BAAAD: Become An Above Average Developer
Last updated on 2013-05-02
About the Book
When I started dabbling in the web industry over 15 years ago I knew very little what was involved to become a developer. Back then the Internet had just taken off and the resources were scarce.
Fast forward to present, it is simply amazing to see so many software technologies and techniques emerging rapidly. Yet, I can't help but think one would easily become overwhelmed or even confused in this vast amount of information.
Perhaps you are an aspiring software junkie, or a software engineeing student, or a junior developer, or an established developer who is stuck at where you are at - I would love the opportunity to start a conversation with you on how to become an above average developer.
The goal here is to push you to go even further and to become a GREAT developer - but let's be honest, a great developer cannot be taught, not to mention that I don't even see myself as a great developer, yet. You see, the real goal here is to inspire you to get to a stage where you would have more chance to succeed.
Over the past few years I have started collecting ideas on topics I'd like to cover. Some of the topics are (draft only, in no particular order):
- Where to start (your career)?
- Attidue: question things
- Champion individual vs champion team
- Personal / social branding
- In for the money? Prospect? Experience? Or something else?
- Documentation
- They pay for what you do; they pay for what you know; they pay for your wisdom.
- Ideas vs execution
- Learn to say no
- The art of asking questions
- Be a responsible developer
- Handle politics
- Attention to detail
- UI / UX
- Refactor code, when and how?
- Finding leisure activities that boost your productivity
- Chicken and egg problem - how to solve?
- Optimise readability vs optimise performance
- Code tests
- Adjust your confidence level
- Help vampires
- "Invest" the right amount in your employer
- Effective use of source control
- Team dynamics
- Communication
- Second system syndrome
- Software engineering is like playing a real time strategy game like StarCraft II - importance of checking your "minimap"
- "Experience is overrated"
- Social investment
- Open source
- Software architecture
- SOLID principles
- CRAP principles
- Stable team vs stable project
- Is agile for you and your team?
- Effective agile planning sessions
- When and why to switch jobs?
- … and more :)
I intend to write the book in a casual tone for an easy read, with not only tips and ideas, but also first hand experiences and stories - funny or sad. ;)
Now, it's time for you to show me how much you value your career by signing up and letting me know what you think the book is worth.
About the Author
Fred is a motivated and established software developer and designer with a strong focus on code craftsmanship, business values and user experience. He's worked at companies such as SitePoint and Envato and is currently working as a team lead at Locomote.
Having built his first webpage back in 1997, Fred soon became interested in and started dabbling in the web industry. He began his career as a software developer while studying at Monash University - he worked as a part time web developer in a small web development firm as well as a freelancer designing and building client websites on his own.
Fred is a passionate open source developer who has made contributions to dozens of open source projects including Ruby on Rails - one of the most popular web frameworks, and Slim - a popular template engine for Ruby.
In 2012 Fred was invited to speak at RubyConf China. His talk "Become a Better Developer You Can" was well received and has been tweeted by many industry veterans including Yukihiro Matsumoto (Matz) - the author of the Ruby programming language.
The Leanpub Unconditional, No Risk, 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
