Est. 1985 Software Architecture • Engineering • Leadership 40 Years of Excellence

Fred Lackey

Software Architect, Engineer & Leader

All Articles

19 Articles • 2020–2026
04

Our Delivery Lead

A profile of the person keeping the ship on course — the unsung role that connects strategy to execution in a high-performing software team.

05

My New Team

First impressions of a new squad — the mix of personalities, skills, and shared purpose that makes a team worth writing home about.

06

Where to Start?

Walking into a new role and a new codebase simultaneously. On finding your footing when everything is unfamiliar and every choice feels consequential.

07

It’s True. I’m in Love

A first post on a new journey — discovering what it feels like when work stops being a transaction and starts being something you genuinely care about.

08

Project List

An overview of Fred’s most notable open-source GitHub projects — from REST utility libraries and deployment tooling to file organizers and auth helpers.

09

How to Contact Me

Links to fredlackey.com, restutils.com, cicd.sh, and a direct email address. The short version of where to find Fred online.

10

When Not to Test Code?

The uncomfortable truth that not all code deserves a test suite. A pragmatic framework for deciding when testing adds value and when it just adds overhead.

11

Remote Til COVID?

On the sudden reversal of remote-work culture and what it reveals about which companies actually trusted their people — and which ones never did.

12

Change Is Good

A reflection on embracing change in a career and a craft that never stands still. Why stagnation is the real risk, and movement the only constant worth trusting.

13

Software As a Career

A practical roadmap for breaking into software development — from support roles to network administration to developer career tracks, with honest notes on detours and wrong turns.

14

2021 Indian Scout Bobber ABS

The new bike arrived. After a GSXR-1000 and a Fat Boy 114, the Scout Bobber is something different — lighter, cleaner, and exactly right.

15

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the questions Fred gets asked most — about hiring, learning to code, working remote, career advice, and what actually matters when building software.

16

Tell Them You’re Grateful

The people who shaped your career deserve to hear it from you. On the underrated professional habit of expressing genuine gratitude before it’s too late.

17

Easily Dockerize Node Apps

A straightforward walkthrough for containerizing Node.js applications with Docker — from Dockerfile setup to multi-stage builds to running in compose.

18

Errors, Statuses, and Exceptions… Oh my!

Clearing up the confusion between HTTP status codes, application errors, and thrown exceptions — and why treating them as interchangeable is a design mistake.

19

Ugly Date & File Date Organizer

Two small open-source tools for taming file chaos — one for normalizing date formats buried in filenames, one for reorganizing files by actual date metadata.