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Kevin Webber

I'm Kevin, a software engineering manager from Ontario, Canada. I currently manage an Open Source Program Office (OSPO) that specializes in distributed data technologies.

I have over 20 years of experience in the software development industry. I blog about distributed systems, cloud computing, software reliablility, open source, and various other topics. Below are links to some of the content I create, including multi-part essays, blog posts, and videos. All opinions on this blog are my own and not those of my employer.

The history of modern technical propaganda

Marketing is a powerful force multiplier that can have a profound impact on all areas of technology, including the domain of free and open source software (FOSS). When deceptive tactics and distortions become a strategic choice, marketing can devolve into propaganda. This series will explore the origins of propaganda, public relations, and marketing, before we unpack some questionable marketing tactics we’re seeing in the modern FOSS landscape.

Visualizing binary search trees with GraphStream

The binary search tree algorithm (BST) is one of the most fundamental algorithms in computer science, enhancing tree structures with characteristics that combine the optimal insert with the efficiency of search in an ordered array. Learn this important algorithm by visualizing BSTs with GraphStream, a graph library for Java.

Demystifying machine learning

Classical software is primarily based around the notion of decision trees. Any programmer who has coded an if-else-then statement can understand the basics of data science.

Give credit and take blame

When success is ultimately achieved, give the credit to others. There will be time for you to internalize your own impact on the success of a project.

I also create content on YouTube and speak at various conferences. Check out a few highlighted videos below.

Thumbnail for the featured content Lessons from the ~~trenches~~ cloud
Lessons from the trenches cloud

In 2017 I published a mini-book with O’Reilly to help architects and developers navigate cloud migration projects, based on lessons learned from real-world projects. This guide covers many important topics to consider before undertaking a complex cloud migration project, including:

  • Refactoring techniques to help modern services co-exist with legacy systems for months (or even years) during an enterprise-wide cloud migration
  • Virtualization and infrastructure considerations to support the development and deployment of self-healing, resilient systems in a cloud environment
  • Modern implementation techniques for distributed systems development such as event sourcing and actor-based programming
  • Secure development practices and cloud-native security

Many of these lessons are still relevant in 2023 as more and more on-prem workloads are migrated to cloud and virtualized infrastructure.

Read a summary of the book by InfoQ: https://www.infoq.com/news/2017/11/webber-migrating-java-cloud/

A link to the book: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/migrating-java-to/9781491994931/

This work by Kevin Webber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.