Be a Just in Time Learner, part I

Dear new developer, There's the concept of a JIT compiler. I was first introduced to it with the HotSpot Java compiler. The idea is that a compiler can look at code and find the code that executes often and optimize it, sometimes compiling it down to faster code, sometimes unrolling loops. I'm no compiler expert … Continue reading Be a Just in Time Learner, part I →

Always Be Journaling

This is a guest blog post from Brooke Kuhlmann. Enjoy. Dear developer, Of the many techniques you'll pick up over the course of your career, one worth investing in early is journaling. Journaling might not seem like a worthy endeavor at first. Capturing important moments of your life on a daily basis might even seem … Continue reading Always Be Journaling →

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

This is a guest blog post from Noel Worden. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It can be stressful and humbling to reach out and ask a question, but it can be the best way to stop spinning your wheels and make progress. It’s stressful because as a new developer you … Continue reading Don’t be afraid to ask questions →

Know when to not throw in the towel

Dear new developer, I wrote previously about when to throw in the towel. Now I want to mention when you shouldn't. Anything worth doing is hard. That includes software development. There are times, sure, when it feels like you're a superhero. When the code is flowing. When you can hold the entire system in your … Continue reading Know when to not throw in the towel →

Laziness, impatience, hubris

Dear new developer, Larry Wall has created foundational software (perl, patch). He coined the three virtues of a programmer: Laziness: The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful and document what you wrote so you don't have … Continue reading Laziness, impatience, hubris →

Ask smart questions

Dear new developer, Asking questions well is one of the best ways to learn quickly. You can ask questions of the code, of other people or of search engines like Google. Here are excerpts of my two favorite posts about asking questions. First, How To Ask Questions The Smart Way: If you are trying to … Continue reading Ask smart questions →

Don’t make the same mistake twice

Dear new developer, "To err is human". We all make mistakes. A few years ago I was working on a contracting project with a new version control system. I didn't take the time to understand all of the commands, but just dove in and started writing code. A few days in, my branch was weird … Continue reading Don’t make the same mistake twice →