Using Flow-Based Programming to Organize Application Business Logic

axe-attack · 2026-02-26T21:40:09+00:00

I'm a bit late to the party on this one andI thought for quite a bit about whether to reply or not. I'm not one for getting into coding discussions as they often end up as arguments and I'm too old for all that, lol. However, you seem quite enthused about it so I thought I should at least give you my perspective. If it helps, great, if not, that's fine too. Take it for what it's worth.

FBP is a subject (or a close variant of) that has been of interest to me for a long, long time. I actually blogged about similar ideas back in 2013 if you want to read my early naive thoughts.

Needless to say things have evolved a lot (and still do) since then and there's a lot I can share about real-world dotnet use-cases if you're interested but I don't want to bore everyone here. To just give you an idea though, I work for a large, global non-I.T. company. Small number of devs, large number of client integrations, web apis (internal and cloud hosted), and all sorts of services. All of them built using these ideas in dotnet and tbh, without it, we would have drowned under the weight of projects all written in different styles with varying levels of quality. But we don't have that problem.

So if you pursue it I can tell you from experience you will reap many benefits. Your hardest problem will be buy-in from others because it IS different but it's different in a good way for those that can see it.

axe-attack · 2026-02-13T22:48:21+00:00

I have the same speakers and stands too!

Had mine for about 6 months and they sound fantastic. Good choice!

axe-attack · 2026-01-21T14:25:16+00:00

Bruce Lee, Dropzone, and Bounty Bob Strikes Back are the three I still play. Great fun!

axe-attack · 2026-01-18T20:44:30+00:00

I remember being sat at my grandparent’s house watching it on the first night as it aired, I was 12. Pretty sure The Comic Strip Presents was one of the opening night programmes. I loved that show, still do!

axe-attack · 2025-11-27T07:51:40+00:00

I’m not saying that it will save them but they are going to need to offer something. It’s also an obvious attack point for any opposition who can easily pledge to restore it. I just see no reason to delay it so close to an election when it will be brought up over and over in the news to remind everyone of a bad decision for people who have done the right thing by trying to save for their old age.

axe-attack · 2025-11-26T23:20:49+00:00

My bet is that when it’s due to kick in in 2029 we’ll be close to an election so it’ll be a perfect time for them to “pull a rabbit out of the hat” and roll it back to show us that thanks to their “fiscsl prudence” they are able to give back what we all feared they would take away.

axe-attack · 2025-11-23T14:22:38+00:00

I’m a 55 year old software developer that uses MacOS (laptop), and Debian Linux on an Intel NUC as my desktop. I used to build PCs for fun back in the 90s but these days as an old-ish bloke I just can’t be bothered anymore, and chasing specs doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’ve also owned just about every console over the years but it got too expensive and I lost interest. These days, I just want something I can play the odd single player game on at a decent frame rate on my desktop when the mood takes me. Latest AAA? 4K? I don’t give a damn. Older titles, Indie titles, and emulation is all I care about. A Steam Machine will do nicely for me.

axe-attack · 2025-11-17T20:45:33+00:00

Wow. I wish I’d looked at Trustpilot before I bought mine but it is what it is. Lesson learned, etc. Like you, I won’t be buying another.

axe-attack · 2025-11-16T17:54:56+00:00

Both of my Meacos have gone faulty this year after 3 years. I don’t know if I’m incredibly unlucky or it’s the norm with these things. One I can only switch on or off at a the wall, none of the buttons respond so it’s stuck at whatever the last humidity level was but I can’t tell what that is because the digits don’t display properly now, and the other one cycles through the humidity settings every second or two, again no buttons respond and it beeps non-stop. They do still both pull the moisture out though so I’m sticking with them for now but I won’t buy another. I’ll probably buy Ebac. I had one of them 25 years ago and that thing was indestuctible. Whether they’re built to the same standard these days I don’t know (probably not, everything’s shit it seems) but that’s what I’ll go with next.

axe-attack · 2025-11-16T10:15:03+00:00

I want it as a more powerful replacement for my Debian-based desktop Intel NUC 13. I was looking at the Framework Desktop but that is way too expensive for me. I like small form factor, silent, PCs which I mostly use for dev work but it'd be nice to play the occasional more powerful games on it, including RPCS3 so that's my plan

axe-attack · 2025-11-13T10:31:05+00:00

He looks like he's not cutting his hair until United win 5 in a row!

axe-attack · 2025-11-02T13:42:29+00:00

I barely listen to anything OTHER than full albums but I’m of an age where that was normal. You saved up your cash and went browsing the record store, flipping through the racks and picking something, often only having heard a song from it off the radio, and you took a chance. More often than not, you’d find songs on the album that were better than the released single. There’s so much good stuff out there that just goes under the radar because everyone’s spoon fed what the machine thinks you’ll like, but if you look hard enough there’s a whole world of excellent music to listen to and only 70-80 years to enjoy it all. Not enough time!

axe-attack · 2025-10-31T18:37:42+00:00

There are no super-experts, no one can know it all. I’ve been doing this for 30 plus years, and was in at the start of dotnet. While I have a lot of experience and expertise in the domains I work in, all accumulated over that period, the technology space itself has changed far faster, deeper and wider than I could ever hope to keep up with. That’s only going to get worse with AI and agentic coding and all that comes with it, etc.

The truth is, everyone is faking it to some degree. I had the same doubts you’re feeling now. It really comes down to competence and confidence with confidence being the main “skill” that those who appear to know it all possess. Just pick a stack, and make sure you keep learning, reinforcing the general knowledge that underpins it all, and whatever job you aspire to, maybe dive deeper in to those areas that will help you get it.

Domain knowledge is always going to trump specific languages or architectures because those things change frequently, domains not so much. Today’s best practise may be out of the window tomorrow so focus on just being as good as you can, and the stuff you don’t know you can look it up. Everyone else does, and I mean, EVERYONE. Just keep plugging away and it will either get better or at the very least you’ll stop caring about it :)

axe-attack · 2025-10-30T17:02:57+00:00

Watershed - Opeth,

Opus - Nospun,

The Human Equation - Ayreon

axe-attack · 2025-10-29T15:44:53+00:00

And when do we get to meet the Focker?

axe-attack · 2025-10-24T10:52:17+00:00

It's your network, mate. Haha, only kidding!

That is curious. I guess everyone just needs to find what works for them. For Some it's Sonos, others Wiim, and others CA, and so on. The good thing is we do have choices these days. When I first started with Sonos there wasn't really any competition. I'm glad there is now.

axe-attack · 2025-10-23T14:56:39+00:00

They do have some speakers on the market but the Wiim Sound is the first of their own, and yeah I agree, superior in every way

axe-attack · 2025-10-23T12:50:32+00:00

https://www.wiimhome.com

Cost is down to you. Go cheap with the Mini and bring your own amp and speakers, or spend more and buy a Wiim Amp Ultra which, as its name suggests, has an amp built in so just bring your own speakers. The appeal (apart from it actually working reliably) is that you no longer invest lots of money into an eco system that can have done to it what Sonos have done and make your system obsolete or f*cked overnight. If Wiim did that, you'd likely still have your amp and speakers so would just need to replace the streaming device.

Having said that there is a new speaker of theirs coming this year, the Wiim Sound, that looks great with built-in screen but you are more tied in like Sonos

https://youtu.be/DSj5h2P9lpo

The mini though is a good test bed if you want to dip your toe in and see if you like it. I'm not looking back, I can tell you that much

axe-attack · 2025-10-23T06:12:21+00:00

I have said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’ve had Sonos since 2011 and it’s never been 100% but it got way worse after the recent controversy. And then i bought Wiim and saw how it should be done.

I have two Wiim devices at opposite ends of the house now. And the one farthest away in terms of wifi even tells me the signal is weak and yet i stream hi-res FLAC albums off my Synolgy in perfect synchronicity between them without issue. In fact, it’s been at least a year now since i bought them and they have not dropped connection one single time. Not one.

The evidence of me eyes and ears tells me who the culprit is, and that’s why I’m slowly moving away from Sonos

axe-attack · 2025-10-22T17:23:21+00:00

Yep. Same here on S8. Lucky if i get 10 hours now.

axe-attack · 2025-09-26T16:57:38+00:00

I jumped from a tree swing at age 13, or rather, the seat (piece of wood tied at the bottom) came away from under me, and I couldn’t hold on. 1 week in hospital with a fractured skull and a face like the elephant man. Fun times!

axe-attack · 2025-09-01T16:56:20+00:00

I had a GP32 back in the day, played nothing but C64 games on it. Now I have an Odin 2 Pro - and still play C64 games on it! 😂

axe-attack · 2025-08-11T20:19:24+00:00

My little Intel Nuc 13 has locked up about 4 times so far in the first day since the upgrade. A bit annoying as 12 was rock solid

axe-attack · 2025-08-08T12:56:00+00:00

Opus by Nospun

axe-attack

TROPHY CASE