Dear new developer, It's paradoxical, but sometimes the best thing you can do is not write code. Remember, the value you provide is to solve the problem you are faced with (the outcome), not to write code. Custom code has value, but comes with costs. It needs to be deployed, maintained and upgraded. It has … Continue reading The best code is no code
Dear new developer, Searching is important to writing and understanding software. Less so for giving you a base of knowledge. For that, I'd seek out books, video classes or side projects, depending on how you learn. Googling well is tough if you don't know what terms to use. (I'll use google as a synonym for … Continue reading Learn to use Google, and use it well
This is a guest blog post from Rick Manelius. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Can you name all 50 US states? How about their capitals? Every city in the US? Every town? Could you list the GPS coordinates of every coffee shop? Of course, you can’t, wouldn’t, and don’t. It would be absurd to spend the … Continue reading Avoid The Impossible Goal of Being a Know It All
This is a guest blog post from Jesse Ling. Enjoy. Dear new developer, Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. You’ll never know all the things. And that’s ok. Ask questions - at the right time. There’s a fine line between reaching out for help too early and too late. Struggling is imperative to growth, but reaching … Continue reading Tips from a recent bootcamp graduate
Dear new developer, Design patterns are common ways to implement solutions that can be repurposed across different systems and domains. This post proposes patterns for handling organizational situations. Some really good excerpts: No matter how amazing you are at your job, you will sometimes get feedback about things you could be doing better. It can … Continue reading Patterns for managing up
Dear new developer, I already covered the right way to ask questions, but this post was so good that I wanted to share it. (I found it on hackernews.) Mike Ash gives advice on how to get answers from the internet. Tips like "explain everything up front", "post your code" and "follow up after you … Continue reading The right way to ask a question to get an answer
Dear new developer, Stackoverflow (SO) is great for three different kinds of developers (and someone can be all three over time): those who are looking for answers, usually via Google (searchers) those who are looking to showcase knowledge, usually by answering questions (answerers), and those who have a specific question to ask (askers) Every developer … Continue reading Use stackoverflow, and use it well
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
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
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
Letters To A New Developer 