Things worth writing down
Notes on technology leadership, architecture decisions and what contracting is actually like. Written while doing the work rather than afterwards.
Legacy Modernization
Why I Still Believe in the Web Forms to MVC Rewrite: A Case for Transitional Architecture
28 Dec 2025
Modernisation projects are often framed in extremes: you either rewrite everything from scratch or do nothing at all. But real-world...
Architecture Decisions
White-Labelling at Scale: The Challenge Behind the BenPal Portal
26 Dec 2025
One of the most technically rewarding challenges I faced at JLT Development was architecting support for white-labelling within the...
Architecture Decisions
Why I Push Back on SQL-Driven Architectures (and When They Still Make Sense)
24 Dec 2025
If there's one architectural debate that seems to resurface in every project, it's whether business logic belongs in the application...
Architecture Decisions
Designing a Booking Calendar That Doesn't Break Under Load
22 Dec 2025
One of the most technically demanding features I built at Holiday Caravans Direct (HCD) was the booking calendar. It sounds simple on the...
Technical Leadership
The Moment I Realised I Was Leading, Not Just Coding
20 Dec 2025
It didn't happen in a meeting. It wasn't announced with a title. There was no handover, no ceremony. But one day at Activus, mid-project,...
Tech Toolbox
The Power of SpecFlow and BDD in Real-World .NET Projects
18 Dec 2025
In many organisations, Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) and tools like SpecFlow are mentioned with enthusiasm but rarely implemented...
Architecture Decisions
Architectural Storytelling with Diagrams: Why Flow Beats Structure
16 Dec 2025
In architectural discussions, diagrams are often treated as a formality—a box-ticking exercise for documentation. But I see them...
Legacy Modernization
From Legacy Systems to Modern APIs: Rebuilding for Performance at HCD
14 Dec 2025
Holiday Caravans Direct (HCD) wasn't just a platform rebuild — it was a complete technical evolution. When I stepped into the project, I...
Contractor Career
Your First Contract Role: What You Think Will Be Hard vs What Actually Is
4 Sept 2025
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...
Technical Leadership
Why JLT Was My Last True Professional Environment
3 Sept 2025
Some roles leave a lasting impression not because of what they taught you technically, but because of how they redefined your standards....
Architecture Decisions
Revisiting the Strangler Pattern: How to Carve Monoliths with Precision
2 Sept 2025
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...
Technical Leadership
The Hidden Impact of a Mentor
1 Sept 2025
Not every lesson comes from someone you admire. In fact, one of the most influential people in my development journey was someone I...
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