault and there are no keys to any safe deposit boxes. Or it’s like letting the fox get inside the hen house.
Free Fuel
Published: 07/17/2020
What if I told you that you could get free fuel for the next two months? What if this deal was better then getting a fuel discount at the pump? What if I told you this is better then pumping red bull into your blood stream?
Just ship it already
Published: 07/14/2020
There comes a time in every developers life when they have to decide “Do I work towards the best solution or just ship what I have?”
Simplifying Logic Using Maps
Published: 06/18/2020
Today I was working on a program that scrapes data from a CSV, maps the records to a custom JSON structure then exports it as a custom file for injest into the system at a later date. The trouble was I was using a TON of IF statements. Today, I’m going to show you how to transform a massive if statement into a much simpler map.
You need a new hobby
Published: 06/17/2020
Are you a developer? Do you do your full time job then go home only to sit in front of another screen to build code for another 3-6 hours? Does your weekend revolve around Netflix, syfy channel, eating, coding and sleeping? If so, you NEED a new hobby.
Automating API login for manual testing using Postman
Published: 06/11/2020
Postman is a very powerful tool for API development. If you’re like most developers I know, you use it as a CURL with folders. That is until now. Postman can do a lot more then help you stay organized. You can use Postman to build automated and manual tests, you can also use variables in URLs, headers and other locations to facilitate easy API testing. Today we’re going to show you how to make a reusable login method that will allow you to fire a request, automatically log into the API, then shove the JWT automatically into a variable to be used by a header. Why is this important?
running ubuntu on a work windows laptop
Published: 06/09/2020
Suppose you’re a developer, on your first day of a new job you’re handed not a MacBook Pro but instead a Dell or HP laptop. You go into denial, question your manager and learn that almost no one, developers included, at the firm use anything but Windows. But there is good news, they give you local admin privileges. This is where I found myself 2 and half years ago at my job, the job I now love. I considered quitting on the spot, but decided to give it a try; heck they were PAYING me to set it up…
The case for not using redux with react
Published: 06/01/2020
Today I want to talk about Redux. For those not informed, Redux is a Flux implementation of a state management system for React. Redux is an interesting and useful tool that can improperly used.
Thank you for the dream host config help!
Published: 05/30/2020
Yesterday & Today I spent a number of hours working on this blog from making videos for a post about dev tools to working on configuring the domain name. I always wanted to use Github Pages, but had a hard time in the past getting the domain to work.
Chrome Dev Tools In Depth
Published: 05/29/2020
Welcome to my first real post in 2020. This is hybrid post, part post, part video and part notes. I’m writing this as mostly notes for the students at Redwood Code Academy; I’m giving a demo for a friend of mine, Abdul.
A long overdue post
Published: 05/29/2020
This is a long over due post. I had many hopes for Pro Dev Mentor. I had many plans of what I was going to say, sell and do. But then I lost my job then was thrown into the world of consulting. I spent 50-60 hours a week for a solid year developing software to manage software. It felt recursive. Then this blog really took a back seat. I’ve let AdamBourg.com and Prodevmentor.com sit, Pro dev has expired and my own site has site idle for years. It’s a waste really.
Living the dream: Working from home
Published: 05/02/2018
It has long been my dream to be my own boss, set my own schedule and travel the world. I often dreamed of the idea of being able to work from home, make money and set myself free from the open workspace or cube farms of the office world.
Installing Kotlin on Windows
Published: 05/01/2018
Installing Kotlin on Windows can be difficult, hopefully this guide will help you.
Using Artillery To Load Test
Published: 04/16/2018
Recently at work, I tasked myself with building a new test automation suite so we can start to refactor the application with low risk. One of the challenges is to ensure that performance does not decrease as we make the code higher quality.
Parsing JSON files made easy
Published: 04/12/2018
In JavaScript land I’ve discovered a neat tool to help you parse JSON easier and faster. I’m going to give you a sample of a JSON, I need you to parse the JSON and give me a array of all students names.
Deploying a Node.JS application to Azure
Published: 04/02/2018
My new job has taken me to interesting new adventures. This job has introduced me to the fun of trying to get Node.JS and other open source tools to work with the latest versions of Windows.