webTend

I’m Steve Dobe. I run an IT consulting company when I’m not fishing.

Based in Brisbane, Australia, webTend provides IT services to small-to-medium-sized businesses.

During my 30-year career in Information Technology, I have accumulated considerable experience in businesses spanning retail, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, and information services. I have also worked hard to retain the technical knowledge I have attained over the years and have remained active in software development, specifically in building complex web applications.

Work

  1. Company
    webTend
    Role
    Owner, IT Consultant, Software Developer
    Date
  2. Company
    Everhard Industries
    Role
    Head of IT
    Date
  3. Company
    QK Technologies
    Role
    CIO
    Date
  4. Company
    The Riviera Group
    Role
    Group IT Manager
    Date
  5. Company
    EGR
    Role
    IT Manager
    Date
  6. Company
    Comalco, RP Data, BCC
    Role
    Analyst/Programmer
    Date

What I use and recommend.

Here are some things I use, rely on, and recommend.

Software Development

From Visual Basic to C to SAS to Visual Foxpro to Progress to PHP to Joomla! to Laravel.

  • Laravel

    If you want to start building web applications, Laravel is a perfect place to start. Couple it with a subscription to Laracasts, and you have all the resources you need to get underway.

  • Inertia

    It's the perfect tool, fit for purpose, to bring together my backend and frontend favourites - Laravel and Svelte. I would love to say more because it deserves it, but it's just one of those things you need but don't need to pay any attention to, as it gets out of the way and just does its thing.

  • Svelte

    Svelte just feels right. A lot of developers talk about developer experience. Well, you'll be doing well to find a better experience. "Popular !== Better"
    Give it a try. You will end up with less boilerplate and noise, and the source code you write will be easy to read, understand and maintain.

  • Typescript

    Similarly to writing tests, you just should be.

  • Tailwind

    This website is based on the Spotlight template at Tailwind UI. Subscribing to Tailwind UI lets me focus on the content.

  • Cypress

    I have been writing software for a lot longer than I have been writing tests. Adam Wathan's Test-Driven Laravel changed my mind. If you have yet to see it, do yourself a favour.
    I have yet to try Microsoft's Playwright, but that's also on my list.

Productivity, Services & Tools

These are some of the services I subscribe to and recommend.

  • Google Workspace

    Because I like to be productive, and the Google Workspace products allow me to be just that.

  • Grammarly

    Because I'm better with numbers.

  • Laravel Forge

    Because I'm a software developer and only enjoy one-half of DevOps.

  • Laracasts

    It's better than sliced bread, especially if you're unsure how to slice it.

  • Akamai (Linode)

    Web hosting and object storage that has never failed me yet.

  • Honeybadger

    Application monitoring that helps developers get it done.

  • Mailtrap

    Their free tier is all I need, but their service is so good I felt guilty not paying for it.