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 […]
Over the years, I've collected a surprisingly long list of things you can do--or not do--that can make or break an interview. I selected the ones that I think are the most important and impactful. I recommend that candidates take the time to review this list both at home as well as shortly before going […]
This year I had the opportunity join my Stout Systems colleagues at CodeMash for the first time. If you’re not familiar with it, CodeMash is a software developers’ conference hosted in Sandusky, Ohio each January. Apparently, it’s a tradition that CodeMash’s opening or closing be marked by a blizzard, and this year did not disappoint! […]
I hate buying a new car. As if driving to multiple dealerships and test-driving a dozen or more vehicles isn't bad enough, I then ultimately have to agonize over choosing between my top two or three picks. Not a lot of fun for an over-analyzer like myself. Yet it seems that so much of life […]
Tech Stack Modernization Volumes 1 and 2 covered my thought process behind modernization and a review of Angular. Volume 4 will review my selected framework, (spoiler: it's Vue.JS), but before I get there I want to write a bit about Webpack and NPM. Both of these are tools that can be used with any tech […]