If you aren’t learning, you are falling behind The field is constantly moving. New languages, new tools, new processes. You don’t need to learn all of them, but keeping up with what changes is useful. Work on code in your free time The best programmers I know have spent a lot of free time working… Read More »
In order to be really good at any craft, including software development, you need to be good with your tools. For a software developer, your tools are not physical, but you need to know them well all the same. Any time you need to stop and look up information on your language or libraries, you… Read More »
I’ve spent a fair portion of my career teaching and mentoring other programmers. Some of this training involves covering basic programming and design concepts that they may not have learned previously. When covering a fundamental concept, I often defer to books written by people much smarter than I am rather than explain the concept myself.… Read More »
I’ve recently been reminded of something I used to tell entry level programmers repeatedly: Review the basics. And really I mean all of the basics: data structures basic algorithms basics of algorithm analysis language syntax core CS concepts testing strategies In many programming positions, you can get away with coasting on these things for a… Read More »
A couple of years ago, I wrote in The IP Goose about some effects that too strict an IP policy can have on developers. In the intervening two years, I’ve had some other insights that I believe are important. First of all, I stand by my original essay. Companies should be able to protect the… Read More »
What is it with programmers who don’t read? Most of the best programmers I know are constantly learning. They seem to have an insatiable curiosity for any topic they are interested in. These programmers are often reading websites, books, and magazines almost constantly to help extend their knowledge and understanding. Others never seem to read… Read More »
For various reasons, I’ve recently been thinking on the importance of programming play, Those times when we tinker with code without any goal other than making something run on the computer. Sometimes this involves playing with a new language or a feature of an old language that we’ve recently discovered. Unlike projects for work, these… Read More »
I just recently read Valueless Software, written by Chad Fowler from about a year ago. In this article, he describes an approach to practicing music by ignoring the result and focusing on the process. He contends that software people might benefit from a similar approach. I have actually seen this approach used before in C… Read More »
Reading Dave Thomas’s blog on Code Kata pointed to PragDave: MoreKata. I also stumbled across How To Practice on Chad Fowler’s blog. Both of these entries discuss exercises that we can use to master the art of programming. Perhaps surprisingly, they use metaphors and concepts from martial arts and Zen. Those of us who have… Read More »
I’m not quite sure what lead me to this blog entry, but I find PragDave: Code Kata by Dave Thomas to be a very interesting idea. I had never thought of describing coding practice as similar to kata. I did stumble into a similar idea once many years ago. I had just finished reading Software… Read More »