Everyone has a blog these days, so I thought why not? The idea that my words may help even one single person is for me as good a reason as any to write them. But what is this blog about?

To be honest I only have a draft idea in my head but the general purpose is to share with you some bits and bytes I've harvested during my journey as a software engineer regardless of seniority level.

The challenge? — Keep the reading time to roughly a-bathroom-break long.

And to warn you while it's still early; I may be writing fantasy mini novels when I'm not writing code but don't go looking for fancy words in here as you won't find any. Now, enough with the chit-chat, let's get started.

What's a software engineer?

Some might say that a software engineer is someone that metabolizes coffee into code, but the truth is that a software engineer is not defined by their ability to write code. What defines this role is the ability to come forward against a complex problem, analyze it, tear it down to pieces, and then employ a series of principles, patterns, and practices in order to solve it. Writing the code is simply the cherry on top of a very large cake that's constructed of many smaller cakes.

“First, solve the problem. Then, write the code.” – John Johnson

But, eventually, what is code?

Code is just a set of instructions. Typing bunches of said instructions in an editor is called hacking.

So, what do you need to write code? — A programming language and an editor. Which programming language? — Any; but in this case Java.

If you're interested in Node.js & Typescript — I know a guy 😉!

Wait, so anyone can write code?

Well, yes — but actually, no. Anyone can eventually write code but not everyone can write clean, maintainable, and testable code.

“Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.” – Martin Fowler

This is a work of art, and like any craft, it's hard to master, but don't worry — I'm here to help!

Welcome to Coding Mantis!