Freelance

Today we have thousands of digital and printed resources that provide step-by-step instructions about developing all kinds of different web applications. Development environments are "smart" enough to catch and fix many mistakes that early developers battled with regularly. There are even many different development platforms that easily turn simple static HTML pages into highly interactive applications. All of these development patterns, practices, and platforms share common ground, and they are all prone to similar mistakes caused by the very nature of web applications.

It’s astounding how few business owners properly account for the real cost of their labor. This article presents tried and true methods—including an online calculator—for calculating the real cost of your employees and consultants, enabling you to perform a sound financial analysis when faced with the “employee versus consultant” dilemma.

A potentially critical problem, nicknamed "Heartbleed", has surfaced in the widely-used OpenSSL cryptographic library. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in that potentially critical data can be leaked and the attack leaves no trace. As a user, chances are that sites you frequent regularly are affected and your data may have been compromised. As a developer or sys admin, sites or servers you're responsible for are likely to have been affected. Here are the key facts you need to know about this dangerous bug and how to mitigate your vulnerability.

As Co-Founder and COO, Breanden Beneschott has been effectively running Toptal, a venture-funded company growing hundreds of percent year over year, while traveling across the globe. Breanden shares his tips and experiences as a successful traveling engineer and entrepreneur, including his perspective on the benefits of this new lifestyle.

Beyond its beauty, in recent years Córdoba has been enjoying a rapidly growing reputation as a technology center, one that may soon rival Buenos Aires as Argentina’s main technology hub. Last month, Toptal coordinated and hosted a highly successful and well-attended JavaScript Technical Conference in Córdoba, Argentina. Read about how the event came together and the vibrant network of software developers in and around Córdoba.

With an 80% increase in the remote workforce from 2005 to 2012, there must be more to the picture than meets the eye. This post pulls the rug out from under 5 of the most prevalent myths about remote workers, with a specific focus on the software development industry.

Testing. It always seems to get left to the last minute, then cut because you're out of time, budget, or whatever else. Management wonders why developers can't just "get it right the first time", and developers (especially on large systems) can be taken off-guard when different stakeholders describe different parts of the system. With behavior-driven development, you can turn testing into a shared process that focuses on the behaviors of the system, why they matter, and who cares.

Effective interviewing and hiring is as much of an art as it is a science. Nonetheless, approaches and methodologies do exist for evaluating the more subtle dimensions of a software developer’s skills and abilities. When used collectively, these techniques yield a highly effective screening process with a proven track record of success. That process is what this post is all about.

As a veteran telecommuter through multiple jobs in my career, I have witnessed and experienced the many joys of being a remote worker. As for the horror stories, I have more than a few I could tell. With a bit of artistic inclination and a talent for mathematics, I also have a fascination with patterns: design patterns, architectural patterns, behavioral patterns, social patterns, weather patterns—all sorts of patterns! When I first encountered anti-patterns, I discovered a trove of wisdom I wish I had known before I had learned the hard way. Anti-patterns are recognizable repeated patterns that contribute significantly to failure. For example, the manager that keeps interrupting the employee in order to see if the employee is getting any work done is engaging in an anti-pattern that serves to prevent the employee from getting any work done! Based on my own experiences and experiences of friends and co-workers, I am assembling descriptions of anti-patterns related to telecommuting.