What I wish I had known when starting my development career
This is a guest post from Vincent Ng. Enjoy. Dear New Developer, You have embarked yourself in a tech journey full of opportunities. You will encounter and overcome many obstacles and challenges along your journey. You must make the most of your opportunities and excel in them. Below are nine skills that you can practice … Continue reading Nine ways of looking at a developer
Dear new developer, Debugging systems is a key skill to have. Here are a few thoughts about it. Try to get the problem to be as simple as possible. Start with the problem and keep isolating and removing pieces and see if the problem persists. Modern systems are complex and the less you have to … Continue reading On debugging
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
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
Dear new developer, I just had a conversation with my boss. I said "Hey, sometimes I can be overly direct and it comes off like an a**hole. I've been told I've been condescending by co-workers. I'm working on being more empathetic but if you see behavior like this from me, please let me know." A … Continue reading Admit your weaknesses
Dear new developer, You have a portable skillset; most every company needs software, just like everyone needs accountants. You have a "means of production" that only costs a few thousand dollars: your laptop. You are in demand (as long as you have the right skills, experience and salary expectations). Please take a chance during the … Continue reading Try contracting
Letters To A New Developer 