Alright, I think we’ve stewed with the idea of DIS long enough…
We touched on it lightly last post but let’s talk about some tangible solutions to get passed it.
A sort of “life after getting DIS’d” – that’s right STILL not tired of it! I’m gonna milk it as much as I can… DIS is the hill I’m going to die on… 🙂
Of course, the vlog will go into a lot more detail, and I recommend you watch it but I’m just going to give you a little TL:DW if you’re on the move…
As we stated previously , there is no unicorn (know it all) developer, know your basics and then pick up the rest on a need to know basis and having a good resource pool will help a lot. Now let’s add to that: diving into projects and writing easy to understand code will help: it’ll get the project done quickly and efficiently. Clean, simple, and easy to understand code IS professional and professionals get paid. Also, Specializing in a niche (of programming) that makes you money (ex: machine learning code, e-commerce for small businesses, etc.). Again, check out the vlog for a little more detail and stick around in ’til the end for “Montreal in February” or “a -23 meditation”. Keep warm and enjoy!
So, you’ve been a developer for maybe two or three years? You’ve got some gigs and you’ve gotten paid and now you’re starting to work with the big fish… You’re maybe even working alongside other developers with 5-8 years of experience and suddenly you feel a kick in the pit of your gut… “WTF am I doing here?”
“I’m wayyyy in over my head, everyone knows what’s going on; they get their work done faster, they know which languages to use for any given situation. I don’t belong here.”
Ya just got DIS’d, son!
Yup, developer imposter syndrome…’d.
Now for some of you I may be spot on and for others, you either have felt this way and gotten past it <bravo>, or you haven’t crossed this particularly crappy bridge yet. And though I know it’s hard to come to any universal agreement on the internet, I think even in the back of our mind we can understand, sympathetically, “You can never ignore the emotional aspects of anything you do in life; especially career.”
Everyone Gets DIS’d, Bro:
(yes, I’m enjoying the hell outta this acronym)
But seriously, as unpleasant and humbling as these feelings are, they are completely normal. Everyone has felt these feels; even outside of the development field (it’s just called plain “Imposter Syndrome”, I know IS = boring acronym, but you should look it up). Ironically, feeling like we don’t belong (an Imposter), is something that everyone feels at one time or another. And perversely, it’s kind of a milestone; it means you’re “moving up in the ranks” and coming into your own by being around other more experienced programmers/devs who you should be taking the opportunity to learn from, or if you’re a little more solitary in your work, branching out finding a community you can learn from and feel supported in.
Alright I Got DIS’d, Now What? (Still not tired of it, mwahaha.)
Guess what? “There is no unicorn developer”, that is to say there’s no one that know every language, has been in every situation and knows everything. If there was, clients would just hire him/her and there would never be a need for anymore programmers or devs. Check out this vlog: if for no other reason than to see me freezing my butt off in the cold as we switch from a tight “man on a mission” shot to FPS mode and then the car for some “real talk”… It’s a fun way to talk about what can be a pretty frustrating subject. Me? I’m gonna sit here and think of how I can work this acronym into a sentence where I DIS your mom! OOOOOOHHHHH, snap!
Enjoy!
In the age of fast CPU’s and mature development platforms, will C++ see its’ use slowly diminish over time…
Oh, how the mighty have fallen…
C++: a programming language of immense speed and power has always been the poster child for learning to be a programmer. It’s still used in video games (for it’s processing speed) and other programs (and some apps), but all that power/speed does come at a price. Well, more of trade-off, really… the programming language is notoriously difficult and time consuming to write out [program], and paying programmers to write out such a time-consuming language can be expensive to a fledgling company or even a huge corporation in the red.
Now credit where credit’s due: C++ Is. A. Beast (in every way), and it’s not going anywhere any time soon but, “…it was created 30 years, 40 years ago; something like that… it was created at a time when computers were far far less powerful. The hardware was far less powerful so we needed to design programming languages that really took advantage of the limited resources in terms of memory and it terms of CPU.” With hardware becoming more and more powerful, other less…hardcore, let’s call it…languages have emerged that take advantage of those capabilities that come standard (compare the standard hardware setup of a computer in 1995 and 2010? Heck, 2005 even!) and in turn offer more flexibility with time and framework.
This video goes way more in depth about it (it also starts off trippy in a “Little Big Planet” kinda way). Enjoy the effects, the content and the GoPro magic…
If you want to advance your career as a developer, you’d be better to learn how to communicate with the non-nerds.
Let’s take a moment and talk about human interaction. For some of us, people are what make the job fun or bearable; knowing that there’s someone you can problem-solve/go to lunch/ share a laugh with. And for some of us, they’re constantly nagging/in the way/slowing us down or just being the poop emoji given life, ya know?
Well, unless you’re working from home, making your own coffee/meals on an island where all your work gets sent off via carrier pigeon, you’re going to have to communicate with someone. And this communication can take many forms, including direction (giving or receiving), collaboration and even <dun, dun, DUN!> fraternization.
Now before anyone feels like we’re saying, “You can’t communicate effectively, you introverted nerd!”. First off, whoooooa, that’s a lot of words we didn’t use. Second, for most of us (nerds included), we can string many words together in our vast vocabulary and articulate our intentions and feelings to varying degrees of success ( I feel the portrait of the socially “stunted” nerd is a crutch and often inaccurate. In my experience, most of my “nerd” friends can’t shut up about anything…).
Think of it as little “check-in” to reflect on how you communicate with people in the workplace. And for those of you honest enough to see you might lack some of these skills, no worries, check out the video and I think you’ll find these steps both easy and effective. Enjoy!
PS – Speaking of communication, stick around til the end of the video where I talk about a “hairy” situation…
A Sneak-Peek At The Upcoming Developer Vlogs In 2019 + So Much More!
First things first: HAPPY 2019, N2N-ers!! …we’re all still here…day 2…
Next up we’re happy to announce some of the cool new gear we’ll be using for our vlogs ( including a 360 camera and some cool videography tools).
Plus, I’m going to be a little more relaxed in the presentation (that’s right you heard me…), “a little more “Stef”, ya know?
We want to focus more on content than pesky little things like video quality that only grizzled old camera operators could pick out.
I’m going to let the vlog do most of the talking but I’m really happy to tell you that we’ve got some big upgrades coming up for the killersites network,
AND you’ll be seeing it in the first couple of months this year. BOOM! Right outta the gate!
There’s so much more, but while reading about it is FUN-damental, let’s take a look at the vlog and engage some more of our senses (for those of you that are still recovering from the last 2 days…maybe put on sunglasses and turn the volume down…). Also, if any of you want feel the cold of Quebec emanating off these pixels, or just wanna see some “BTS Stef”, you can fast forward to 4:25 of this vlog.
PS – Yes, I actually move that fast in the cold and yes, I try to move through most of my tasks like I’m in a “first person shooter”, but the my weapon of choice will always be a coffee.
Enjoy!
A Code of Conduct about Coding and a play on words for sure!
It seems every profession, association or club has their own “code” of operation. A set of rules or procedures that govern how members dress, interact and methodically complete a project or task. Well guess what? We have one too. And ours is Waaayyy better because it’s a code…about coding (if you can’t do anything with that, maybe you’re just dead inside…).
Presenting…
The Master Developer’s Code
A set of 5 lessons that have been amassed over 20+ years as a programmer. Granted some of the lessons here can sound pretty obvious if you think about it, we rarely do in fact. Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to be the best, wanting to WOW, that we can end up making a mountain out of a molehill or worse; not listening to client needs. After this video, I recommend checking out our “Keeping it Simple” article if you haven’t already. It’s worth it.
Applies to web design and just about any type of programming too!
A HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!!
Let’s start off with a scary premise… You’re starting a project or maybe you’re knee deep in the middle of one and you just feel stuck, or trapped. You’ve become mired in details and trying to be a programming hero, and you feel like you’re going in all directions at once! You need a better way to manage your workflow, young padawan…
In this video we lay out 5 steps to speed up your workflow whether a web designer or a programmer you be! Without too many spoilers, I’ll give you a little taste of what I’m talking about with tip number 4: Get the UI in front of the client ASAP. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t…) how many programmers and designers want to have this almost completed, work of DiVincian (yes that’s a word now) art to show the client. Nope, “You can mock all this up in HTML and you get the feedback from your client as quickly as possible.” Wouldn’t it suck to build something up and then have to change “…core behavior in your application because the client didn’t quite know what they wanted until they saw it?” Check out this video and free up some more time, money, and sanity for yourself.
Is there a perfect programming language? Some people think it’s Python, others say it’s Swift, and still others think it is Kotlin! They can’t all be right!!?
In this podcast, I get into it to help you understand the best programming language.
A NoSQL (originally referring to “non SQL” or “non relational”)[1] database provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.
In this podcast, I explain why for 99% of projects, you are probably better off with an SQL database. The need for sharded (sharding) databases, and horizontal scaling (one of the mentioned key advantages of noSQL databases) is exceptionally rare.
In this vlog style podcast, I talk about ‘programmers pain’ and the quickest way to becoming a professional developer. Whether you want to work for a company full time, start a freelancing development business, or create your own business, the strategies I teach in this video will speed things up.
