A long long time ago in a galaxy you know and love I started programming in Visual Basic on Windows 95 or was it Windows 3.11? Anyway after selling a few computers I got a job working for the local behemoth Microsoft and like a fly in a comfortable spider web it sort of stuck. I quickly moved on to C and C++ and specialized in USB early on. I kept getting job after job there even though I applied elsewhere. I started in the PC group working with USB before it was released and always enjoyed working in the overlap of software and hardware so I ended up with Xbox a few times as well as the Surface group. I have been full time twice and contacted more then a few times over the years. Always moving on as they like me for testing but I like me for development so it was easy to slip back into but always a mistake, hence the restless career as I've always been deeply committed to being a developer, the very reason I got into the business. I've learned the lesson, no more test jobs, it was a great way to get into the business but it's time is over.
I've got very comfortable with my own software tools and ways of doing things that have greatly simplified and continue to simplify my process. Both my full time positions there were test and I left to pursue development. Most contracts there were development and when they ended I worked on my own development building equity for the day I get my startup going which finally happened this year. I believe what made me unattractive as an employee will work for me in my own business and that is my tenacity and will to do things my own way knowing that my way is better and more productive for me then any other way. This has proven itself to me in many ways over the last few years and this is where I hope to show the world. But as I said I'm a big picture person and my real important works are still in major development and won't be published for a few years at best but I look forward to the day my technologies are ready and I'm where I want to be on this.
In the last few decades I have developed many pieces of software on my own but mostly for learning. The last decade getting more serious and putting a lot of time and money into proof on concepts as time permitted. In the last couple of years I have worked harder then ever and I'm in a new phase where I'm producing the tools and the technologies that I need to support my vision of future development. I am creating a monster that is a system within a system to bring all my tools and solutions together under one IS/Repository roof and have been running a business in many senses just not one that takes in money yet. Finding my focus was important as it needed to be the right thing and cybersecurity is exactly that. It is a bit of a wild west which is where I do my best work as it is fast paced and innovative with a lot of need for work to be done. It also really is a finger on the pulse of what is going on in the world and a bit of spy vs spy which adds some Hollywood mystery to the mix. In many ways computers are born of spycraft so it is a natural place to helm from and get all the inside knowledge. One big goal is an experimental concept software system for custom device and PC form factors with unique uses but that will come in time and a lot of groundwork is already laid, for now this is the perfect place to start and maybe always lead from. I also have many plans and designs for non computer products manufactured using computer products like CNC and similar machines with custom software. I love computers but ultimately I long to make products, something I can hold in my hand. In case you were wondering I'm being intentionally vague here to protect trade secrets and product plans.
The future is software, the future is AI and robotics. The future is now. The new developer is everyone as it is all about what skill you bring to the table once again only now you can do it bigger, better, cheaper and faster with software. This is the driving force behind If Now Code. It is really a call to everyone, to evangelize the new opportunities that have opened up for non professional developers as it is maturing even to the level of no code software. Software doesn't need to be released to enhance life or create value. Now with programming languages like Python and programming-less development coming of age this is everyone's game now! This is the new gold rush and information is the new gold. As information is numbers in the digital age you can literally make money out of thin air. With AI it's anyone's game. The future is up for the taking.
My philosophy is test first and automate always, that is unless you like doing busy repetitive mind numbing labor. Automation is a mind set that pushes everything you do to be automated if possible and be ready for automation when not possible. My test first attitude is really bending toward AI as self diagnostics is just part of what life does so the separation makes no sense to me as programming is just evolution and life, not "applications" which is a very narrow mind set. With programming evolution has gone into overdrive so much so we worry about a singularity. I think it would be nice if it could self test. Maybe it could figure out right from wrong?
On a final note I must say the GitHub experience was top notch and has given me some great ideas. Kudos to all for a job well done.
If Now Code LLC | ifnowcode.com | ifnowcode@gmail.com | Software Development & Consulting