Four simple steps to reduce your Webpack bundle size …

A team from Codurance (including myself) are currently helping out a client on a Javascript brownfield project. It’s a news application with a worldwide customer base and...

If you are working on a node project there may come a point where your app has a dependency on another custom module you have created.

For example, on my current project, my colleagues and I are responsible for a...

SOLID (single responsibility, open-closed, Liskov substitution, interface segregation and dependency inversion) is a set of principles popularised by ‘Uncle’ Bob Martin that aim to guide developers in implementing good software design. The principles define how Object Oriented classes...

Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend Socrates UK 2015, an annual international software craftsmanship gathering set in the scenic surroundings of Farnham, Oxfordshire. If you have not done so, I recommend attending this conference, either in England...

Merge conflicts.

Been there right?

Despite your best intentions and following the recommended advice out there (e.g. making small pull requests and merging to master often), you are bound to come across this issue more often than you’d like.

That...

Docker is a platform that allows users to build, ship, and run distributed applications. Applications are stored inside docker containers.

A docker container uses a Union File System that consists of read only layers and a read / write...

This month Codurance is celebrating its first birthday. A lot has happened during that time, including the hiring of two apprentices. One of which, I am pleased to say is me!

Three months into my apprenticeship, I thought I would...

Jenkins is an open-source continuous integration server. At Codurance, we use Jenkins to build and test projects to make sure everything is in order before handing over to the client.

Both Amir and I have just recently started at...

It’s 9am, Friday 9th May 2014. 12 weeks of intensive learning is drawing to a close. The 20 minute tube journey this morning was one of complete self-absorption as I thought back over the last twelve weeks at Makers Academy....

The clock is ticking as our time at Makers Academy quickly draws to a close. For our final project we’re making an app to help people quickly share simple data…And so far, it’s being going surprisingly well.

Sure, there...

It’s final project time

So here I am ten weeks into my time at Makers Academy. A surreal, enlightening, challenging and above all, amazing experience to say the least. The time has gone so quickly. I started learning...

So Rails, we meet again…

Prior to joining Makers Academy I had only a brief encounter with Ruby on Rails, a framework for building apps using the Ruby programming language. I built a Pinterest clone following a...

This week I developed a renewed appreciation for all those front-end developers out there. Making sites work well from both a design and user experience perspective without a doubt requires significant attention to detail. Do you go for a 6px...

This week we hit a milestone.

Halfway.

The January student cohort, who started six weeks before us, graduated and are now out in the job market, looking for work or perhaps starting up their own tech businesses. Actually, chances are,...

…And breathe.

After last week’s hard slog, it was a welcome relief to have the pace slow down ever so slightly, allowing me some mental and breathing space to complete outstanding bits and pieces on my projects, and spend...

Apologies for the sms-sized post this week…

Too busy! Normal service to resume shortly!

Things are getting very interesting…

This week at Makers Academy we kicked off with a rare opportunity to learn Git direct from the crew at Github before focusing on a single project - creating a programme that manages...

I’m only 10 days in and it’s already started to happen…I’ve started dreaming about code. One night last week, after a day of learning more Ruby language fundamentals, I dreamt that I was writing a short code loop. Once I...

Orientation, getting to grips with the basics & crotch blow-out…

Hey everyone.

Week one is complete!

It’s Saturday afternoon as I write this and I never been happier to sit on the couch! My mind is buzzing, and at...

Teaching myself to programme has been stimulating and interesting, but far from easy. There are a lot of resources out there each with their own strengths and weaknesses which vary depending on your background, your current knowledge and how you...

Hello World!

In just over a week I will begin a new chapter in my life – learning software development at Makers Academy, London.

This blog will capture my experiences and learning, my struggles as well as my...