AI

AI froze, and I coded: why developer experience matters A day when AI produced nothing reminded me why development experience still matters, and how useful it is to keep writing, learning and understanding code yourself. 10 Apr 2026 4 min read

Personal

Developer Marty 2.0 A shift towards Laravel, Statamic and a different frontend toolkit helped me rediscover the enjoyment of development, while changing how we approach projects at Mity Digital. 1 Jun 2021 8 min read

Development

Lessons learned over 20 years as a web developer Two decades of building websites have taught me plenty about performance, accessibility and staying curious, with every project offering something to carry into the next. 9 Oct 2020 11 min read

Development

Build vs Buy: The never-ending decision Deciding whether to write a component or use an existing package means balancing requirements, compromises and maintenance, with plenty of room for either approach. 23 Sep 2020 7 min read

Laravel

Deleting data: soft, hard or audit? Recovering accidentally deleted records is useful, but keeping them forever brings its own complications, so I weigh up soft deletes, hard deletes and audit logs. 8 Jul 2020 10 min read

Development

Choosing the best content management system (CMS) Picking a CMS means considering a project’s requirements, its authors and its budget, with the right choice depending on what the website actually needs to do and support. 24 Jun 2020 10 min read

Development

Building better user interfaces for text entry Choosing between a simple input, a textarea and a rich text editor starts with understanding the information people need to enter, and giving them an interface that feels comfortable. 5 Jun 2020 9 min read

Development

The importance of scoping web development projects Turning a client’s ideas into a detailed scope takes time, but spelling out the requirements, boundaries and business rules gives everyone a clearer understanding before development begins. 21 May 2020 4 min read

Development

“Hello, World!” in the real world Learning a development concept feels easier when the examples mean something, which is why I value tutorials that use familiar situations to connect new ideas with real projects. 2 Feb 2020 6 min read

Development

Usability: living up to a user's expectations Familiar controls and predictable navigation make a difference, whether you’re building a website or a disc menu, and meeting those expectations deserves proper attention. 5 Jan 2020 5 min read