Hi 👋🏻
My name is Morné Zaayman and this is my personal blog. I’m a professional software developer and team lead working mostly with Microsoft’s web and mobile application technologies (Azure, ASP.NET, .NET Core, Entity Framework, Blazor, Xamarin etc). I’m also a Microsoft Certified: Azure Associate. I’m originally from South Africa which is where Mzansi comes from – it’s a nickname for South Africa. It comes from the isiXhosa word uMzantsi which means “South”. Bytes comes from the unit of digital information which mapped well to my interested in technology.
I work remotely for Appenate, a leading low/no-code solution provider, as the Platform (backend) Team Lead, and in my spare time also work on some side projects of mine.
I used to be a flight instructor before I made the switch to full-time software development. During my time as a flight instructor I saw the need for eLearning content for student pilots in South Africa. This led me to develop Ground School which currently has students all over South Africa using it. It also allowed flight instructors to earn an income during the pandemic when they couldn’t fly by assisting me with producing and improving content for the site. I am working on expanding the website to other jurisdictions and also have plans to “generalise” the code so that it can be repurposed for other eLearning uses. I then hope to licence access to it as a SaaS. The web application was developed with Blazor WASM for the front-end and ASP.NET Core for the API backend. The mobile applications use Xamarin Forms.
The other side-project of mine – No Bad Surprises, was created out of a problem I consistently found with family and friends when it was somebody’s birthday, or there was a celebratory holiday such as Christmas where gifts are given to others. It often occurred that nobody knew which gifts to give others and this often resulted in less-than-ideal gifts being given. I then had the idea to write an application where users could list items they would like to receive as gifts, which other people can view through a public link. If someone purchases a gift for someone else, they can mark the gift as purchased so that others do not also purchase the same gift. This is live and accessible at https://www.nobadsurprises.com. Similar to Ground School, the web application was developed with Blazor WASM for the front-end and ASP.NET Core for the API backend. The mobile applications use Xamarin Forms.
Aside from software development, I also enjoy playing golf, although some days I’m not sure why – I can spend more time looking for balls than hitting them. I also enjoy staying active and relatively fit and try to eat healthy where I can. However, I do enjoy a good braai (BBQ in South Africa).
Thanks for taking the time to visit my site. I’ll try to keep it updated with interesting content. If you’d like to contact me, my email address is mornezaayman@mzansibytes.com.