Dear new developer, In my experience, four types of companies use software. Software is as prevalent as accounting, so every company uses it in some way. Those that sell software to help build software, software product companies. Examples from my career: Oracle. Those that sell software, often called product companies. Examples from my career: The … Continue reading Types of companies that use software
Web APIs for new developers
Dear new developer, Chances are high that you'll be working with other code as a developer. I remember when I was first starting out and saw the acronym API everywhere. I had no idea what it stood for. In case you are in the same boat, it means Appliciation Programming Interface. What that means is … Continue reading Web APIs for new developers
Learn to type quickly
Dear new developer, Coding is so much more than typing into a computer. Other things that matter: knowing who to talk to what to build when to discuss high and low level concepts other processes like testing and documentation communicating progress course correcting when a project goes awry These are all skills you need to … Continue reading Learn to type quickly
Talk first, code later
Dear new developer, The more experienced I get, the more I realize that the hard part of software development (for the kinds of software development I do, primarily business web applications) is not the coding. It's the communication. You need to communicate, often among shifting parties over weeks, months or years: why you are building … Continue reading Talk first, code later
Listen to podcasts
Dear new developer, Depending on what your life looks like, you may have some time where your body is occupied, but your mind is not. At least not 100%. Tasks like doing the dishes, running and driving all fall into that category. In this extra time, you may want to listen to podcasts. Most smartphones … Continue reading Listen to podcasts
Skill stacking
Dear new developer, I found this post, "How to Become the Best in the World at Something", enlightening. The author is arguing that if you pick one area to be the best in, you're going to have to be very very good at it. For example, if I wanted to be the best in the … Continue reading Skill stacking
What is the best surprise of being a new developer?
Dear new developer, I was asked recently at a talk I gave about what was the best surprise of being a new developer. I was talking at Turing School, and had discussed some of the things that surprised me when I was starting out. There are a lot of great things about being a developer. … Continue reading What is the best surprise of being a new developer?
How to succeed at a larger company
Dear new developer, This Ask HN is worth a read, as there are some good tips on how to succeed in a larger company. I've been here for about a month now and still feel like I'm mostly just in free falling trying to figure out 95% of what anyone talks about or how to … Continue reading How to succeed at a larger company
The perfect is the enemy of the good (and the done)
Dear new developer, When you are facing a problem, it can be very tempting to try to solve it perfectly. Handle all the possible edge cases, make it extensible, have it be configurable without code changes. As with everything in life, there's an opportunity cost to this perfection. If you're spending days perfecting a single … Continue reading The perfect is the enemy of the good (and the done)
Video of My Develop Denver Presentation: Three Things I Wish I’d Known as a New Developer
Dear new developer, As I mentioned a while ago, I spoke at Develop Denver this year. The video of the presentation is up. It's about 45 minutes, including some great questions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmLzu1fPH6Y Enjoy. Sincerely, Dan
Letters To A New Developer 