Hi, I'm Stephen.
I’m a software developer and architect. For the last fifteen years I’ve been building systems for places that move things around — energy grids, commodity trading desks, settlement banks. I’ve shipped a lot of Java and a fair bit of regret.
This blog is where I write the post I wish I’d found three days into a problem. Long-form, no clickbait, no SEO games. I post irregularly but I’m trying to be better about that.
What I write about
- Java & Spring — particularly when the conventional wisdom is wrong
- Rules engines & decision systems — Drools, Easy Rules, RuleBook, the lot
- The architecture of trading and settlement systems — sanitised
- The history of computing in Armenia — a hobby that became an obsession
- Digitising and publishing old books — currently working on an 18th century Armenian grammar
Elsewhere
I keep a bike-packing journal at velostevie.com. The two sites share an author, but absolutely no design language — and that’s intentional.