Languages, frameworks, and libraries have come a long way since I started building web applications over two decades ago. I really enjoy exploring the latest and greatest tools to help find the right solution for a particular job, but here are some of the ones I like best.

Web design is also much quicker to prototype now thanks to many helpful CSS and JavaScript libraries. I generally use Bootstrap for my personal projects due to familiarity and ease-of-use, but we use MaterialUI at work because of its excellent integration with React components.

REST APIs are the backbone of the modern web, and I’m a big fan of building APIs using REST principles. Spring MVC is a great framework for adding REST to Java web applications, but if you’re working in a JavaScript-first environment, then Node.js + Express.js is also a great option.

The tools for working with REST APIs have also come a long way in the last few years. Postman is indispensable for testing your APIs and the external APIs you consume, and Webhook Relay is a great solution for connecting and integrating webhooks.

There are many content management solutions on the market, but for the last few years my go-to CMS has been WordPress. With a consistently high adoption rate in the Real Estate domain, WordPress has evolved from a simple blogging engine to a fully featured CMS. For static sites or those maintained by developers, Gatsby is also a great option, with excellent React integration and new themes and plugins being added every day. These two technologies can also be used together as they are on this site, with Gatsby as the frontend and WordPress as the Headless CMS backend.

I’m also a big CD and vinyl record collector going all the way back to the early 80s, with a broad range of genres including ambient, alternative, electronic, rock, jazz, classical, and more. To view some of my collection, please visit my Discogs and Bandcamp pages.