One of the reasons it took me so long to actually start this blog – besides having the time to actually write for it – was that setting up a web server and keeping it up and running seemed like such an ordeal. I remember setting up a tomcat server back in college with a static IP that was an absolute nightmare. Thankfully, I discovered Amazon Web Services and realized how easy it can be to run […]
This week I became officially certified as an AWS Solution Architect after passing the certification test. It certainly wasn’t easy, but now I get to hang out in the certification lounge at Amazon Web Services events like the NYC Summit and re:Invent. Ok sure, there’s also the prestige of demonstrating my knowledge of AWS and proving to myself that I have a good understanding of it, but it’s really all about getting that sweet badge […]
A little while ago, I began managing a new team with a bunch of new team members reporting in to me. In order to help get them to know me better and understand the way I work, I decided to write a manager README. Inspired by some great engineering leadership READMEs I found online, I noted down my own values, priorities, and way of doing things so that my new team could quickly get a […]
Chaos Engineering is taking over the world. Chaos Engineering provides a valuable framework and methodology to help teams better understand their complex systems and the behavior of them during real world events. It strives to help improve user experiences by validating assumptions about resiliency and detecting failures in systems before users experience these problems during a real issue. I love showing teams how to begin instituting Chaos Engineering in their organizations, but I tend to […]
In order to outpace competitors, technology companies need to move faster in delivering features of value to their customers. Those who hit the market first often emerge as winners due to networking and first mover effects. While some companies can beat others with similar features based on size along, notably Instagram and Facebook, most companies need to maximize delivery speed to win. Methodologies like Agile or Extreme Programming seek to reduce development cycles with the […]
As systems grow in size, they inherently grow in complexity. As complexity increases, systems eventually reach a point where no single individual can reasonably understand the entirety. At this point, when the interactions between components are unpredictable, the system becomes chaotic. This chaos can manifest in many ways including unintended retry storms, broken and degraded experiences for users, and often, cascading failures of an entire system. Rather than letting users discover this chaos, Chaos Engineering […]
Everyone is talking about Blockchain. As the technology that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the idea of a decentralized distributed secure ledger has struck a chord with those in a wide variety of industries. The secure and distributed nature of blockchain is being explored for usages in payments, legal contracts, and even health care. Chances are your bank is already dabbling in the technology. But the hardest challenge for blockchain yet might be getting kids […]
I recently read a great post on Medium about how some people had gotten into software development and thought sharing my experiences might be interesting as well. Believe it or not, I didn’t always know I wanted to study computer science or work in technology. I actually vacillated several times both in high school when deciding where to apply and then again in college with what to major in. At one point I thought I’d […]
If you love Amazon Chime, and who doesn’t, you’ve probably already embraced it as a widespread communication platform for your team. Since moving to Chime a few months ago, my team has moved almost all communication onto it. We have a team chat room, rooms for individual projects, rooms for scheduling and coordinating testing, and ones for a variety of on-the-side projects and hobbies. We use it exclusively for scheduled meetings and adhoc conversations especially […]
What’s more complex, a large-scale distributed system or a child. For parents, it’s obvious. At least systems tend to behave rationally. However, much like children, large systems are inherently complex. As complexity increases, unforeseen behavior emerges and causes unpredictable results. Sound like a child? Chaos Engineering, a software engineering methodology, aims to understand that complexity through experiments. Chaos Engineering is the practice of utilizing experiments to better understand complex systems by intentionally causing chaos and measuring […]