Hi, I'm Kyle.
Christian first, then husband and father to three kids, and somewhere after that I'm a software engineer. That order is intentional. I enjoy what I do for a living, but it isn't who I am.
I've been writing software professionally for about twenty years. Most of that time has been spent building enterprise applications, designing cloud systems, and doing the kind of work that happens at the intersection of code and architecture. I've worked on everything from aging legacy applications to brand new SaaS platforms, and I've enjoyed both for different reasons.
The older I get, the more I appreciate simple software. Not because simple is easy, but because simple is usually the result of understanding the problem well enough to stop being clever. I've written clever code. I've also been the guy trying to maintain clever code five years later. Those are two very different experiences.
I've also made my share of mistakes. Looking back, I can honestly say I've learned more from those than I have from most of my successes. Technology changes quickly. Skills fade if you don't use them. Every once in a while you find yourself relearning something you were convinced you'd never forget. I've stopped seeing that as failure. It's just part of the job.
One of the reasons I started writing these notes is because writing forces me to think more clearly. Sometimes I'll change my own mind halfway through an article. I'm okay with that. I'd rather update my thinking than pretend I had it all figured out from the beginning.
You'll mostly find thoughts on software engineering, cloud architecture, distributed systems, leadership, interviewing, and AI-assisted development. You'll also find quite a bit about my faith and my walk with Christ. I don't see those as separate parts of my life. My faith influences how I approach my work, my family, and the way I try to treat people. It would feel strange to write about one without occasionally writing about the other.
Outside the keyboard
I have entirely too many hobbies.
One of them is designing guitar effects pedal PCBs through delyk PCBs. If you've ever wondered where the name came from, it's simply "Kyle D" spelled backwards. I thought it was pretty witty when I came up with it, and after all these years I suppose I'm committed to the bit.
That hobby is currently on hiatus, but it's the kind of hobby that doesn't really leave you. There's something deeply satisfying about designing a circuit, soldering it together, and making noise with it.
I'm also the kind of person who enjoys taking things apart just to see how they work. Sometimes I even manage to put them back together again.
Why this notebook?
I've been doing this for about twenty years. Somewhere along the way I realized I had a lot of thoughts that didn't fit into a LinkedIn post and weren't polished enough to be magazine articles. This notebook is where those thoughts end up.
Some will be technical. Some will be about architecture, AI, faith, family, or simply getting older in an industry that seems to reinvent itself every few years.
If nothing else, it'll be interesting to come back in five years and see which ideas still hold up and which ones I've changed my mind about.
I'm still learning. These notes are simply a record of what I'm learning next...