From Legacy Systems to Modern APIs: Rebuilding for Performance at HCD
Holiday Caravans Direct (HCD) wasn't just a platform rebuild — it was a complete technical evolution. When I stepped into the project, I...
Your First Contract Role: What You Think Will Be Hard vs What Actually Is
Making the leap into contracting can feel like a major career shift - and it is. Before I took on my first contract at Activus, I'd spent...
Why JLT Was My Last True Professional Environment
Some roles leave a lasting impression not because of what they taught you technically, but because of how they redefined your standards....
Revisiting the Strangler Pattern: How to Carve Monoliths with Precision
When faced with a monolith, many teams reach for microservices as the escape hatch. But a rewrite is rarely the answer. In fact, I'd...
The Hidden Impact of a Mentor
Not every lesson comes from someone you admire. In fact, one of the most influential people in my development journey was someone I...
How Building a Caravan Booking Platform Made Me a Better Architect
When I joined Holiday Caravans Direct (HCD), I didn't expect the experience would shape the core of how I think about software...
Bootstrap, jQuery and Drag-and-Drop: Crafting Rich Interfaces Without React or Vue
Before SPAs became the default approach to front-end development, crafting rich user interfaces meant getting creative with simpler...
Balancing Code and Company: The Hidden Costs of Being a Technical Contractor
When people think about contracting, they often focus on the freedom. Choose your clients. Set your rates. Work when and where you want....
Why Compile-Time Safety Still Wins in a Rapid Development World
In today's development landscape, speed often takes centre stage. Teams move fast, iterate quickly, and lean on tools that allow for...
Guiding Teams Through Technological Change: Reflections on Mentorship at Activus
When I joined Activus as a contractor, the primary goal was to modernise a large VB6 Windows Forms application. But what I found waiting...
When Development Becomes a Trade: Reflections on Identity in Software Careers
It was a throwaway comment. One of those things said in passing that somehow sticks with you longer than it should. A colleague once...
Lessons from Lyons Davidson: When Framework Abstraction Goes Wrong
One of the most valuable lessons I've learned in my career didn't come from a technical book or a mentor—it came from a misstep. While...