Writing a Custom ESLint Rule in TypeScript
Have you ever found a small (yet annoying), recurring issue in your PR reviews that is super formulaic and could probably be removed by a linter, but the issue is...
12 March 2024
Signs and portents for 2024
It's an end-of-year tradition here at Instil that the Head of Learning assumes a Janus-like pose and looks forward to the new year by reviewing the one that's drawing to...
4 January 2024
Harnessing the power of incremental static regeneration in Next.js
Take your web development game to the NEXT level! Get the best of both worlds by combining the performance of a static page with the real-time updates of a dynamic...
8 December 2023
Key takeaways from The State Of DevOps Report 2023
The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) research program has had a significant impact on the software industry over the last decade. It is the longest-running research program of its kind...
5 December 2023
Little Miss Bossy
Bossy or just a boss? How 'bossy' women are just leading the way, and why our choice of words matter.
30 November 2023
6 steps to becoming an AWS Solutions Architect
Looking to become an AWS Solutions Architect Associate? Follow these 6 simple steps and you will be well on your way to passing the exam.
26 October 2023
Where to start with Generative AI?
With the rise of managed services in the Artificial Intelligence space offered by the main cloud providers, is it possible to short-circuit the complexities of learning Artificial Intelligence by just...
18 October 2023
Scrum - reassessing the agile metaphor
There is a term used by agile teams on an almost daily basis, a metaphor, that many who use it have little or no knowledge of its source - the...
13 October 2023
The Powerlifting Principal (III): building confidence from within
From Setback to Success: How Overcoming Injury Made Me a Better Engineer
12 June 2023
The Powerlifting Principal (II): In the thick of it
How injury can lead to some of your greatest engineering breakthroughs.
7 June 2023
The Powerlifting Principal (I): the start of something great...
There are principals and then there are principles. I am the former and I just so happen to love the sport of powerlifting. And this is a story of how...
10 May 2023
Spreadsheets Anonymous: how to kick the habit and reclaim your life
It's been over forty years since Apple first introduced the world to the digital spreadsheet. In that time they have become central to how many businesses run their operations and...
15 March 2023
Signs and portents for 2022
In this post, Head of Learning Garth Gilmour, will make predictions for the tech industry in 2022
14 December 2021
A Post Pandemic Scorecard
A checklist for judging if your team is adapting to and benefitting from remote working
21 October 2021
Principled Autonomy
High performance teams consistently outperform other teams by a significant factor. But why is this - what is the secret sauce that allows one group of individuals to outshine another?
30 August 2021
How we podcast
After 15 episodes here's how we podcast and what tools we like. Enjoy a deep dive into our process.
19 April 2021
OODA Considered Harmful
Thoughts on why the OODA loop as applied to agile delivery is flawed or should even be considered harmful.
5 February 2021
Introducing Weeknotes, a podcast
Instil have started a weekly podcast about all things tech and other interesting stuff.
4 February 2021
The Truth of the 10X Developer
If you thought the 10X Developer concept was just a myth, think again. In this article Garth Gilmour convinces you otherwise
13 January 2021
The Perils of Advocacy
Developer advocacy is an extremely rewarding job but is it all sunshine and meadows or is there a darker flip side to this role?
4 January 2021
The Rise of the Developer Advocate
Thoughts on the move away from consultancy towards developer empowerment through advocacy and mentoring.
21 December 2020
Signs and portents for 2021
Each December, our Head of Learning reflects on emerging trends, and makes some foolish predictions for the year to come. Read on to see that the future holds...
1 December 2020
TypeScript Testing Tips - Creating Dummies
This is the first post in a series on using TypeScript in practical applications. It shows a simple TypeScript pattern for building type-safe, unit test dummies. The focus is on...
21 October 2020
GOTO Oslo - talks now available to watch
GOTO Oslo took place as a virtual event due to COVID-19 on 3rd March this year. Head of Learning, Garth Gilmour, and fellow trainer, Eamonn Boyle, delivered two presentations, both...
5 June 2020
The Debt We Owe Java
On its 25th birthday, it's probably time we said a word of thanks to Java, for no matter what you think of it, your work today as a software engineer...
23 May 2020
The Delusions Of Developers
Lessons from the Dot-com Bust we need to relearn
10 May 2020
A Kotlin DSL for Everyone
Typically, we use Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) in configuration scenarios (think Gradle). But we can also use them internally to make our applications easier to understand.
23 January 2020
Using Koin for Dependency Injection
Koin provides a modern DI framework which supports Kotlin idioms and is usable across conventional, mobile and Cloud based applications.
29 November 2019
Don’t ThreeTen-d that Dates are easy with legacy Android
Why date and time is so difficult with older Android versions and the best approach to solve this
20 November 2019
One Principle To Rule Them All?
The SOLID principles of software design provide guidelines on how we can make our code more readable, maintainable and extensible. They are universally accepted maxims that all engineers should...
12 September 2019
Does Readability Have a Cost?
In software, there is a constant tension between sufficiency - the need to say something in as few words as possible - and readability - the need to make things...
5 September 2019
Programming in English
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (or a flavour thereof) are often touted as cornerstone subjects for a career in software development. For people outside the industry, computing is often seen...
4 December 2018
Community Matters
Community is a vital part of a successful software ecosystem, but what are the secrets to creating a successful meetup? In this post, we will explain how, through a...
27 November 2018
Kotlin Everywhere
Considering Kotlin? Here is why we made the switch from Java and why your developers will want to do the same.
4 September 2018
Chaos and Order
A look at how ideas of order and chaos apply to software development
12 March 2018
Why Android Development Is Better With Kotlin
5 Reasons Why Android development is better using Kotlin
3 January 2018
Avoiding Defensive Checks
Defending against malicious use is a first order concern in all software. Any software that can be used or invoked by an external party or user (such as an...
19 October 2017
Denial is Not a Defence
Security expert Simon Whittaker discusses the impact of a recent ICO fine and the upcoming GDPR on web application security
13 October 2017
Surging Forward
How we are revolutionising video and RTP/RTSP streaming on mobile devices
25 September 2017
Daily Standup
Standing desks may be trendy but are they good for you?
1 September 2017
Bad Form (in Xamarin)
You might be tempted to use Xamarin Forms but most of the time, you shouldn't
3 July 2017
The Phantom Type Menace
Fourth article in a series of posts introducing Functional Programming concepts. In this post we introduce Phantom Types
2 July 2017
Monads For The Masses
The third in a series of three, introducing Functional Programming concepts.
25 June 2017
Curry On Regardless
The second in a series of posts introducing Functional Programming concepts. This post looks at the closely related concepts of Currying and Partial Application
14 June 2017
Over-Thunking It
With the increasing adoption of functional programming there are strange terms slowly moving their way from academic obscurity to mainstream software engineering. Thanks mainly to the React and Redux frameworks,...
9 June 2017
Jack Nicholson Channels Programming Languages
Tongue and cheek look at how Jack Nicholson channels programming languages
31 May 2017
Music Driven Development
If you're looking for a new way to drive your software development, then look no further. Tests, Behaviours, Models and Types have had their day and modern developers are now...
2 May 2017
The Planning Fallacy (and How it Messes With Your Ability to Estimate)
How the psychological phenomenon of planning fallacy can bias your estimations in software
10 April 2017
Leaders don't give orders
How leading agile software teams is not about one person giving orders
1 July 2016
Fear in Tech
Fear and imposter syndrome are common in the software industry. Where does this fear come from and what is to be done about it
6 May 2016
A Fresh Start with Ansible
A guide to using Ansible to automatically setup your OSX development environment
26 April 2016
Test Setup as a Sanity Check on your Design
The importance of listening to your tests as a sanity check on your design
15 April 2016
SIMD in Depth - Performance and Cost in C# and C++
SIMD in Depth - Performance and Cost in C# and C++ (Part 2 of 2)
7 April 2016
Parallelism on a Single Core - SIMD with C#
An introduction to SIMD and parallelism on a Single Core - SIMD with C# (Part 1 of 2)
21 March 2016
Working With Constraints
Strengthening our creative practice through a fresh perspective on our own limitations and those imposed by others
2 March 2016
Exploring Session Based Testing
An introduction to session-based testing, a refinement to exploratory testing
7 January 2016
Xamarin: A Panacea for Cross-Platform Mobile Development?
Xamarin - a panacea for cross-platform mobile development?
10 December 2015
Reading the Tea Leaves
Reading the tea leaves - predicting what's in store for 2016 and beyond
27 November 2015
The 3 Instil Check-in Commandments
3 essential things to check before you commit and push your changes to version control
3 April 2015
RxJava in Different Flavours of Java
Quick introduction to using RxJava in Java 7 and Java 8
5 August 2014
Java Shark Jump Redux
Opinion piece on why Java 8's attempt to jump the shark is just that
6 June 2014
Java Jumps the Shark
Java 8 attempts to 'jump the shark' with the introduction of streams, lambdas and 'FP'
4 June 2014
Those That Can't
Opinion piece on the skills required to teach and do in software
30 May 2014
Simplicity Rules
Why is simplicity such an elusive quality in many developers code