Good old “Hello World”.  It’s the short example often used when introducing a new programming language.  It seems appropriate for this site, which will include content relating to software development.

But not just software development.  One of the issues of sitting in front of a computer screen for many hours a day is physical fitness.  It’s easy to focus so much on programming and stretching ourselves mentally that physical exercise and healthy diet get pushed to the background as things we’ll get to eventually.  But let’s be realistic; when you’re working on a project or support tickets and there are a mix of items ranging from critical to nice-to-have, the nice-to-haves end up at the bottom of the priority list.

Dwight Eisenhower once said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important.  The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” Even though the nice-to-have features get bumped down the priority list, they sometimes make the most important differences in how well the product is received and used.  We often fall into the trap of thinking of our health as important, but it’s never treated as an urgent matter.  At least not until we end up in a hospital emergency room.

The goal of this site is to help find a balance between these items: the joy we find when writing software and improving our professional skills, keeping physical strength through exercise, and fuelling our bodies and minds by eating a healthy diet.  They aren’t mutually exclusive—being healthy helps us think more clearly to solve the problems and challenges we face when programming.  It also means fewer days lost to sickness, so we don’t end up even more stressed when we lose time in a project with an already tight deadline.

The name for this site sounds like a command you’d use to start a program or launch a container (“docker run dev-cycle”).  Some of my favourite physical activities are running and cycling.  But these two aren’t the only ways to incorporate some physical activity in our lives.  There’s a lot of different options to suit everyone, whether you prefer something quiet and solo or social interaction, individual activities or team sports, indoors or outdoors.

If you’re already doing some of this, that’s great!  If you aren’t but want to try it, start with something easy and go from there.  Just like learning a new language or framework, you start with the basics and then build on that to get better with it.  Your co-workers, friends, family, or physician may have ideas to help you get started if you’re not sure where to begin.  And to those who’ve already found this balance, let’s help and encourage others who are just starting or still on their way.

Happy coding, and happy trails!