https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/categories/software-development/Recent content in Software Development on Joe McCarthyHugoen-gbSun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/08/reliability-in-personal-projects/Sun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/08/reliability-in-personal-projects/Reliability isn’t just for production systems. Here’s how I apply it to my own projects without overcomplicating things.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/08/prefer-boring-technology/Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/08/prefer-boring-technology/“Boring” tech is often the most reliable. Here’s why I lean toward proven tools instead of chasing trends.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/07/every-tool-has-a-cost/Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/07/every-tool-has-a-cost/Every technology decision comes with tradeoffs—whether you acknowledge them or not. Here’s how I evaluate tools.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/07/what-production-ready-means/Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/07/what-production-ready-means/“Production-ready” is often overused. Here’s what I think actually matters before shipping something real.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/introducing-odometer/Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/introducing-odometer/Odometer is a local-first CLI and TUI for tracking what a car actually costs to own.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/stop-building-for-scale-you-dont-have/Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/stop-building-for-scale-you-dont-have/Designing for millions of users sounds smart—until it slows you down. Here’s how I think about scaling realistically.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/simplicity-scales-better/Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/06/simplicity-scales-better/Complex systems don’t just fail differently—they fail more often. Here’s why I bias toward simplicity in everything I build.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/05/developer-tools-i-actually-use/Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/05/developer-tools-i-actually-use/A no-BS look at the tools I rely on daily—and why I’ve avoided adding more.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/04/over-engineering-side-projects/Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/04/over-engineering-side-projects/Side projects are supposed to be fun and useful—not production replicas of Big Tech. Here’s how over-engineering kills momentum.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/04/most-developers-dont-need-kubernetes/Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/posts/26/04/most-developers-dont-need-kubernetes/Kubernetes is powerful—but for many developers, it adds more complexity than value. Here’s when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/better-release-notes-and-versioning/Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/better-release-notes-and-versioning/Practical patterns for useful release notes and clear versioning. When to choose semantic or date based versions, what to include in each note, and how bad releases and version numbers hurt teams.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/better-commit-messages-and-prs/Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/better-commit-messages-and-prs/Practical patterns for writing commit messages and pull request descriptions that speed up reviews, preserve intent, and keep projects healthy. Includes templates you can drop into any repo.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/github-add-to-projects-automation/Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/github-add-to-projects-automation/A tiny workflow file adds newly opened issues and PRs from multiple repositories to one GitHub Projects board, with a PAT for permissions and no Enterprise upgrade needed.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/multiple-python-versions-with-tox/Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/multiple-python-versions-with-tox/A repeatable workflow to install several Python versions with pyenv, run tests across them with tox locally, and mirror the matrix in GitHub Actions.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/maven-and-java-21/Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/maven-and-java-21/Clean install of Oracle JDK 21 and Apache Maven 3.9.8 on Linux without relying on outdated distro packages. Commands, PATH updates, and quick verification.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/private-github-docker-packages/Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/private-github-docker-packages/Build a Spring Boot image, push it to GitHub’s private container registry with Actions, and keep storage under control by pruning untagged images.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/dependabot-with-private-packages/Mon, 30 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0100https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/dependabot-with-private-packages/Make Dependabot check private Maven packages on GitHub by adding a single registry block with org-wide wildcard support and credentials wired to secrets.https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/private-github-maven-packages/Mon, 23 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://joe-mccarthy.github.io/private-github-maven-packages/End-to-end steps for publishing private Java libraries to GitHub Packages and consuming them across private repos, using a PAT, a safe settings.xml, and lightweight GitHub Actions.