Dear new developer, Dev.to is a relatively new community of developers. A few years ago, someone on that community asked for advice for junior developers, and I found the answers fascinating. Here are a few of my favorites. People should respect you. It's your right to push back against disrespectful interactions. If it's waved away … Continue reading What’s your best advice for a new developer?
Dear new developer, I saw this insightful tweet: https://twitter.com/nora_js/status/1224905963804606467 The whole thread is worth reading, but you get the basic idea. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. When I think back over the years, I am amazed at how many things I can do without thinking now that would have been baffling to … Continue reading You’re going to put some plates in toasters
Dear new developer, Just like you should learn a text editor, you should learn an integrated development environment (aka IDE). This is typically a standalone program focused on one or more programming languages. They range from free to a couple of hundred bucks in pricing. Using an IDE will give you the following benefits: It … Continue reading Learn an IDE
Dear New Developer, Congratulations! Let’s take a moment to celebrate the decision you’ve made to launch or redirect your career. What lies ahead is a lot of hard work, satisfaction, the occasional desire to throw your laptop out a window, and a ton of learning. That’s true of most professions, so you’re also in good … Continue reading “It never gets easier, you just go faster.”
This is a guest blog post from Zach Turner. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, Don’t forget to play. I spent the year after undergraduate working and learning. My goal was to find a job at a company and eventually I succeeded. However my passion dwindled because it was always put second to finding a salaried position. … Continue reading You Should Play (A Lot) More
Dear new developer, I was at a lunch a few weeks ago and asked some senior engineers and managers what advice they'd give to a new developer. One said: "never stop learning". I thought this was a perceptive answer and wanted to expand on it. I learn something new every day. I'm going to talk … Continue reading Never stop learning
This is a guest post from Jenna Quindica. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, I didn't learn how to program until I was 18; in fact, I didn't know about computer science the concept until I was 18. It is never too late to start learning how to code. In the beginning I struggled the most with … Continue reading It is never too late to start learning how to code
Dear new developer, Right now you're probably a bit frustrated and confused. You're learning a lot of things and you don't really understand everything. Sometimes things click and it all makes sense, other times you're confused and staring at what feels like a brick wall. Perhaps you just want to make things work and they … Continue reading Develop empathy
This is a guest post from Kim Schlesinger. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, I know you worked hard to get where you are. You are self-taught, you earned a degree in computer science, or you graduated from a coding bootcamp, and your hard work helped you master the skills required to be a ‘junior’ developer. (I … Continue reading How to Develop Expert Intuition
Dear new developer, I wrote a post about learning SQL a while back. I posted the link in Lobste.rs, an online community, which generated some interesting comments. One of them was that sqlite was a better way to learn SQL than using PostgreSQL or MySQL. This is due to the fact that there are some … Continue reading Learn SQL with sqlite
Letters To A New Developer 