Welcome to Michael Minella.com - A site dedicated to quality web and Java development.

My name is Michael Minella and I'm a full time developer for a large financial exchange as well as maintainer of this corner of cyberspace. 

Quality Software

What if when you talked on the phone, the longer you talked, the slower the person on the other end sounded?  What if you had to flip your circuit breakers once a week to reset them so that everything ran ok again (and you really didn't understand why)?  We accept these things in software and I don't understand why.  I am an advocate for solid, quality software.  Software that works.  Always.

Me Professionally

I currently work at a large financial exchange as a Senior Software Engineer.  Prior to that I spent a year working on the pilot project for open source technologies and the agile methodology at Sears Holdings.  There I worked in a paired programming environment on a customer facing website using XP practices (continuous integration, test driven development, daily standups, stories, etc).  The rest of my professional career was spent as a Senior Consultant for Software Architects, Inc. (Since purchased by Sogeti USA LLC).  I spent my time there working on various J2EE projects for fortune 1000 companies including Sears Holdings, ABN Amro, Bankers Life and Casualty and FTD.  I also have extensive teaching experience thru both internal training courses on various topics (Struts, JMS, JUnit, OO Design Patterns) as well as teaching at the junior college level.

Me Personally

I am married to a wonderful woman and currently live in the western suburbs of Chicago.  As far as what I do for fun, I have a passion for learning.  People who know me know that I'm always into something new.  I've been interested in ancient egyptian history, card magic, woodworking and airbrushing just to name a few of the hobbies I have had over the years.  For me, it's more about learning something new than really getting into any of them.  

Final Thoughts

Although I am putting together this site for my own place to record thoughts, tips and tricks I do hope that you are able to take something away from it.  I have a passion for learning as well as a passion for teaching.  If you come here and can walk away with just one new idea or tip, then I think this is all worth it.