Initial Commit: Welcome to My Technical Journey

After nearly a decade in the software industry, it's time to give back to the community that has shaped my career. This marks the beginning of a new chapter—sharing insights, experiences, and technical knowledge that I hope will help fellow developers navigate their own journeys.

The Journey So Far

2025 marks my 10-year milestone in the software industry, and I've realized it's long overdue to start contributing back to the community that has given me so much. This inaugural post serves as both an introduction and a commitment to consistent technical writing throughout 2025.

My path has been diverse and rewarding:

• Quality Assurance: Where I learned the importance of thorough testing and attention to detail
• Development: Building solutions and understanding the full software development lifecycle
• DevOps: Bridging the gap between development and operations
• Platform Operations: Managing enterprise-scale infrastructure and automation
• Back to Development: Currently focused on platform development and automation solutions

Company Experience: From Enterprise to Startup and Back

I've had the privilege of working across different organizational scales:

🏢 Enterprise Scale (Company 1)

• Massive corporate environment with enterprise processes
• Learned the importance of scalable, maintainable solutions
• Exposure to complex business requirements and regulatory compliance

🚀 Startup Environment (Company 2)

• Small team where everyone wore multiple hats
• Fast-paced development with rapid iteration cycles
• Learned the value of agility and resourcefulness

🎯 The Sweet Spot (Current Role)

• Medium-sized company that balances structure with flexibility
• Senior Cloud Engineer role that combines my diverse experience
• Focus on enterprise automation and infrastructure solutions

Personal Milestones: Life Beyond Code

The last few years have been incredibly blessed on the personal front. My wife Bri and I are parents to our daughter Gemma, who recently turned two, and we welcomed her younger brother Finnigan earlier this year.

2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Duff household as we navigate life with two young children while building our careers and side projects.

The Technology Evolution: From Microsoft to Modern Stack

The Microsoft Foundation

I've spent my entire professional career in "Microsoft Shops," and the foundation of my expertise might surprise you: Windows PowerShell.

And yes, despite what some might say, PowerShell is absolutely a programming language—a powerful one at that.

My Microsoft credentials include:

• M365 Admin Expert certification (still current)
• SharePoint expertise (because it doesn't get more Microsoft than that)
• 8+ years of C# development for enterprise applications
• Azure cloud services for scalable solutions

The Plot Twist: Modern Web Development

Here's where things get interesting. Given my Microsoft background, you'd naturally expect my first blog attempt and side business projects to be built with Blazor. That would make perfect sense, right?

Well, if you've explored this site, you'll notice it's built with Vue.js... and the backend services are written in Go.

So how did a Microsoft-focused developer end up building modern web applications with Vue.js and Go? That's a story worth telling, and it involves:

• Performance requirements that pushed me beyond traditional Microsoft stacks
• Scalability challenges that demanded different architectural approaches
• Developer experience improvements that modern frameworks provide
• Deployment simplicity that containerized Go applications offer

The Side Business: Technology Meets Entrepreneurship

2024 was also the year my wife and I brought our side business idea to life, focusing on building and rebuilding websites for businesses. While I won't use this platform to promote that venture, the technology choices and lessons learned will definitely be topics for future posts.

The interesting part? Even our client projects have evolved from our initial Microsoft-centric approach to modern, performant solutions using:

• Vue.js for responsive, interactive frontends
• Go for high-performance backend services
• Azure Static Web Apps for deployment and hosting
• Modern DevOps practices for efficient delivery

What's Coming Next: Content Roadmap

I have exciting plans for this blog throughout 2025, with posts covering:

**Technical Deep Dives**

• "Why I Chose Go Over C# for Enterprise Services" - The architectural decisions and performance comparisons
• "Vue.js vs Blazor: A Microsoft Developer's Honest Comparison" - Real-world experience with both frameworks
• "PowerShell in 2025: Still Relevant for Modern DevOps" - How PowerShell fits into cloud-native workflows

**Platform Engineering Insights**

• Database automation at enterprise scale
• Infrastructure as Code best practices
• Microservices architecture patterns
• DevOps pipeline optimization

**Career and Industry Perspectives**

• Transitioning between technology stacks
• Building expertise across multiple domains
• Balancing family life with a technical career

My Commitment to You

This blog represents more than just another tech blog—it's a commitment to:

📚 Knowledge Sharing

• Real-world experiences and lessons learned
• Honest comparisons between technologies and approaches
• Practical solutions to common development challenges

🔧 Technical Excellence

• Production-ready code examples
• Enterprise-grade architectural patterns
• Performance-focused solutions

🌱 Community Building

• Engaging with reader questions and feedback
• Contributing to open-source projects
• Mentoring fellow developers when possible

Connect and Follow Along

I'm excited to share this journey with you throughout 2025 and beyond. Whether you're a seasoned developer, just starting out, or somewhere in between, I hope you'll find value in the content I'll be sharing.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts where I'll dive deep into the technical decisions, architectural patterns, and real-world solutions that have shaped my current approach to software development.

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Here's to new beginnings, continuous learning, and giving back to the community that has made this incredible journey possible. Welcome to my technical blog—let's build something amazing together.

About the Author

Nathan Duff is a Senior Cloud Engineer with nearly a decade of experience spanning QA, development, DevOps, and platform engineering. He specializes in enterprise automation, scalable web applications, and modern infrastructure solutions.

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn or follow his work at nateduff.com.