Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

We continue our focus during the U.S. Thanksgiving week with a look at things to be thankful for. This episode, we look at people in our life. These can be friends, family, and even co-workers. Each relationship has its unique traits, and now is an excellent time to consider them. Let's look at some reasons to be thankful for these people that make life's journey with us. Co-Workers We do not often get to choose the people we work with. Our career or job tends to lead us into these relationships instead of the other way around. Nevertheless, these are people that are fellow travelers in a fashion. They often have similar interests, goals, and even approaches to problem-solving. While they are not exactly like us, we usually will see they are not that far off from us when push comes to shove. Learning From Peers, Teammates, and Co-Workers Friends Friends are the people we choose to share life with. These range from "drinking buddies" to soulmates and many points in between. No matter the depth of the friendship, a friend is always preferable to being lonely. That does not mean we can not be happy being alone at times. This mindset is about loneliness or feeling like someone cares. The people that we call friends should be affirmed and thanked on a regular basis. We know how much of a chore it can be to put up with us at times. Family We have no choice in our family members. However, these people know us as good as anyone does. They also are generally more likely to truly care about our success and happiness. I understand that some family members can try our patience or worse. Nevertheless, these are often the relationships that stay with us to the grave. That alone makes them people that influence us heavily through our life, and a little thanks will not hurt. If they are going to be a part of your life, then try to make them a happy part of it.

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us in the United States. That allows us a week that is a little lighter than our normal workload and time to reflect. In this time of reflection, one of the things to consider is the effective tools we have for doing our jobs. Avoid Software Piracy The first thing to consider is the people and companies that provide all of those effective tools. Therefore, we should be respectful of their efforts and ensure we are compliant with licenses. I have heard all of the excuses for software piracy, and none of them hold water. In particular, we need to set an excellent example for those that do not make a living creating software. If you need a little extra support for this concept, you can check out the link below. A Summary Of Software Piracy Along with being compliant with the software you use, go ahead and clean up what you do not. This includes deleting unused applications and canceling subscriptions that are no longer needed. You want to be in a comfortable place as licenses go. Thus, you should pay for what you use and not the things that you leave on a shelf. Lower Cost, Effective Tools The rise in popularity of software-as-a-service has made many applications affordable. There are free demos, trial periods, and even some free tier (or entry-level) solutions that small organizations may find very useful. Take advantage of these options and check back regularly via searches or popular sites (like Sourceforge) that apply to your needs.

We have reached the end of season 10. This episode wraps up our look at how lists can be a quick way to cover a lot of ground as topics go. This season was a broad range of subjects, and here are a few others to review to become a better developer. Upcoming Hiatus We will be taking a break from Thanksgiving to New Years with only a few Holiday episodes. That will have us starting season 11 at the beginning of 2020. Of course, that break makes it a perfect time for you to catch up on anything you missed in season 10. The Complete Season 10 Episodes Past Seasons That Are Recommended We covered a broad range of topics in the last few years. However, the pattern and anti-pattern seasons are some of the most valuable ones to review. These are quick hit ways to improve significantly as a developer quickly. That is the power of patterns. Software Patterns Anti-Patterns Parting Thoughts - One More List There are some essential items I hope you have taken from our episodes this year. The first is that podcasts (and audiobooks) are an excellent way to consume mass quantities of content. As we go into a time of year where a lot of sitting around and waiting in lines occurs, take advantage of this format. Check out Apple Podcasts Momentum is awesome. Do your best to take advantage of this and drive yourself to make a little progress on your goals every day. There is no better time to begin this approach than today. You do not have to wait for the new year to start making progress on those big hairy audacious goals in your life. Your Best Year Ever – Start A Better Tomorrow Today The final thought from this season is for you to follow your dreams. There is no subject, topic, or product idea that is not worth pursuing. That does not mean everything will be successful. However, do not be afraid to follow your dreams until you are sure they are not a good fit. You can write a book, create a podcast, or solve any problem that comes to mind. Do not limit yourself before you at least take a shot at those dreams.

This season has been an homage to clickbait and lists. Nevertheless, some values come from using lists to communicate. There are some critical concepts behind this approach to writing and even sharing ideas. Therefore, it makes sense to offer an episode that looks at three things we can learn from lists and how to make them work for us. A Simple Summary One of the most significant values we derive from a list is the ability to grab a summary quickly. Lists are made for scanning and speed reading. Think about how often you read an article first by looking only at the section titles or list items. That is just a smart way to scan for the key points of a piece when a list is available. That allows us to consider the key take-aways from an article as one of the things we can learn from lists. Communication Noise vs. Content Learn Quickly The above item leads to the logical step of being able to learn quickly. A scan of a list can be orders of magnitude faster than reading through paragraphs of prose. This concept holds true even in discussions. The phrase "get to the point" could easily be translated into "tell me a list of what you want to communicate." That can get simplified to a single item if we are really in a hurry. Communicating Progress and Status – Consulting Tips Well-Defined Limits One of the most significant benefits of using a list to convey is that it provides us guide rails. This concept should feel familiar as many writing classes in school start with an outline. Even the most basic structure of a paragraph was almost a list. I was taught that a "good" paragraph had a point, three supporting sentences, and a close. That sounds a lot like a list to me with an intro and an end. When you list out key points, then those provide you the focus for the entire article. You can effectively build down out of each list item to a more fleshed out description of it. Lists are attractive to us for many reasons. Not all of them are nefarious in nature. Do not worry about using lists to communicate to your audience; they happen to be a highly efficient method of doing so. An Academic Article on Using an Outline

The worst thing that can happen to your career is burnout. This situation can do lasting damage to your reputation as well as eat away at years of progress. Therefore, any steps you take to avoid burnout are worthwhile. Likewise, the situation is one that makes even desperate attempts at avoiding it worth the risk. The suggestions we review are not complicated, can be done quickly, and often turn the tide towards burnout. Make A Change A change is always critical to avoid burnout. The situation you are in has been too steady and consistent for too long. That is at least part of what led to burnout. Thus, we need to make a change. The course we have been on needs to be adjusted in some way before we go off a cliff. The way to change is going to vary from person to person. You might even be able to make an adjustment in an unrelated area of your life that steers you away from burning out. Making a Change to Stir the Pot Adjust Your Schedule Mixing up how you do the things you do can be that necessary change. Sometimes the rut we are in is just a matter of doing the same thing at the same time. Maybe you are tired of starting or ending your day with the same task. Sometimes our habits and routines become a little too automatic and lack thought. Think about daily or weekly tasks like working out, catching up on the news, or even eating. All of these things can be wholly mindless and joyless. Maybe you need to get back to enjoying some of these everyday tasks to avoid burnout. Burnout and How To Avoid It While Staying Productive Adopt a New Goal Or Hobby A more significant change we can make is to adopt a new goal or hobby. This step may include things like a job or career change. However, you often will be able to stop short of such drastic action in making a noticeable change. The general attitude around this option is similar to the idea of a New Year's Resolution. There are times in our lives that are best-suited to a change. Funny enough, avoiding going over a cliff of burnout is one such time. This situation is perfect for doing that thing you always thought about whether learning a skill, enjoying new recreation avenues, or knocking something off of your bucket list. Hobby Ideas For Those Bad At Hobbies

Discover three vital software design patterns that every developer should know. The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern serves as a robust architecture for modern web applications, perfect for crafting minimally viable products. Unravel the mystery of the Singleton pattern, which helps manage class instances and optimize memory usage. These patterns are not just theoretical; they play significant roles in real-world applications, enhancing your programming skills and enhancing software design.

The steady path of continuous improvement can be derailed by burnout. This situation can not only halt progress, but it can also cause us to fall backward. The time and progress lost can be difficult to regain and cause a significant setback. Therefore, we need to be aware of the signs of burnout and be prepared to make changes before it is too late. The Feeling of Being In A Rut One of the first signs of burnout is that sense of being in a rut. The days start to run together, and progress is hard to recognize. This state can be due to an actual spinning of wheels on a project or might be entirely in your mind. In any case, your approach to each day is that you need to go through the motions again. You do that knowing tomorrow will be more of the same. This lack of looking forward to anything of substance is very similar to experiencing burnout. Thus, when you find yourself struggling to find or focus on goals, burnout might be right around the corner. A Lack Of Drive Lack of drive goes hand-in-hand with being in a rut. I am not even sure you can have one without the other. While the first item saps your desire to make progress, this one drains your desire to do anything. Think about as someone running in circles and eventually wearing out from that effort. This is the point where burnout truly begins. Once your drive to progress dies, burnout comes next. This point is not at that complete lack of drive state, though. Once you see your general happiness and desire to make progress fade, then you want to make changes. You are starting in a downward spiral at that point, so you need to get out of it. Looking For Excuses To Avoid Work The other items on this list almost guarantee this third one. Once you find yourself unhappy or depressed about your work, then you will be happy to avoid it. We all have valid reasons to put off work and things we should do. However, when you are finding the most random and unimportant busywork to avoid your primary tasks, then you are showing one of the signs of burnout. Burnout and How To Avoid It While Staying Productive

It only makes sense that we would provide a list of things that better developers do during this season. That is a primary focus of this site and one that is easy to step into. None of these three tips are challenging to implement. Nevertheless, each one builds over time to become a juggernaut of improvement. These can make your career a successful one, no matter where you begin. Constant Learning It is no surprise that technology moves at a rapid pace. There are new things to learn every day. While that study flow of fresh content is impossible to keep up with, you will need to embrace learning. An attitude of constant learning as one of your core tasks is required to keep up and fall into the better developer category. Anyone can learn a skill and become productive. The better developer learns a new skill over and over again. They then take that new knowledge and apply it to solve new or more significant problems. Continual Learning - A little Each Day Embrace Challenges The life of a developer has ups and downs. We all have days where everything falls into place works easily. However, we also all have those days (maybe more often than not) where we stumble over typos and similar simple mistakes. Those little things add up, and we may not feel as productive as were wanted to be. That means we all fall short at times but will also find challenges on an almost daily basis. That is part of the draw for the better developers. They are looking for the next challenge to face or problem to solve. Interact With Their Co-Workers No man is an island. That includes women as well. We can only advance so far on our own no matter what the field is. There is just too much education and experience we can lean on from others. While it is arguable whether one person can eventually achieve the same thing a team can accomplish, the speed difference is significant. Life is too short, and there is too much for us to know to ignore the benefit we get from others. The better developers interact with others regularly. They are open to new ways to solve a problem and learn from the experiences of others. There is no other way to put it. Your co-workers are valuable assets. Take advantage of this valuable resource. Learning From Peers, Teammates, and Co-Workers

All resumes are not created equal. There are impressive achievements we can list that will make us stand out from the crowd. While these are goals that take some time and effort, many are not out of reach for anyone in the modern world. Here are three such goals you can achieve to become a better developer and "wow" your colleagues. Write a Book There is still enough mystique around the title of "author" to impress many in the professional world. That makes writing a book an option worth looking into. One of the barriers to this goal is the perception that it is a huge undertaking. While I do not want to downplay the work and self-discipline that is required to create a book, it is not near what many fear. I would argue that anyone that has gotten a degree or professional certification can write a book as well. There are many tools available to help you write, edit, design a cover, and publish your book. These are all activities that are worth learning and often a matter of following well-defined steps. In fact, the hardest step in writing a book may be selecting the topic and creating an outline. The rest will flow more naturally than you think. Get Your Book On Amazon Create a Tutorial The tutorial and training industry has become flooded with authors. These topics range from simple things like setting up your latest home device to classic history studies, to learning a language. A brief search and review of these tutorials will confirm that there is a broad range of professional look-and-feel among these examples. That is where you can make a difference and impress your co-workers. The topics are plentiful. Therefore, I find this to be the easiest of the three items in this episode to check off your list. You can even knock out a professional-looking tutorial over a weekend. So why wait? One of Many Presentation Template Site Create a Podcast This suggestion may seem to be evident from a podcast. However, it is still one of the best of impressive achievements right next to writing a book. The challenge for a podcast is to have regular content to present. A book is a long talk about a single topic while a podcast requires multiple such presentations. However, there is an ease in talking through a topic that does not exist when most of us write on the same thing. The good news is the number of active topics available that are excellent fodder for a podcast. You can cover sports, technology, or even your favorite TV show. All of these are worthy of a podcast and provide a steady stream of material. It all comes down to discipline and setting a schedule then sticking to it. While this is more difficult for some of us than others, these are all things that can significantly enhance your resume, and you might have some fun along the way.

One of the ways to achieve your dream job is to interview better. That allows us to impress decision-makers and win the positions we are suited for. However, a good interview requires time and practice as well as being intentional about the process. Here are three tips to prepare for that next position and win over the interviewers. Research The Position and Company Nearly every interview starts with a "let us tell you about us" introduction. This can sometimes drag out deep into the interview time slot. Avoid this theft of time you can use to impress by driving the introduction. Talk about what you know about the company and direct the conversation by asking for clarification or insight from them. This allows you to take control over the process a bit and shows the others in the room that you care enough to "do your homework." That can be impressive at any level. However, the less expected from an interviewee, the more important this step can be. Glass Door Another User For Glass Door Ask Questions Be an active participant in the process. Ask questions about the company, job, and role that show your industry knowledge, desire to serve, and that you are engaged in the discussion. There is nothing that can sink an interview faster than someone that only responds to questions in terse ways. Make the interview a dialogue where applicable and use that time to "win over" the interviewers, so they are more likely to like and trust you. "I Do Not Know" Is A Valid Answer In talking about asking questions, I mentioned the "T" word. That word is trust. Your likelihood of an offer improves dramatically when the interviewers like and trust you. When you try to talk your way through something you do not know it can destroy credibility. On the other hand, admitting a lack of knowledge shows your desire, to be honest, and direct. Therefore, admit to a lack of expertise when you hit those snags. This step also allows the interview to move on from what you do not know to the areas where you do. That focus on your strengths and positives never hurts your chances of an offer.