Dear new developer, "Outcomes over output" is one of my favorite letters on this blog. In it, Mark, a guest poster, talks about what business actually values (outcomes) over what developers often focus upon (outputs). Outcomes are things like: more saleshappier customerspublicityless customer churn Outputs, on the other hand, are things like: more featurestest coverageflexible … Continue reading Influencing outcomes through output
Dear new developer, I've spent a lot of my time maintaining working code. I think that is more typical of software developers than working in greenfield development. Yes, there are definitely jobs where you are writing more new code than maintaining, upgrading, bug fixing and improving old code (startups without product market fit being one, … Continue reading Always leave the code better than you found it
Dear new developer, A key part of software development is being able to pick up where you left off. You are going to have interruptions during your day, and you want to be prepared for them. Whether you took a break to rest your eyes, stepped away for lunch or have left for the day, … Continue reading Save off context
This is a guest post from Minh Pham. Enjoy. Dear new developer, I want to start off by saying Congrats and Good job. If you're reading this, it's likely you know how to code - and even if you're still working on getting that first job, that means you have one of the most desirable … Continue reading Create Value for People
Dear new developer, The honest truth is that you won't know everything. No one does. The CEO, CTO, the team lead, that really smart senior developer on your team, none of them know everything. In fact, I bet if you asked any one of them if they'd been stymied in the past week, they'd reveal … Continue reading How to say I don’t know
Letters To A New Developer 