Shifting Gears in 2018

July 3, 2018

Filed under: SQLServerPedia Syndication — Michael J. Swart @ 9:00 am

I wanted you to know about some changes coming to this blog. I’m shifting the focus from SQL Server to other technologies. Specifically, I’m going to explore and begin writing more about modern software development including things that have been labeled devops or site reliability engineering.

I’ve been looking for a new challenge for a while and I have an opportunity to do that by following the direction set by my company a few years ago. My company is embracing the public cloud for its price, its flexibility and its promise of scalability. Which public cloud? As awesome as Azure is, we’re going all-in AWS.

For me, this means new lessons to learn and new things to write about.

My Audience

My target audience for the new topics include

People searching google who want to find the answers to the same questions I learned recently.
The developer who is super-familiar with the Microsoft Stack (aka yours truly) but who wants to branch out into a new stack.

I hope that still includes you.

Blogging as a Student

I have no problems blogging as a learner. Just look at Kenneth Fisher (@sqlstudent144) and Pinal Dave (@SqlAuthority). They both began their blogs from the point of view of a learner. That word “student” is even there in Kenneth’s handle. And Pinal’s site is about his “journey to authority”, another colorful expression for learning. And they’ve done it. They’ve both successfully gained a reputation as an authority in their field.

My Topics

I’ve often straddled the line between a Developer and a DBA. I know a little bit about what it takes to keep SQL Server happy and healthy. I look forward to expanding my “Site Reliability Engineering” skills into new areas.

So for the next few weeks, I’ll start by blogging about the tools I use and what it takes to get started on a simple project.

It’s About the Arrows
Software architecture is often over-simplified as drawing boxes and arrows describing things (the boxes) and how they’re organized or how they communicate with each other (the arrows).

One thing I’ve noticed is that programs used to be the hard part. The classes, the objects, the algorithms. Now it seems to me, that the arrows are the hard part. Deployment, security, automation and all that network stuff can’t be deferred to another team.

The Arrows Are The Hard Part

I may specialize in something in the future, but for now I have no shortage of topics. I’ve been tracking my google search history: Here’s what that looks like for the past two weeks:

youtube getting started terraform aws circleci

tf examples getting started

terraform tf examples getting started

terraform deploy to aws

specify descending in primary key

codepipeline

aws code deploy

dynamodb ttl attribute

lambda to dynamodb tutorial

javascript add 4 months

add days to time javascript

javascript get guid

Handler ‘handler’ missing on module ‘index’

TypeError: Date.now is not a constructor

Date.now is not a constructor

unix timestamp 1 day

dynamodb set ttl example js

dynamodb DocumentClient

specify region in document client

aws.config.update region

lodash

visual studio code

visual studio code marketplace tf

visual studio code marketplace tf terraform

terraform dynamodb attribute type

terraform lambda example

terraform output arn

create role terraform

iam_role_policy

best way to terraform a role

script out role for terraform

terraform dynamodb example

invoke terraform in aws

how to test terraform

terraform download

aws command line

how to create a role using terraform

terraform grant a role access

deploy a role with terraform

create role assume role

terraform role trusted entities

push a new repository to github

provider config ‘aws’: unknown variable referenced ‘aws_secret_key

terraform aws credentials

aws_profile environment variable

set AWS_PROFILE

specify aws_access_key terraform

executable bash script

executable bash script windows

provider.aws: no suitable version installed

no suitable version installed

run terraform in circleci

run syntax circleci

run step syntax circleci

specify circleci environement variables

set password environment variable circleci

terraform “ResourceInUseException: Table already exists: broken_links”

terraform “ResourceInUseException: Table already exists:”

image hashicorp terraform

terraform EntityAlreadyExists

terraform backend dynamodb

canonical userid s3

deploy a lambda function terraform

terraform lambda runtime

resource “aws_lambda_function”

terraform archive_file

resource depends on

resource depends_on terraform

DiffTransformer

DiffTransformer trace

terraform archive_file example

depends_on terraform module

path.module terraform

windows path vs linux path terraform path.module

circleci zip directory

zip a file in shell

circleci zip

zip a file in circleci

working_directory circleci

zip directory for lambda

how to zip a file circleci

circleci apt-get zip

terraform export environment variables

run a shell srcript in terraform

steps in circleci

circleci artifact directory

build-artifacts circleci

store_artifacts

store variable in circleci

create file in terraform

output_base64sha256

concatenate in terraform

Unexpected value for InstanceType

Unexpected value for InstanceType terraform

terraform apply force

use artifacts terraform

get artifacts terraform

get artifacts circleci

use circleci artifacts

terraform file contents

terraform environment variables

use environment variables in terraform

var.Circle_artifacts

using environment variables in terraform

TF_VAR_CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS

set variables when calling terraform

use environment variables in circleci

multiline circleci

wrap line circleci

terraform pass variable to module

echo in circleci

persist to workspace circleci

attach_workspace persist_to_workspace

persist_to_workspace

debugging circleci

git merge all changes into one commit

dynamodb materialized views

query dynamodb from js

query dynamodb from

aws_lambda_function filename

AWS Lambda Developer Guide

bash zip command not found

linux create zip file

upsert dynamodb

updateexpression example js

dynamodb docclient javascript update expression

use UpdateExpression to increment

The provided key element does not match the schema

dynamodb multiple key

javascript multiline string

javascript md5 hash

hash a string javascript

md5

simple hash string javascript

hash a string javascript

md5 bit length

Every entry in that list that doesn’t have an obvious answer is a blog post idea.

Giving up SQL Server?

No, not at all, I suspect that most of my day job will still be focused on SQL Server technologies. When I come across something super-interesting. No matter what, I’ll write about it.

Networking

I’m excited. If you find yourself at AWS: Reinvent this fall, then let me know. Maybe we can meet for coffee.

-- Comments (6)

6 Comments »

Michael,

As someone who has already made this shift, https://giphy.com/gifs/l0MYGb1LuZ3n7dRnO/html5

The HashiCorp stack including Terraform, Chef, etc. have been very enjoyable, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Comment by Aaron Lowe — July 3, 2018 @ 9:48 am
Thanks Aaron! I’m glad you share that excitement.

Comment by Michael J. Swart — July 3, 2018 @ 9:50 am
For simple online tools on Text, XML, HTML, Strings, Hashes, Pictures, etc., I find the following very useful: https://onlinerandomtools.com/
https://www.browserling.com/tools/md5-hash

Comment by André Cardoso — July 3, 2018 @ 12:40 pm
I’ve admired your blogging for years, and can’t wait to see where you go with this.

Very excited for you. This is going to be awesome.

Comment by Erik Darling — July 8, 2018 @ 11:10 am
Best of luck in your new venture! Sounds like a great combination of fun and interesting!

Comment by Kevin Boles — July 9, 2018 @ 10:47 am
Best of luck, I’m glad you’re still focusing on SQL server but I may also be venturing into AWS in the near future and following your experiences in this will be helpful if we do.

Comment by Jacob Enco — July 1, 2019 @ 12:52 am

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Michael J. Swart

July 3, 2018