I’m Brian P. Hogan, a software developer, teacher, author, editor, and musician living in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I develop web applications like Codecaster using HTML5, Elixir, JavaScript, and Ruby. I also coach and mentor aspiring developers. I am the author of several books, including Small, Sharp Software Tools, tmux 2 - Productive Mouse-Free Development, and Exercises For Programmers. I am always looking for interesting opportunities to help people succeed.
So you want to get good at something in a creative field like music, writing, or even coding? Folks might tell you that you need thousands of hours of study. But that’s not necessarily true. Daily Practice Whatever you’re doing, practice it daily. 30 minutes. Every day if you can. 30 min a day is 3.5 hours per week which is 182 hours a year. It adds up. So does your skill.
Every February, I participate in the RPM Challenge, a global event where musicians have the month of Febrary to write, record, and release music. This year you could choose to do a single, an EP, or a full album. I’ve completed a five song EP called “Spark”, and you can listen to it on Soundcloud. I’ve been participating in this challenge since 2011. You can find my other entries on the music page.
This week Pragprog.com is having their 40% off ebook sale. Use code turkeysale2020 to get your discount at checkout. This post will be all about some books you should buy for yourself or that nerd in your life. First, let’s get the shameless plugs out of the way. This year I wrote a book on making static web sites with Hugo which gets rave reviews. Build Websites With Hugo. I have a great book on using command line tools on mac, Linux, and WSL called Small, Sharp Software Tools.
See Music for more.
Available in print, PDF, eBub, or Kindle format!
