This is a set of essays about making software.

I write them for several reasons:

• It may be useful to others.
• It helps me understand the process of building software.
• It helps me turn mistakes into lessons learned.
• It helps me remember lessons I have learned.
• It helps me document the tools I use and how I use them.
• I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul.

I write these essays as instructions to myself, so I use imperative voice for rules I apply generally. I try to explain why any given instruction has general rule status.

I hope you find them useful.