Data visualization projects and occasional writing by Drew Hoover.https://drewhoover.com/https://drewhoover.com/blog/drews-mentoring-maxims/https://drewhoover.com/blog/drews-mentoring-maxims/I've had some success mentoring folks. I've also had some failures! I'm providing them here as a list of maxims for anyone interested.Wed, 18 Dec 2024 05:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/how-to-make-a-good-side-project/https://drewhoover.com/blog/how-to-make-a-good-side-project/Side projects occupy a unique space in software development. This guide explores what makes them successful by sharing lessons from building multiple tools over three years.Thu, 19 Dec 2024 05:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/questions-i-like-to-ask-my-interviewer/https://drewhoover.com/blog/questions-i-like-to-ask-my-interviewer/There's a lot of advice on the internet for job candidates on how to answer job interview questions, but not much on how to ask good questions, the importance of which scales with seniority.Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:19:58 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/vscode-icon-to-match-the-theme/https://drewhoover.com/blog/vscode-icon-to-match-the-theme/Ever wondered if you could customize your app icons? It's surprisingly easy—read on!Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/why-deadlines-are-hard-and-why-forecasts-are-better/https://drewhoover.com/blog/why-deadlines-are-hard-and-why-forecasts-are-better/Everyone knows the four hardest problems in software engineering include meeting deadlines; here's how forecasts provide better clarity than fixed deadlines.Mon, 16 Dec 2024 05:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/bfme2-apple-silicon/https://drewhoover.com/blog/bfme2-apple-silicon/A 2006 game, a 2026 Mac, no VM. We got to the main menu. The soldiers, however, declined to appear.Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/keycap-lookbook/https://drewhoover.com/blog/keycap-lookbook/If you've ever gotten sick of clicking through endless Amazon results pages and storefronts trying to find just the right item, you might like using an agent-assembled lookbook instead. Read on to see one I made for Drew! Agent skill included.Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/going-deep-on-type-checking-mock-resolvers-for-graphql-test-fixtures/https://drewhoover.com/blog/going-deep-on-type-checking-mock-resolvers-for-graphql-test-fixtures/Advanced type-checking techniques for GraphQL mock resolvers using TypeScript, improving developer experience through type safety and practical codegen configurations.Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:17:11 GMThttps://drewhoover.com/blog/how-to-write-simple-expressive-and-powerful-test-fixtures-for-graphql-applications/https://drewhoover.com/blog/how-to-write-simple-expressive-and-powerful-test-fixtures-for-graphql-applications/Using GraphQL mocking tools to create simple, expressive, and powerful mocking interfaces — and how to type-check those interfaces to make them effortless to use.Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:16:30 GMT