Brendan McKenzie

Latest posts

• 7/21/2020
  Encrypting web.config values

  A quick guide on how to encrypt values in a web.config file
  Technology
• 11/17/2019
  Building solid, useful and usable software

  If you want to build useful software, use it
  Technology
• 9/12/2019
  Serverless CDN

  Building a pure serverless CDN with image processing in AWS using the Serverless framework, Cloudfront, Lambda and S3
  Technology
• 4/6/2019
  GraphQL, Entity Framework Core and JSON Patch

  Implementing an abstracted method of CRUD operations with GraphQL, Entity Framework Core and JSON Patch
  Technology
• 3/31/2019
  Sitecore indexing arrays with Azure Search

  Overcoming an issue with indexing lists of data on Azure Search
  Sitecore
• 11/3/2018
  Lessons with Sitecore Helix

  Before we discovered the Helix framework developed by Sitecore our projects were disorganised, to say the least. We had no real guideline to follow when building out our solutions. Helix changed that.
  Sitecore
• 3/27/2018
  Sitecore 9 Prerequisites (SIF)

  The prerequisites for installing Sitecore 9 using SIF are *technically* detailed in the installation guide. However it's a bit obscure. Here's a summarised list of additional packages that need to be installed to run the SIF installation tool for Sitecore 9.
  Technology
• 3/21/2018
  Installing Sitecore 9 Manually

  All Sitecore documentation directs users to use the SIF or SIF-less tools to install Sitecore.
  Sitecore
• 11/16/2017
  What did you learn this week?

  As developers, learning is part of our job, rarely are we faced with a problem where the solution is obvious and straightforward. Understanding the problem is a learning in itself.
  Technology
• 6/19/2016
  Serverless .NET Core

  I have been playing around a lot with AWS Lambda lately, writing most of my functions in Javascript. It made me wonder what other languages/platforms would be well suited to such an environment. Javascript works well because it's lightweight and flexible. Lambda has the option for Java but has some performance issues due to the spinup time of the JVM.
  Technology
• 6/7/2016
  Going Serverless

  I work for a digital agency - Deepend. We primarily build and maintain content managed websites for clients. We are platform and technology agnostic meaning we deal with a lot of different programming languages, operating systems and databases. That's great for me because it gives me the freedom to play with a whole assortment of toys.
  Technology
• 6/5/2016
  Spartan Race

  Yesterday I completed my first ever Spartan Race. Leading up to it I was nervous and excited. Excited for all the obstacles, nervous because it had been so cold lately that I was scared I'd get hypothermia.
  Health and Fitness
• 6/3/2016
  So you want a website

  One of the hardest questions to be asked as a programmer who primarily does web development is: 'How much for a website?' It's one of those questions that doesn't really have an exact answer. 'How much do you want to pay for a website?' is probably a better question.
  Technology
• 5/30/2015
  Pesky Adblock

  I was tasked with implementing some extra levels of validation on the registration form of a website I built. Registration was a simple AngularJS form that hit an ASP.NET WebAPI endpoint.
• 1/16/2015
  Umbraco Specification File

  Umbraco is a powerful CMS that isn't overly intrusive. It can work nicely side-by-side your web appliction providing a nice and easy way to manage dynamic content pages. The latest version also has a nice fresh UI.