Why Software Development Is A Lot Like Building With Unlimited Legos

Hey Hackers! I’m Mike Wolfe and I’m the MikeTechGame.

First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2021 Noonies award! I’ve been nominated in the following categories please do check out these award pages and vote:

1. Contributor of the Year - dotnet

   
   

2. Contributor of the Year - front-end-development

   
   

3. Contributor of the Year - java

   
   

4. Contributor of the Year - python3

   
   

5. Contributor of the Year - sql

As someone in the software development industry, I believe that the most exciting technology of the present is the Internet of Things because it helps simplify our lives while giving us more useful tools that allow us to do more than what humans have ever done before. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on software development and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.

1. What do you do and why do you do it?

One of my favorite analogies to use about software development is that it’s like building with an unlimited amount of Lego’s. I greatly enjoyed building things (Legos especially) early in life, but always seemed to be running out of pieces. That is until discovered the world of coding and realized that there is so much it can do to help make things simpler, automate the boring stuff, and build amazing applications. It’s also really fun too!

2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!

During the day, I have a regular 8 - 5 job where I mainly do a lot of backend software development (APIs, scheduled tasks, etc.) and occasionally some frontend dev too (MVC, VueJS). After work is where the real fun begins because I do a lot more dabbling with DevOps, IoT devices, and applications to automate simple tasks. It was during these experiments, that I started writing about what I was doing in an attempt to connect with more people and have them critique what I was doing.

3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?

At the end of high school, I decided to take a gamble and go to college to learn about Cyber Security/Digital Forensics. Eventually, I realized that I liked what was happening behind the scenes with these tools instead of using them (Autopsy especially). This is where I discovered programming and awesome it is!

4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?

As I mentioned earlier, the Internet of Things is the technology that currently has me really excited. Especially once you start using Raspberry Pis around your house for different things such as VPNs, Home Security, Rain gauges, outlet controller, etc. Again, these devices have helped us humans automate so many simple tasks and given us so many useful tools.

5. What tech are you most worried about right now and why?

Artificial Intelligence is a great technology that can be extremely useful for businesses and scientists. However, we need to careful nurture advancements in this area and make sure this progress is conducted ethically.

6. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

With that kind of money, I would invest in renewable energy and hydroponic farming. The world today desperately needs to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels. Not trying to get into a global warming argument here, but we only have a limited amount of this resource and once it’s gone, it’s gone. As for hydroponic farming, this could be useful in helping reduce food deserts. It’s not a perfect solution, because it does have limitations, but it’s a good place to start.

7. What are you currently learning?

Over the past year, I have been diving head first into Kubernetes and Docker. Containers and container orchestration seemed like a good alternative to the individual servers that I used have set up on my server rack. Maintaining a cluster has so far proven to be more cost effective from a hardware perspective.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?

Throughout my software development career, I have come across a few interns who were unsure of what to do when the company we worked for offered them a position. My advice to them was if they felt like they’ve learned everything they can and don’t see any forward progression in their careers with this company, then don’t be afraid to turn down the offer and join a company where they will have an opportunity for you to grow.

9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

In a middle school and high school, I participated pretty heavily in the sports cross country and track and field. My dad would always wish me luck and tell me to not get depressed if someone beats me because in life, there is always going to be someone better than you. Those words have helped me numerous times throughout my races, college, work and just life in general.

About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards

The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.

The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.