This is a guest post from Charity Majors. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Story time. Susan was hired as a database engineer. Her primary projects, which are supposed to be upgrading/rolling out a major point release and running load tests against various config options and developing a schema management tool, keep slipping. But she is one … Continue reading Know your “One Job” and do it first
Dear new developer, Go out and speak at a meetup. This will have the following benefits: Decrease your fear of public speakingIncrease your knowledge of a topicHelp build a community of developersBuild your public profileTeach others something useful You don't have to do this every quarter or every year, but I challenge you to do … Continue reading Speak at a meetup
This is a guest post from Joyce Park. Enjoy. To my newer colleagues: Welcome! I’m so excited to have you in the dev community, and honored to hopefully be able to contribute by sharing a few time-tested hints about entrepreneurship and early-stage startups. I’m a community-taught web developer who has enjoyed 22 years in high-profile … Continue reading How to prepare to be a startup founder
This is a guest post from Sonja Parsell. Enjoy. Dear Developer, Don't misinterpret a small distraction, or even a big disaster, as a "sign" that coding isn't for you. There were definitely times in my journey when a break in learning was completely justified, but by no means should I have seen it as a … Continue reading But First, Don’t Do the Dishes
Dear new developer, Kindness is an unsung virtue for software development. I touched on it in this post on empathy, but wanted to emphasize it again. Practice kindness. When I was young, I thought scoring points and being right were important. They are, but being kind and a good human is even more important. Be … Continue reading Be kind
This is a guest post from Dan Walkes. Enjoy. Dear developer, I was thinking this week about my Great Uncle, Bob Van Gerpen, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011. Bob was my Grandma’s youngest brother and similar in age to my Dad. He was a big part of my parent’s life as they experienced … Continue reading Uncle Bob’s Ski School
Dear new developer, I had a friend who brought me into a club. The specifics of the club don't matter, but like most clubs, it had a variety of executive roles. Someone had to run the meeting, other people had to take notes, someone needed to keep track of the finances. As I took on … Continue reading Always be replacing yourself
Dear new developer, In certain areas of software operations, the concept of an error budget makes an appearance. An error budget is a way of tracking how often errors occur. When the budget is exceeded, you spend time and energy to decrease them. Having a number like this is a good way to align different … Continue reading Think about your career risk budget
This is a guest post from Jerrin Samuel. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Software development is a field that evolves quickly and constantly. These changes keep things exciting and interesting, but can also make you feel like you are falling behind all the time. Engaging in continuous learning is one of the solutions you can look … Continue reading Why Developers Should Engage in Continuous Learning
This is a guest post from Adam Steel. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Getting your first developer job can feel like a big accomplishment. And it is! It can feel so big and you can feel so relieved to have any job at all that you might start to develop your worldview around that one job. … Continue reading Take jobs that help you grow
Letters To A New Developer 