In this blog entry, I'm going to take a break from talking about software engineering topics and instead discuss computer hardware. Specifically, I'm going to provide a detailed walkthrough of how I upgraded the RAM and Solid State Drive (SSD) on my LG Gram ultrabook. As I stated at the very beginning, the computer that you use for your software development work matters. I chose to purchase the LG Gram 17" 2019 model because it's a rockin' laptop for software engineers. The original laptop came with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which I thought was upgradable to 20GB and 512GB, respectively. Little did I know, the laptop supports much more, and there is a popular modification out on the Internet to upgrade the RAM to 40GB and SSD to 1TB using high-quality Samsung components! For a few hundred bucks more and a moderate time investment, it was a deal I couldn't refuse!

So you want to be a Microsoft (.NET) stack developer? Your head may be spinning from all the information out there and recommendations that you've either heard from other people or read online (e.g. Reddit). You might be feeling like you're being pulled in several directions.

I'd like to help you.

The purpose of this blog series, the Foundational Concepts Series, is to help introduce novice software developers to programming on the Microsoft stack. I first started coding when I was a kid and I've been using C# and .NET since 2003, so I'd like to think that I've learned a few things over the years. Even intermediate or advanced software developers may learn something new or fill in gaps in their knowledge from this blog series. My goal is to present the material in a fun and accessible format, so that the reader is left with not only a greater understanding of programming concepts and how to create quality software using one of the finest ecosystems out there, but also a passion for learning, so that you will continue to grow as a professional and as a person.