Every once and a while it is good to have a fresh start.
If you are anything like me, you are probably thinking about the potential landmines of a File > New. It seems to be a developer’s base instinct to restart projects from the ground up. I could go into the why, but if you are a developer you know what I’m talking about.
However, the last blog, while dormant for a while, had years of history to it and was a little hard to cut loose.
That blog saw me through 8 years of being a Microsoft MVP. It helped to secure me several magazine articles, speaking engagements, and even a few projects.
It identified me as a subject matter expert for Silverlight’s PivotViewer. That led me to invitations to Microsoft to participate in launches and afforded me the opportunity to meet some amazing engineers.
I’ve met many developers at conferences across the country that have enjoyed and found some of my posts helpful. It was always an unexpected privilege to have those encounters.
So if I had a blog that had so much history, why start from scratch?
First, the blog had simply grown stale. I hadn’t touched it much in years. The tech that could be found in its posts had grown outdated and even unavailable. It saddened me a bit to see it in that shape.
Second, as a developer, the tech stack simply didn’t interest me anymore. I will be the first to tell you that a WordPress blog is a perfect choice to start a blog. The reason is simple, you are starting a blog to write and share knowledge, not to build a blogging platform.
But I found myself wanting to be inspired by the tech stack and couldn’t shake the desire. So I finally gave into it. While efficiency is normally key, there are times where art wins over function.
In a world of boilerplate code, CoPilot, ChatGPT, etc, I truly feel that the art of coding is being lost. So I decided to migrate to something new. To learn something new. To start a blog that required new skills, a new language, but the result would be streamlined and clean. I landed on building a static site with Hugo.
So far I’ve really enjoyed it. As I continue to tweak and learn the features of the platform, I’ve been impressed with its simplicity and elegance. Consider me inspired again…
Ok, I’m rambling at this point. So we know it’s a new blog on a new platform, but who is this blog for?
Well, first and foremost, this blog is for me. I’ve met so many developers who want to start a blog for others. To build a following. To gain notoriety. To be popular.
While these can definitely be results of a consistent blogger, I think it misses the point. A blog’s principal audience should be the developer writing it.
A technical blog should be considered a journal. With its pages full of detailing the things a developer is working on, wanting to learn, or excited about.
The act of creating a post requires a solid understanding of the material. Without it, the information wouldn’t make any sense. You must truly know something to be able to effectively teach it.
In fact, that is why I feel every developer should have a blog. Do you have yours yet?
But I digress…
The focus of this blog…
While I spend my time working in many different tech stacks, .NET is still my true passion. From building Azure functions and web apps to desktop and mobile to even console apps, I’ve worked with .NET since it’s beginnings (yep, I’m that old…)
The blog will be dedicated to that love. While you might see trends of a particular topic from time to time, expect me to explore and share lessons, features, and howtos across the entire ecosystem.
If you made it this far into this post, I thank you. I’m truly looking forward to building out this blog and sharing it with you.
Something new that I am starting with this blog is a newsletter. Not only will it cover what is going with this blog, but with the ecosystem as a whole.
I’d love to share that with you and ask you to join my newsletters by clicking here .
Happy coding….