Prerequisites This article builds on the prior article: Koa. Dockertize Now that we have a simple application running and testable locally, we need to figure out a way to package and deploy it to other machines (i.e. Development and Production). We could install NodeJS on a machine and copy the...

Prerequisites This article builds on the prior article: Unit Testing. Shift Left DevOps Before we write code, we look at first principles. A key principle is: “shorten feedback loops”. We can acheive this by automating the steps leading up to validating what we’re building. This is one reason we focus...

Prerequisites This article builds on the prior article: Introduction. Unit Testing We plan on using Test Driven Development so we need to set up some sort of unit testing framework. For this task we’re turning to Jasmine. Mocha/Chai/Sinon and Jest are also popular options. They are all similar but the...

Summary Most AWS microservice articles only show you the tip of the iceberg. We certainly can’t blame the article authors. For starters, the SAM squirrel mascot is so darned cute! But more importantly, we all know that standing up a production web service involves far more considerations than you could...

Background For the last 20 years, I’ve had some sort of automated home system. Around a year ago I added Google Home and voice controlled automation. To do this, I used HA Bridge to emulate a Phillips Hue Hub to connect my X10 lights to the Google Home. Problem In...

I recently presented on the topic of Definition of Done at our Monday Meetup. The purpose of the game was to help our teammates understand what “done” means. As a product owner, I hear a lot of keywords thrown around in the Agile Development process; Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Minimum...

I recently wanted to unit test a method that assigned a delegate to an event handler. I derived a way to use Reflection for asserting that the delegate was attached. This article explains my solution. Note: If you are looking for information on C# events and delegates, I recommend you...

In nearly a decade of experience in recruitment, I’ve been fortunate to work with several adept hiring managers and skilled technical people. Working with these people has provided me the opportunity to gain various insights into the interview process from both parties as interviewer and interviewee. The focus of this...

As an Agile coach, I am always reflecting on my experiences and looking for ways to help others improve. Recently I hired a contractor to complete a home improvement project. It didn’t go very well. Let me share what went wrong and how I think using Agile techniques would have...

As I head back to school at Northwestern this fall, I am sure I will hear, “What did you do this summer?” 100 times. My response will be “Well, let me tell you about my experience as an apprentice at Source Allies.” From day one, myself and four other apprentices...