Expressing opinions in technical writing?

I'm writing an article on a technical subject (computer programming).

What I'm trying to say is something a long the lines of

"Although both methods have their advantages I believe that the former is preferable because...".

Obviously in technical writing I should not be referring to myself. I want to make it clear that a particular method has been chosen due to my personal preference and not because of any underlying technical reason.

I don't really want to cut it down to

"Although both methods have their advantages the former is preferable because"

as this is presenting opinion as a fact, which is not what I want to do.

How can I go about this? Apologies if my question is a little vague!

I don't think I understood your question properly. Nevertheless, what do you think of the following one?

"Despite the fact that both methods have their advantages, it can be clearly seen that the former..."

You could use the word "seems," but some professors hate that word because it sounds indecisive.

It is important for me to tell you that in cases like this, when people really do not want to use the first person perspective, they often refer to themselves in the 3rd person:

The researcher prefers XXXX, because...
The student worked with both methods and determined that he preferred...

:-) does that solve the problem?

I have read in Cresswell (2008) that is qualitative work it is okay to use 1st person, and in quantitative work it is better to use 3rd person.