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Todd Horn

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Todd Horn is a Keyhole Software developer based in St. Louis, MO with experience in .Net, JavaScript, Java, and PHP. Todd has been involved with software projects in the telecom, manufacturing, insurance, and non-profit industries, including background in HR, Payroll, Benefits, and Insurance systems. When not at work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, helping with boy scouts, hiking, and volunteering for the Ozark Trail Association.

The Power of Amazon Lightsail

Todd Horn AWS, Development Technologies, Tutorial 1 Comment

Amazon Lightsail allows a developer to build applications and websites fast, with very little cost, using pre-configured cloud resources on AWS. You can create a website or application in just a few clicks and automatically configure networking, access, and security environments with ease. It will easily scale as needed, or you can migrate your resources to a larger AWS ecosystem, such as Amazon EC2.

Recently, a client wanted to move and update an existing marketing / informational WordPress site from a typical hosting provider to their existing AWS environment. Let’s walk through that process and also explore some of the other options that are available with Amazon Lightsail.

ArcGIS Developer Mapping APIs Quickstart

Todd Horn Development Technologies, Programming, Tutorial Leave a Comment

I have always been interested in maps and GIS data. Whether I am planning a hike or a backpacking outing for scouts or helping the Ozark Trail Association with their website, trail building, and maintenance or needing directions from one place to another, a good map and mapping tools are a necessity.

ArcGIS has always been the gold standard for anything related to maps and GIS data. So, in this blog, we’ll take a look at some of the mapping options that are available with an ArcGIS Developer account and their Mapping APIs.

Getting Started with Azure Data Studio

Todd Horn Azure, Cloud, Databases, Dev Methodologies, Development Technologies, DevOps Leave a Comment

On my last two projects, I decided to give Azure Data Studio a try to see how it measured up to SSMS. Azure Data Studio gives you a more modern editor experience. It’s comparable to Visual Studio Code with IntelliSense, source control with GIT, and an integrated terminal for Powershell or SQLMD commands.

Azure Data Studio was built with a data platform user in mind, and its easy editing and export options, built-in charting of query results, and customizable dashboards make it an incredibly valuable tool.

In this post, I’ll go over some of the basics of how to use Azure Data Studio.

Infrastructure as Code Using Azure CLI

Todd Horn Architecture, Azure, Cloud, DevOps, Tutorial Leave a Comment

Infrastructure as Code (or IaC) is the process of using code and versioning in the same way you do your source code to manage your networks, VMS, and Azure resources. IaC generates the same environment every time it is applied, and it’s an important DevOps practice to use alongside continuous delivery.

The release pipeline executes this model to configure target environments. If you need to make any changes, you edit the source, not the target environment. This allows you to create reliable and stable environments on-demand that can be validated, tested, and repeated.

In this blog, we’ll look at how we can use Azure CLI and Azure DevOps Release Pipelines to make this happen. I’ll walk you through all the steps you need to take to get set up.

More on Accessibility-First Programming

Todd Horn Development Technologies, Opinion, Programming Leave a Comment

A few months back, Aaron wrote about the high-level aspects of Accessibility-First Programming, its importance, and specific strategies and tools for applying it within your software development process. It included insights and suggestions for Color and Contrast, Focus Management, the use of ARIA tags and attributes, and testing strategies and tools – all of which are important things to consider. 

In this post, we’re going to dig in a little deeper on three of those topics that I used on my last project: ARIA, the WCAG and what is needed for compliance, and some design principles of accessible design. We’ll include insights and further reading on relevant topics to help you better understand how to implement accessibility-first programming in your own development.