Blog Reboot

It’s been a while

  • 3 minutes to read

It’s been a long time since I’ve last updated this blog – and I think I’m finally ready to reboot it.

A lot has changed since my last article nearly 3 years ago:

  • I changed jobs a number of times, and am now begrudgingly working as a Go developer professionally.
  • I found new love of the Rust programming language and started writing rust projects in my spare time.
  • I’ve learned a lot about working in domains ranging from GCP to working embedded on Texas Instruments SoCs .
  • I haven’t written any practical C++ in nearly a year.

I have a lot to talk about, and hope to use this blog as somewhere I can share my knowledge and experiences with others that hope to learn and grow from them.

Why did you stop? ↑

I’d love to say that I live a busy life, and that the above life changes are to blame for why I haven’t been posting; but the truth is this: it’s hard to write a blog, and it’s hard to put yourself out there.

I got discouraged. Comments weren’t always constructive. This resulted in some people focusing on negatives rather than contributing positively to the conversation; which took its toll on me. When you write a blog for free to try to provide useful information for others and receive negative feedback, it becomes difficult to find that motivation to keep writing. I write this in my spare time, after all.

What I needed, was to find my motivation again.

What motivates you? ↑

When I was in University, I came across some amazing blogs from talented developers. Stefan Reinalter of Molecular Musings , and Jonathan of foonathan::blog() are two big ones that come to mind that really imprinted on me. It got me excited about software. Excited about learning new arcane and esoteric things that I wouldn’t learn in any normal book. I am deeply greatful for their writings, as it helped mold me into the curious developer I am today.

Blogs like those are what motivate me to write, and are why I enjoy teaching others. I aspire to make others excited about learning things in the same way that their articles once inspired me. If I can reach even one person this way, that will make it all worth it for me.

Looking Forward ↑

So what can you, as readers, hope to see from this blog reboot?

First off, I’m renaming this from @bitwizeshift on software to the more cheeky “As told by Matt”. As for what will practically change, my goal is this:

  • At least biweekly updates – though the goal will be to put out an article weekly. Lets see how this goes.
  • Topics will be far more broad than before. I hope to include articles on Rust, Go, Github, repository automation, embedded, software design/architecture, etc.
  • Every once in a while, I may pick on a common trend that can/should be done better.

I have a few topics on my agenda that I hope to cover, in no particular order. Some things are part-rant and part-idealism/perfectionism; but all will be educational:

  1. How to set up ideal repository automation,
  2. Practical examples of SOLID principles aiding long-term scalability and maintainability of software,
  3. The right and wrong way to manage repositories
  4. Various insights into working with Go in practical software
  5. Various insights into taking your first steps into working with Rust, coming from a C or C++ project.

If any of this interests you, then check out my posts as they land!

This whole blog is hosted on Github , and I will be leveraging the Discussions feature for marking new announcements. You can also star this repository to pay attention to updates.

Cheers!

Matt