Who knew that 80% of money transfers and 95% of ATM swipes are still powered by programs written in COBOL? This is very good news for retired COBOL programmers who want to keep doing a bit of work. It is also good news for younger developers who learned to program in COBOL to take some […]
If you follow the news about the labor market, you know that the unemployment rate is extremely low. Job creation continues at a strong pace. Even people who weren't previously looking for work have taken notice—and they are feeling optimistic enough about their chances that they, too, have started applying for jobs. These factors cut […]
In business, summer is typically slow when it comes to...well, everything. Not the least of the slow-downs is the revolving door of people coming and going from vacations. Decision makers are OOO (out of office), approvals for spending are challenging to chase down, and job interviews are often difficult to get scheduled. So, if you […]
Node Package Manager (NPM) is a great tool that brings order to the world of open source JavaScript software, and its CLI is an excellent extension to our software development toolset. However, as a software solution ages it can be difficult to keep NPM dependencies up to date and consistent across all development and build […]
Recently, Stout Systems had the pleasure of being the food sponsor for the Great Lakes Michigan .NET Users Group meeting. We love attending these users group meetings because not only does it help us keep abreast of the latest technological advancements, it also allows us to interact with whom we consider to be the cream […]
Is Custom Software Right for your Business? I know, I know… Not another buy-versus-build article. But wait. What if the buy-versus-build decision could be boiled down to a few simple yes/no questions? Well, it can! Question 1: Is there a software package, Web site or mobile application that comes close to delivering what you need? […]
"If you were to walk on stage, what theme song would be playing…?" I find that most people in the field of technology are not fans of this type of interview question. "I'm a Java developer!" I can hear some of you saying. "Does an employer really benefit from knowing what theme song I want […]
Which of these descriptions best fits your software development team? (1) The team is highly integrated with the rest of the company and its customers. (2) The team is shoved off in a corner. If your circumstances more closely match the first scenario, well done you. By design or by accident, your structure is helping […]
Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he That every man in arms should wish to be? (William Wordsworth, 1807) If you're at all inclined to read poetry, William Wordsworth describes in extensive detail who The Happy Warrior is. Among other things, "his high endeavours are an inward light that makes the path before him […]
This is my 4th and final article about my experiences choosing a new modern tech stack. I originally described my requirements and process for choosing a stack, detailed why Angular didn't meet my needs, and then took a detour through some common build tools. In this article I'll talk about the framework I selected and […]