Rob Conery
55 posts published
The First Draft of Anything Is Shit
I'm allergic to crappy, non-sensical, faked up demos that try to convey highly technical concepts. Yet I find myself falling into that lazy trap constantly. This requires intervention.

The Importance of Knowing Your Numbers
As programmers we tend to think of reports after the fact, often when it's too late. I learned this the hard way over the last few days.

Data Structures and Algorithms
Many people are interviewing these days and you really, really should know the basics if you expect to do well. You'll find that here with common data structures and algorithms.

Handling Dates and Times Properly in Postgres
Handling dates properly is delicate business and, thankfully, Postgres gives you many tools to help make sure you store date information correctly. But that only works if you know what's going on!

Striking Gold in My Archives
Digging through my archives of hundreds of videos, I found an oldy but goody - publishing it for you to enjoy!
The Easiest Postgres Experience You've Ever Seen
Web Assembly is enabling people to do some crazy stuff in the browser, including running a full PostgreSQL installation and Adobe Photoshop!

Five Things I Learned Building Bigmachine.io Using Nuxt and Firebase
I like to change my publishing site regularly - it's fun and it keeps me sharp. This iteration is with Nuxt and Firebase, and I learned a ton.
Developing A Potent Voice
Writers often talk about "finding their voice", but what does that even mean? There are ways to loosen the control your internal filters have on your ability to express yourself.

Fast and Simple Web Apps with Nitro
Nitro is an exciting web server created by the unjs team, who are also the people behind Nuxt. Nitro is a study in simplicity and a wonderful tool for your JS belt.
Hello PostgreSQL
In this production, a SQL Server DBA (Rob Sullivan) and a developer (Rob Conery) take a deep dive into PostGreSQL (v9.1) and are surprised by just how capable, intelligent and *fast* PostGreSQL is.
Get Involved!
In this feature-length production, Scott Hanselman and Rob Conery offer suggestions and advice on how you can get out there, and get involved. Blogging, Twitter, Github, StackOverflow, User Groups and Conferences: get out there!
Why Blogs Make Outstanding Books
Can a blog be turned into a book? Yes! But it can't be just any old blog - the writer has to have something to say and no fear of saying it... like Troy Hunt. Here's the story of how I turned his blog into a book.
Losing Yourself
The hardest thing anyone can do is break down their own mental constructs, realizing they're toxic and destroy relationships. It's part of the journey.
Just Paddle
I really think too much. I have a lot of fear in me that keeps me from doing things I love to do. It's unhealthy and also self-obsessive (there are 3 "I's" and 2 "me's" above). I really need to stop thinking and just... do...
Creating a Full Text Search Engine in PostgreSQL, 2022
Writing a full text index in PostgreSQL is an art form. You need to know what your users are looking so you can build the right index AND you need to understand how they write their search terms. Thankfully, Postgres is here to help.

The Fabulous Linked List
It’s always fun to study the basics, and in this video we dive into the linked list and how to create one from scratch. Sounds ridiculous, but it can rescue an interview!

What's the Difference Between Vue 2.0 and Vue 3.0?
The third version of a framework, library or tool generally sucks, at least in my experience. Will this be the case with Vue 3? Let’s find out!
What's Your Exit Plan?
Retirement is one thing, being where you want to be and doing what you want to do when your current job is finished in another thing entirely. What’s your exit strategy?

Importing a CSV Into PostgreSQL Like a Pro
Importing data into PostgreSQL can be time consuming and painful – unless you toss the GUI tools and use scripts.

Big O Notation
Understanding Big O has many real world benefits, aside from passing a technical interview. In this post I'll provide a cheat sheet and some real world examples.

What’s the Best Hashing Algorithm for Storing Passwords?
Most people will default to bcrypt when choosing a hashing algorithm for storing sensitive information - but why? Are there other choices? Indeed! In this video we'll take a look at scrypt, PBKDF2 and my favorite: argon2

Virtual, Computed Columns in PostgreSQL 12
PostgreSQL 12 introduced a feature I've long wished for: computed columns that are indexable and stored on disk! They're amazing and in this post I'll show you how they work and how things kind of go...

Mod and Remainder Are Not The Same
A remainder and a modulus look so very similar, but they are not the same thing and worse, are treated differently by different programming languages. Do you know how your language handles mod?

Simple Monthly Reports in PostgreSQL
Working with dates and series of dates is easy in PostgreSQL, especially using generate_series

It's Time To Get Over That Stored Procedure Aversion You Have
There is a lot of opinion about stored procedures out there that are just...