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Here's to One of Many Blog Posts

As the end of 2017 neared I decided there had to be some changes in my professional life.  I wasn't sure exactly what kind of changes were needed but after 22 years of software/web development (17 with my current employer) it was time.

At my first place of employment, I developed primarily in Visual Basic with Access as our database.  We eventually transitioned to SQL Server right before leaving there.  I'll cover more about what I accomplished there in a later Blog post.

And now after about 17 years with my current employer, I transitioned into more into web programming as we have developed our own internal intranet with software fit to meet the needs of our business.  We still use Classic ASP, yes I know, but when something's not broke, don't fix it right!?  Working for a smaller company, not as many changes are needed when it comes to software development.  So, we still use Classic ASP, and I have pretty much becoming an expert in it using VBScript, JavaScript, and various pieces of jQuery.  We also use SQL Server and I have become pretty verse in Transact SQL as well. (I will touch base on the detail of my work here later)

So that brings us to today!  January 2018.  Sometimes you get in a rut of doing the same thing over and over.  Writing queries for reports, troubleshooting small bugs, etc.  Then as you get another year older, you're like, wait, is this what I'm going to do the rest of my life?  The same ole code, the same ole routine. 

I consider myself a self motivated individual but sometimes we are comfortable with what we know.  So, I decided it was time to learn more coding languages, read more books in the field of software and technology, become involved in networking groups, and try to grow more professionally not just in the field of software development, but as an all around business person.

So, I did some research and made some goals for 2018.  One of those goals was to read more books in the software/tech industry. I came across the book called Soft Skills - The Software Developer's Life Manual by John Z. Sonmez.  First, let me say that this book is really good!  It doesn't talk about code but it does talk about the intangible skills necessary to succeed.  It definitely help show me a different perspective for software developers.

And, one of the suggestions in the book was to start a blog!  So, here I am starting my blog, and hopefully it's my first post of many!  So thank you John Z. Sonmez for the great book and the great ideas within it!  You can find John's book (along with some other books) and his blog by clicking here


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