Mike Rötgers

Over the past few months I’ve written an extensive tutorial on how to build software applications with Node.js and React. I’m sorry to tell you that this experience didn’t teach me anything about B2B sales, though. But hopefully, it’s still useful for some people out there. From the introduction: The approach of this tutorial is to teach its readers how to build a fully working software application from zero to production. This means two things: 1. You are not required to have done any kind of software development before getting started with this tutorial. It will introduce and explain everything that is needed to build applications in full detail, assuming no prior knowledge or experience. This is the “from zero” part. 2. Building on the foundational knowledge it teaches in the first half, the tutorial will then, step by step, guide you through the process of building a real, full-fledged, and completely working software application, again explaining every detail along the way, and shows how to “deploy” that application — that is, how to make that application available on the Internet for anyone to use. This is the “to production” part. Speaking of B2B sales: I’m afraid you cannot buy this tutorial. That’s because I’m making it available for free, as a series of posts on my blog. The first three parts are already published: https://lnkd.in/e2XCYm3p https://lnkd.in/eW7wUc_d https://lnkd.in/eAU6kgH9 No, you do not need to sign up to my newsletter to get access to the tutorial. That’s mainly because I don’t have a newsletter. Also, no need to follow me (although admittedly, it might help to get you notified whenever I’m publishing a new chapter). Furthermore, please don’t be disappointed if clicking on the tutorial links won’t present you with a cookie banner. That’s because my blog doesn’t use any cookies. No, not even those from Google Analytics, as I’m not using that either. This means I will have no idea how many people will read the tutorial — which makes sense because let’s face it, who is going to consume this kind of long-form, deep-dive technical content nowadays anyway. And in text-only form, of all things! Should you nevertheless decide to dive into the text, expect to learn how to program using JavaScript and TypeScript, how to use these languages to build rock-stable backend applications with Node.js as well as elegant frontend applications with React and Redux, and finally, how publish a complete and integrated software solution on Amazon AWS. Ok, that’s it. If you want to access the bonus chapters, simply subscribe to… — just kidding. There are no bonus chapters. Everything you need to learn to build useful software products is right in the… normal chapters, I guess? Happy reading!

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Imagine getting a whopping 𝟕𝟓% discount offer! 😲💰 Just the other day, I sat down with a client over coffee in Duisburg. They had software development needs that typically would cost around $𝟏𝟐𝐊 with experienced developers from a German company. However, after some careful analysis, I was able to estimate the project at only $𝟑-𝟒𝐊. How did I pull off such massive savings? Well, it's all about the power of Right Outsourcing! By tapping into the talent pool of South Asian professionals, we're able to offer top-notch services at a fraction of the cost. ✨ With lower living expenses in countries like India and Pakistan, we can pass on those savings to our clients, slashing expenses by 𝟔𝟔.𝟔𝟕% 𝐭𝐨 𝟕𝟓%. But it's not just about the savings - it's about quality too! 🌟 Remote workers from these areas bring a wealth of skill and expertise to the table. And with Right Outsourcing handling all the management and recruiting tasks, clients in Europe can relax knowing their project is in good hands. 🔒💼 Ready to experience high-quality work at an unbeatable price? Send me a DM, and let's chat! #RightOutsourcing #Quality #AffordablePrice

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👉We have been chatting to a couple of new clients in Germany this week, about using freelance Developers/Engineers outside of Germany (Nearshore), the same questions pop up; ✔How do we know if they are good or not? ✔How much can we save? ✔How quickly can they start? 👀Like anything, there is pros and cons to everywhere, but we have built a network of Freelance Nearshore Engineers who have been rigorously vetted with technical expertise guaranteed, that could save you a 50% reduction on your current freelance rates. If you are interested to understand more about this option and how this could help your business. 🚨Feel free to book a call in my Calendly and let’s see if we can help - https://lnkd.in/eygXyhaz

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Developers these days are so darned lazy. And cheap. OK, sorry, that was not fair. Developers have always been lazy and cheap. I was really surprised by this when I started out as a software developer, fresh out of college 25 years ago. I noticed that whenever my more experienced colleagues were asked to add new functionality, the first thing they did was to check if there was pre-existing code that did the job. Preferably free. This blew my mind. But as I thought more about it, it made sense. Especially after I attended a Business Strategy class at Southern Methodist University SMU Cox School of Business. Build vs Buy vs Reuse is a part of Business Strategy. Why build or buy something if it is freely available? When we start with something good-enough that is freely available, we can customize it to our needs. And if it is well-maintained, we get free upgrades. This frees up more time and money for us to build things that no one else can build as well as us, which makes customers very happy. It reduced the TCO (total cost of ownership) of our solutions and it increases our EBITDA, which usually makes investors very happy, which makes the board of directors very happy. So it turns out that developers are not only lazy and cheap, but they are also strategic and there is a lot we can learn from them. Especially when it comes to building Software Product Development Lifecycles. You may be tempted to reject the pre-existing frameworks and build your own because none of them are good enough for you. Newsflash! You might think you are unique and special and nobody is solving the specific kinds of problems you are. Maybe yes, maybe no. You are just as unique as every other snowflake. And while you might be doing something nobody else has done before, you don't need to develop your own SDLC. Think like a developer. Be lazy, cheap and strategic. Start with a pre-existing framework, make use of all the free training available on the market, and customize only what you need to. Your EBITDA will go up and your customers, investors and Board of Directors will be happy. You are welcome.

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Systems > SMART goals - especially in software development In April, I participated in the Berlin company run for the second time. So I was interested to see how I did compared to last year. I don't use Strava or heart rate monitors much, so I didn't know what to expect. Still, I was pretty sure I could beat last year's performance. That's because I've been doing a variety of workouts 5 times a week for the past few months. 📌 Set up a good system and the score takes care of itself The same goes for software development. If you want to increase your test coverage, start pair or ensemble programming on tests. If you want to get better at public speaking, find ways to practice in meetups and team all-hands. If you want to make progress on your project, start with a workshop and have regular discussions on Slack and in meetings. SMART goals makes sense when you have predictable processes. I don't find that useful in software development or in my personal life. And not motivating either.

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Nobody wants to spend +𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀. But many do and 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 they hired. It's not because the developers they hired were necessarily inexperienced. But the process and pricing were simply off. Many are aware of the downfall of hourly pricing - and ask for fixed pricing. Which is not much better if done poorly. Check this blog post if you want to build software with a tighter budget and still get what you want. We are expensive at first, but only because we save you much more than you spend. Pricing software projects the right way: https://lnkd.in/dQfPwm5P

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99% of CTOs I speak to avoid hiring software engineers for this reason: If you can’t: > Accept constructive feedback > Talk about a project that went wrong > Take accountability for mistakes > Acknowledge contribution of others It’s time to reassess- fast Less ego, more modesty

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MVPs shouldn't go to the bin, unless the business pivots to something else. Way too often I've seen agencies & devs building MVPs in a 'poor' way (and that's a nice way of putting it), because 'who cares, it will go to the bin anyway when you get PMF and fundraise'. I disagree. There's absolutely NO reason that your MVP should go to the bin, unless your business model or product change dramatically. And even then, a lot of boilerplate (like signup, subscriptions management, emails, etc) - can and should stay the same. If done right, that should be a given, with 0 extra effort on the dev side. If someone's quoting you to do a poor job, don't work with them. You can stay agile & lean (as a startup should) without compromising on quality, and forcing yourself to rewrite the next version of your app. When you're investing in something, especially at an early stage when money is tight, it's important to NOT buy garbage.

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Give Rails a chance, or if not, at least watch DHH's highly entertaining and inspiring RailsWorld keynote about Rails 8, especially if you are in the web development business. The sentiments about simplicity and developer empowerment really resonated with me. Even if you don't adopt Rails, it seems important to question assumptions about what modern web development is, whether it needs to be so complicated, and what effect that has on business. I'm excited to build something again...with Rails. https://lnkd.in/ggkYzjhe

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How many of your supposedly internal-only backends are serving critical end-user traffic? Probably more than you think! Most frontend services have many transitive dependencies, and understanding these dependencies becomes increasingly difficult as your system grows in scale and complexity. As a result, it becomes exceptionally tricky to ensure that internal-only backends are fully isolated from end users. Google uses a common infrastructure platform for almost all of its services, internal and external; this provides for a message-passing mechanism common to all of these services. One outcome is that systems engineers can build accurate dependency maps of services; and that we can ensure new services only depend on other services at the same level or higher in the dependency stack. Risky dependencies — in this case, dependencies which place internal-only backends on the critical path for end users — can be a source of major production outages, because the internal-only backends do not generally have necessary reliability or safety guarantees. For example, you might have an externally-visible service that requires high levels of availability and performance, and this system has an indirect dependency on a backend with no availability or performance SLOs. At Google, we found success preventing major and huge outages by clustering services into categories with distinct properties, clear perimeters, and limited blast surfaces. The properties will depend on the guarantees we want to enforce. In this article, we use Google Maps to demonstrate how risky dependencies proliferate in complex systems, and then showcase how clustering Google Maps services into just two categories ("Internal" and "External") can prevent major and huge serving outages. We also outline how OpenTelemetry is used to identify violations of this clustering, which can be fixed before the violations cause a major serving outage. This article is based on a talk at SREcon EMEA, which you can see here: https://lnkd.in/e54b6G6p.

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I considered myself very lucky that Joshua Knox (AKA "Knox") was prepared to spend some time to record a great episode for our Talent Smart Podcast. How to take control of your career journey is now live across all your favourite podcast platforms. https://lnkd.in/edDrNFsD Joshua Knox is Cybersecurity Technologist specialising in Kubernetes and Kubernetes security. Prior to this role Knox was a Principal Engineer focusing on automation and application development Before transitioning to the IT industry, Knox was a High School teacher. For many years he taught python and javascript to his students. Once switching his career he has quickly moved through many roles, gathering certifications for Cloud, Kubernetes, and Security along the way. When he is not working with his team, you can find him working on his home lab, building a new machine, studying for his next cert, or hacking CTF boxes. To give everyone some context, we quickly chart through Knox’s career. He was a youth pastor, then a teacher and then decided to go for a career in technology. He explains more about his journey. We also covered one of the areas of concern for future employers, that the young/entry workforce/GenZ…etc are not resilient and give up too easily. Knox had some amazing insights and gave a some great advice to young employees and potential employers. This included why you should train like an athlete for your chosen career and his funnel mindset to learning. Finally, we discussed Knox’s theory on Circular Learning’ and he offered some top tips on how to take control of your career journey?

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I built this quiz in ~60 minutes yesterday - and it would be an insult to call me a developer. It is fully functional with scoring, a progress bar, and a name/email form at the end (check it out in the first comment if you want). You've probably seen a lot of cool stuff being done with AI, but maybe not when it comes to development (both front and backend). Here are some cool platforms you can use to 1) Prototype, 2) Build front-end and 3) Build back-end - but do note that the current state is mostly comparable to a junior developer. 𝐕𝟎: This NextJS/Tailwind tool lives up to its name: Version 0. It's a great way to compose a design simply by having a conversation with the bot—and it works really well. Try it out. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐫: A code editor that can help you code - the cool thing is that it can include your codebase, external docs and more. Try it out if you're a bit more technical. 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞: Claude is similar to ChatGPT, but it's better for development (I only used Claude to create the quiz - it even helped me implement it in WordPress with Formidable Forms). 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬: 1. If it's not working, tell the AI it's not working. You can upload a screenshot, error message or just describe what's going on, and it will come up with a solution. You may have to do this multiple times, and it's a skill in itself. 2. You can try all these tools for free! 3. You can prime the AI by giving it more context on what you want to achieve, rather than just a simple prompt. Find links to each platform in the comments 👇

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I spent three hours yesterday changing a Nextjs project from Vercel Postgres to Prisma ORM with the help of AI - fully working and has gone live. I am not good at JS and never used Prisma before - I learned so much about better working with GitHub Co-pilot (and Cursor as well). Here are some key takeaways: 1. Coding knowledge is essential You do need to know coding to make any project like this work - I know ORM pretty well and basic React/Nextjs (see the blog about a full-stack repo using React and SQLAlchemy I wrote a few years ago https://harrywang.me/fred) - without this knowledge, you simply don’t know what to ask and how to debug. 2. Training needed for the effective use of AI coding assistants Many developers use tools like Copilot in a basic way—e.g., generating code from comments, explaining snippets, or debugging based on error messages. However, there’s much more potential to unlock: • Project Context: learn how to provide relevant code and data files when asking questions. • File-Wide Efficiency: use features like applying changes across an entire file, viewing diffs, and committing directly within the tool can significantly boost coding productivity. Training developers to make full use of these features can make a massive difference in efficiency and outcomes. 3. Integrated developer coding experience is the key to AI coding assistants While Copilot (OpenAI-based - can use Claude in the latest update) and Cursor (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) differ in user experience, they both leverage similar underlying models. Issues unsolvable with Copilot often couldn’t be addressed by Cursor either. The key difference lies in integrated developer coding experience rather than capability - still plenty of room for improvements in coding UX for both tools. #coding #genai #copilot #cursor #education #development

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I prefer clients with unclear requirements! Yes you heard it right. In the world of app development, clarity is key. But let's be honest—requirements aren't always crystal clear from the start. And that's okay. When a customer approaches me with a vision that’s still a bit hazy, I don’t see it as a hurdle; I see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to collaborate, explore possibilities, and ultimately, bring their vision to life. And the best part is, NO ONE want to take this kind of client 😂. at URSAWHITE, Saying 'yes' to unclear requirements means committing to a journey of discovery. It’s about being a guide for the customer, helping them navigate the intricacies of their idea, and refining it into something concrete and impactful. Here’s how I approach it: 1. Active Listening: I dive deep into understanding the core of what the customer wants, even if it’s not fully defined yet. 2. Collaborative Exploration: Together, we brainstorm, iterate, and fine-tune the concept until the requirements become clear. 3. Agile Adaptation: I stay flexible, knowing that as the project evolves, so too might the requirements—and that’s perfectly normal. 4. Delivering Value: The goal is always to transform an initial spark of an idea into a functional, user-friendly app that meets the customer's needs, even if those needs were a bit fuzzy at first. Saying 'yes' to unclear requirements isn’t about taking risks; it’s about embracing the creative process and being committed to delivering value, no matter where the journey starts. Let’s turn that spark of an idea into something amazing. #AppDevelopment #CustomerCollaboration #Agile #ProductManagement #Innovation

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🚀Exciting news for my Golang network!🚀 The next exclusive Go meetup is coming to Berlin in June, and you will be able to reserve your space shortly, once all details are confirmed! If you attended last time, you'll know we have an exciting evening of technical discussion, Q+A, and interactive sessions lined up🔥 This meetup is almost fully organised and we already have 2 established speakers lined up! There is 1 space for a guest speaker remaining, so if you have any topics you would like to discuss or any suggestions for a presentation, I will be happy to hear about them! You can reach me via DM or by my email in the comments if you would like to appear as a guest speaker or to register your interest for this next exclusive Go meetup!🔜 #golang #meetup #berlin

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On Office Hours this morning: * I answered a question about whether it's worth it to look for Clojure jobs. Short answer: Clojure is a decent selection criterion. But if you find a good JS job, take it! https://lnkd.in/gUUxHYeV * I ramble on about the current chapter of my upcoming book because there were no questions. https://lnkd.in/gw99netY * Then Drew hops on and we get into a discussion of the challenges of REPL-Driven Development. https://lnkd.in/gy5xgRKZ You can always join! https://lnkd.in/gME3H3Kp

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I've been working with time-series data in my daily job for years. Even though our objectives may change depending on the problem, the data structure is generally the same. If you work in such a niche and established domain, not putting in extra effort can lead to getting stuck. That's why I find online and offline competitions-marathons valuable. You get the chance to work with and develop projects using data from various industries unrelated to your daily job, and you have to do it in a "very short" amount of time compared to a commercial end-to-end project. As a full-time employee, giving months for a learning process can lead to procrastination. This type of competitive process teaches you how to learn a topic in a planned way within a short period and how to iterate a project as quickly as possible. The things you learn while working on problems in completely different sectors help you in your own job, allowing you to find creative solutions. Don’t be fooled by people who say; 'Competitions aren't real life, jack of all trades, master of none.' Your motivation in competitions shouldn't be to become an expert in everything, but rather to see brand-new things that can help you develop different perspectives while specializing in what you love. You'll realize the importance of this process when you see that you can engage in solid technical discussions with someone who works on that problem professionally.

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The older I get the more annoyed I am with engineers not wanting (or being able to) to commit to or even mention a time to finish something. In most companies, the rest of the organisation needs deadlines for a good reason - people need to do stuff in the real world, logistics need to set up, media bought, whatever, when your precious software actually touches reality. One can argue that software is always bespoke and unique, never the same and there are always skeletons in the closet when you actually look into things. (Wow, does all this bespokeness mean frontend engineers will finally build only what’s needed, instead of my login page downloading 33MB of Javascript?) Anyway, I know. But I still think unless you do something that really haven’t been done before, assuming you can control / plan for interruptions, (ie. you have experience) you should have a good idea of how much time you need to do the work. Yet, software engineering seems to be the only kind of engineering I know of, where not being able to estimate things is advertised as a feature instead of a bug. The various flavors of agile are probably to blame, as neither of those answer the “when it will be ready” question, exactly because they don’t ask to define “it” up front. No one knows what they want, so we don’t know when that thing will be ready. Swell. So what do we do? Here are a few ideas. All come with a downside though. Continued as comments. More ideas as more comments are more than welcome.

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