Posts About Fun Things I've Learned

The Fabulous Linked List

It’s always fun to study the basics, and in this video we dive into the linked list and how to create one from scratch. Sounds ridiculous, but it can rescue an interview!

Creating a Full Text Search Engine in PostgreSQL, 2022

Writing a full text index in PostgreSQL is an art form. You need to know what your users are looking so you can build the right index AND you need to understand how they write their search terms. Thankfully, Postgres is here to help.

What's the Difference Between Vue 2.0 and Vue 3.0?

The third version of a framework, library or tool generally sucks, at least in my experience. Will this be the case with Vue 3? Let’s find out!

What's Your Exit Plan?

Retirement is one thing, being where you want to be and doing what you want to do when your current job is finished in another thing entirely. What’s your exit strategy?

Importing a CSV Into PostgreSQL Like a Pro

Importing data into PostgreSQL can be time consuming and painful – unless you toss the GUI tools and use scripts.

Big-O, In Anger

Understanding Big O has many real world benefits, aside from passing a technical interview. In this post I’ll provide a cheat sheet and some real world examples.

What’s the Best Hashing Algorithm for Storing Passwords?

I’ve written a few authentication routines in my career and I’ve made sure to always hash sensitive user information. The thing is: I usually Googled which hashing algorithm to use and asked friends’ advice. Turns out there’s more than just bcrypt… and now I know when and why to choose something different.

Turning a Blog Into a Book

I'm fascinated by people's stories and the decisions they made to move their career forward or, in some cases, backwards. I decided to take that to a whole new level with my friend Troy Hunt. We're turning his blog into a book...

Postgres For Those Who Can't Even, Part 3 - In The Real World

This is part 3 of a series of posts I’m writing for Friendo, a web person who wants to get their hands a lot dirtier with Node and Postgres. You can read part 1 here, and part 2 here, where we...

Postgres For Those Who Can’t Even, Part 2 - Working with Node and JSON

Getting up to speed with Postgres and Node can be daunting but in this post I'll dive into how you can easily work with both - including JSON document storage... in Postgres!

PostgreSQL For Those Who Can’t Even, Part 1

Just yesterday I was talking to a friend about Postgres (not uncommon) and he said something that I found shocking: I can’t even with Postgres, I know JACK SQUAT This person calls themself my...

Fine Tuning Full Text Search with PostgreSQL 12

Full Text Indexing in PostgreSQL is easy... and it's not. It's not difficult to do simple keyword searches, but fine-tuning your index with weighting and parsing rules takes some effort.

Virtual, Computed Columns in PostgreSQL 12

PostgreSQL 12 introduced a feature I've long wished for: computed columns that are indexable and stored on disk! They're amazing and in this post I'll show you how they work and how things kind of go...

WTF is Big O Notation?

Understanding Big O has many real world benefits, aside from passing a technical interview. In this post I'll provide a cheat sheet and some real world examples.

PostgreSQL Tools for the Visually Inclined

I started my career on the Microsoft stack building forms and websites using drag and drop tools. Over time that became a punchline, which is unfortunate because honestly, the productivity was insane...

Mod and Remainder are not the Same

A remainder and a modulus look so very similar, but they are not the same thing and worse, are treated differently by different programming languages. Do you know how your language handles mod?

Transactional Data Operations in PostgreSQL Using Common Table Expressions

Working with Common Table Expressions in PostgreSQL is easy and straightforward. You can insert, update and delete data easily, all in one operation, within a single transaction.

Simple Monthly Reports in PostgreSQL Using generate_series

Working with dates and series of dates is easy in PostgreSQL, especially using generate_series.

Setting Up a Fast, Comprehensive Search Routine With PostgreSQL

One of the joys of working with PostgreSQL is the ability to run full-text searches right out of the box. But how do you set this up? Better yet: when should you use full-text indexing and how would...

The Logical Disaster of Null

I'm in the middle of writing the next volume of The Imposter's Handbook and I found myself down a Rabbit Hole from the very outset: how can we, as programmers, justify the existence of null in our...

My New Book About PostgreSQL, Data and Saturn: A Curious Moon

I just released a new book about PostgreSQL, Saturn, and Cassini! Quite possibly the most fun I've had writing about data and databases.

Dumb CS Problems And Your Next Job

Going through a coding interview is not fun. The questions you're asked can come off as pointless - there's a reason you're asked these things, however.

JSONB and PostgreSQL: Work Faster By Ditching Migrations

I am not a fan of migrations - never have been and probably never will be. They were interesting when Rails first came out, but now they're pure friction.

PostgreSQL Document API Part 4: Complex Queries

This is the final post of an experiment with PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL Document API Part 2: Full Text Search and Bulk Save

Having fun with this one! Let's see how to run a full text search.

PostgreSQL Document API Part 3: Finding Things

Let's roll together simple finding methods so we can easily locate our documents.

Designing a PostgreSQL Document API

You know we're just one extension away from a MongoDB compliant interface... let's see how this might work.

Document Storage Gymnastics with Postgres

'Should I use Postgres or NoSQL?' is a common question I get. Why not both, friendo?

Embracing SQL In Postgres

People love to abstract SQL with ORMs and I get it - coding is hard. The power that comes with learning the language is unbelievable, especially with Postgres.

It's Time To Get Over That Stored Procedure Aversion You Have

There is a lot of opinion about stored procedures out there that are just...

Using Custom Types in Postgres

I'm building out a pretty detailed application using Postgres and Node - mostly Postgres - trying to flex as much of its power as I can. For me, this means kicking ORMs to the curb and relying on Postgres' amazing function features

Repositories On Top UnitOfWork Are Not a Good Idea

There is a trend in the .NET space of trying to abstract EF behind a Repository. This is a fundamentally bad idea and hopefully I'll explain why.

Try It Quiet

At NDC 2012, I was set to give a talk on NodeJS, and what it's like to work with it. I dislike the quick "hey neat wow" demos - but how do you show what it's like on a daily basis to a room full of people who have likely never tried it?