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
Category: letters to a new developer
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
Speaking isn’t as scary as you think, eventually
Dear new developer, I remember one of the first times I spoke in public. I was talking about J2ME (which was a technology for building mobile apps, pre iphone) to the Boulder Java Users Group. I threw up some slides showing the flow of data across the system, and made a joke along the lines … Continue reading Speaking isn’t as scary as you think, eventually
How to learn things, fast
Dear new developer, I enjoyed this post about how to learn. While the author toots his own horn a bit much for me, he makes some very valid points about how to learn. Most importantly, you want to learn using the best resource. What is best? The best resource is a bit of a lie … Continue reading How to learn things, fast
Help, I can’t learn/do something because it is boring!
Dear new developer, Sometimes you have to learn or do something boring. I know there are times when I've had to schlep, whether that is data entry, learning a technology that I'm not thrilled about, or tediously manually replicating a bug many many times to try to debug it. A couple of tips on how … Continue reading Help, I can’t learn/do something because it is boring!
Letters To A New Developer 