I’ve been building software professionally for over a decade now — mostly in the .NET ecosystem, with plenty of time spent wrestling with infrastructure, debugging edge cases, and trying to explain to stakeholders why things take longer than they think; but out of all this integration is probably where I feel most of my efforts have been realised.

In all that time, I’ve rarely written publicly. Part of that was time, part of it was confidence. The truth is, I’ve never felt like I had something worth saying that hadn’t already been said better by someone else.

But now I’ve realised: that’s kind of the point.

Blogging isn’t about saying something original. It’s about saying something true — in your own words.

🧰 What I’ve Learned Along the Way

Some things that feel worth noting after a decade in the trenches:

• The simplest code you can get away with is usually the best.
• No amount of cleverness is worth sacrificing clarity.
• Tools are great — until they’re in your way.
• Good developers write code. Great developers leave breadcrumbs.
• Technical debt isn’t inherently bad — unmanaged debt is.
• You don’t have to chase every trend to stay relevant.
• AI doesn’t scare me.. the people using it do.

There’s more, of course. But I’m keeping this short. This isn’t a how-to. It’s a start.

✍️ Why Start Blogging Now?

Because:

• I want to practise writing more clearly.
• I want to capture things I’m learning (and forgetting).
• I want to share ideas that might help someone else.
• I want to build something of my own — slowly, quietly, but openly.

Will it be consistent? Hopefully. Will it be honest? Always. Will I get bored? Probably.

🧭 What You Can Expect

Right now, this blog will mostly focus on:

• .NET and software architecture based on my own experiences.
• AI and how I am using it in my own workflows.
• Cloud services (mostly AWS + Azure)
• A bit of code-adjacent reflection — maybe even a thought or two on work-life balance

I’m keeping it real, and keeping it mine. If you’ve found your way here, I hope something resonates.

Thanks for reading. More soon.

— Shane