The Legit Baines Blog

I'm Trying to Get Better at Everything (and Accidentally Building another IoT Network at the same time) I don’t really know where I’m going in tech yet — and for a while, that bothered me. There are so many different paths: backend engineering, embedded systems , web development, networking… and it feels like everyone else has already picked a lane.  I’m trying to see that as a strength rather than a weakness. Instead of specialising too early, I’ve been focusing on getting better at as many areas as I can. Not in a scattered way, but by building things, testing them and testing myself as I go. One of the best examples of that mindset has been my recent dive into IoT . How I've Ended Up Building another IoT System Someone told me about their business idea and it involves IOT which was a big part of my course at Hallam University so I told him that I'm probably the ideal person to build him a prototype IoT system that he can present to his potential funders.  He knows more ...

  My Journey of Learning C++ with LearnCPP.com  💪💪💪 As someone who's always been curious about programming, I decided it was finally time to dive into learning C++. It's a powerful language used in everything from game development to system programming , and I wanted to broaden my skill set. After some research, I stumbled upon LearnCPP.com , a website that seemed like the perfect place to get started. It’s a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to mastering C++, and it has become my go-to resource as I venture into this new programming language. What I love most about LearnCPP.com is how well-structured the tutorials are. The site breaks down each concept in a way that’s easy to understand, even for someone like me who's just starting out. It begins with the basics, things like variables, data types, and loops, gradually moves into more advanced topics like memory management , object-oriented programming , and multi-threading . Each section is designed to build on the pre...

Trying to   Understanding APIs and FastAPI : Practical Tools for Modern Software Development ✌ Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are one of the fundamental building blocks of modern software development. An API allows different programs, services, or devices to communicate with each other in a structured way. Instead of one program needing to understand the entire internal workings of another, it simply sends a request and receives a response using clearly defined rules. APIs are everywhere: when a mobile app fetches weather information, when a website processes payments, or when a sensor device uploads data to a cloud service. In essence, APIs act like translators that allow separate systems to exchange information reliably. 💪 One of the most common ways APIs are used today is through web-based APIs that operate over HTTP. These are often referred to as REST APIs ( Representational State Transfer ). In a REST-style API, clients send requests such as GET , POST , PUT ...

  Cuthbert Baines Is Finally Ready Willing and Able to Relocate   🚚🚚🚚 For many new graduates in computing, software engineering, or data analytics, the moment of graduation is both exciting and intimidating. The world of technology offers enormous opportunity, but it also demands flexibility, persistence, and sometimes a willingness to go where the opportunities are. Increasingly, graduates are discovering that relocation can be one of the most powerful ways to accelerate the start of a career in the IT sector. Being open to moving cities can expose young professionals to larger job markets, stronger industry clusters, and networks of companies actively searching for new talent. 💪💪💪 One of the greatest advantages of relocating as a new IT graduate is simple economics: bigger technology hubs naturally contain more companies, more vacancies, and more specialisations. Digital technology employment across the UK has grown rapidly in recent years, with tech jobs expanding r...

📻📟📠  I've been exploring potential options for designing a private network that gathers sensor data and delivers it securely to a central hub while also supporting two-way communication requires careful consideration of range, bandwidth, latency, security, and scalability. Whether you’re managing environmental monitors across farmland, tracking machinery in a factory, or aggregating building automation data, the right architecture ensures reliability and long-term flexibility. Below are four proven approaches, each suited to different operational needs. The first method is a local Ethernet or wired LAN architecture . In this setup, sensors connect via Ethernet (often using Power over Ethernet to simplify cabling) to switches that route traffic to a central on-site server or data hub. Two-way communication is straightforward: the hub can push configuration updates, firmware patches, or control commands back to the devices over the same secure channel. This method offers high ba...

Hallam University Taught Me New Things Plus Also How to Learn Even More Now that I've finished my university journey, I’ve been reflecting on how much I’ve grown, not just in terms of knowledge, but in the very process of learning itself. University has opened my eyes to entire worlds of technology I never imagined exploring, from databases to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and from the Internet of Things (IoT) to programming. But what stands out most to me is how university has taught me not just new things, but also how to learn new things, even on my own. The New Things I’ve Learned When I first walked into university, I had a basic understanding of technology and programming. But the subjects I’ve encountered throughout my studies have completely transformed my perspective on what is possible. Here are just a few of the most exciting things I’ve learned: 1. Databases Learning about databases has shown me how the power of data is structured, stored, and retrieved. I never tr...