Three Mantras to Live By

This is a guest post from Dave Mayer. Enjoy. Dear New Dev- After 22 years of 'production level' experience in the real world, I'm writing to share three mantras that have led to more happiness and more success for us. To be clear, these are DAILY mantras. Not weekly, not monthly, not annually. Daily. They … Continue reading Three Mantras to Live By →

Read great books about software development

Dear new developer, Read books about software development. Seriously. Now, you won't learn the latest techniques from books. Those will live online in blogs or videos (or in papers, if you work in an area like machine learning influenced by academia). Nor will you learn a lot that you can put to immediate use to … Continue reading Read great books about software development →

Don’t try to change the tabbing / bracing style

This is a guest post from Andrew Rondeau. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Don’t show up an a new job and immediately try to change the tabbing and/or bracing style. This is especially important if the codebase you work on has a very consistent style that all of the other developers follow. Why? Tabbing and bracing … Continue reading Don’t try to change the tabbing / bracing style →

Admit your weaknesses

Dear new developer, I just had a conversation with my boss. I said "Hey, sometimes I can be overly direct and it comes off like an a**hole. I've been told I've been condescending by co-workers. I'm working on being more empathetic but if you see behavior like this from me, please let me know." A … Continue reading Admit your weaknesses →

A Crash Course for Your First Job in Software

Dear new developer, This post, "They Didn't Teach Us This" is a great read. There’s a curious phenomenon that happens when new web developers take their first job. You’ve just gotten your CS degree or graduated from bootcamp, and you’ve spent months or years learning to write efficient code, practicing for interviews, and building portfolio … Continue reading A Crash Course for Your First Job in Software →

How to start blogging

Dear new developer, I was asked about how to start blogging during the Q&A portion of a talk I gave. I had offhandedly recommended blogging as a great way to make connections and to be both credible and findable (locatable?) when looking for a job. I started to spout off an answer using WordPress, and … Continue reading How to start blogging →

Learn a Little Network Engineering

This is a guest blog post from Allan Wintersieck. Enjoy. Dear new developer, I realize that just trying to learn basic programming principles can feel daunting enough, but if I may, I’d recommend adding one more task to your list: learn a little bit about network engineering. Networking underpins everything web and app developers do, … Continue reading Learn a Little Network Engineering →

Take care of your body

Dear new developer, I don't know how old you are. All I can tell you is that you should take care of your body. This includes tasks that all folks should do (get good sleep, exercise, get the regular checkups for body, eyes, teeth, skin) as well as some tasks specific to desk jockeys (get … Continue reading Take care of your body →

On surviving your first year as a developer

Dear new developer, This post covers some great tips on getting through your first year. It starts off ominously: The first year as a programmer is one of the most frustrating things a homo sapien can experience. You're thrust from the world of ambiguous human communication into the icy waters of cold, hard correctness. There … Continue reading On surviving your first year as a developer →