Introduction

Thrilling, mentally stimulating, terrifying, confusing, and potentially life changing – a career in software development can be any of these things, and often more than one at a time. There is not really anything quite like it.

The span of topics that someone can encounter is, in one word, awesome. Experienced practitioners regularly bump up against entirely unfamiliar concepts. The routine is intimidating, and humbling. The best thing we can do is to be honest about our struggles, to be forthcoming with knowledge sharing, and to earnestly attempt to improve the experience for those who come after us.

It is the author’s hope that new software engineers, web developers, programmers, hackers, and any other curious soul finds these documents useful.

Because of this wide target audience, language is kept simple where possible. Complex language creates barriers, and prevents growth. Simplicity promotes understanding.