BAAAD: Become An Above Average Developer
BAAAD: Become An Above Average Developer
Tips, ideas and stories to guide you through to the step before becoming a GREAT developer
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.
The Leanpub 60-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Do Well. Do Good.
Authors have earned$11,716,512writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
Recipes for Decoupling
Matthias NobackWrite software that survives
OpenIntro Statistics
David Diez, Christopher Barr, Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel, and OpenIntroA complete foundation for Statistics, also serving as a foundation for Data Science.
Leanpub revenue supports OpenIntro (US-based nonprofit) so we can provide free desk copies to teachers interested in using OpenIntro Statistics in the classroom and expand the project to support free textbooks in other subjects.
More resources: openintro.org.
CQRS by Example
Carlos Buenosvinos, Christian Soronellas, and Keyvan Akbary- Leverage your Software Architecture skills by learning everything about CQRS in detail with lots of examples
- Develop faster applications by applying CQRS and fostering Read Models and Projections
- Learn how to apply CQRS into a brownfield project from a pragmatic approach
C++20 - The Complete Guide
Nicolai M. JosuttisAll new language and library features of C++20 (for those who know previous C++ versions).
The book presents all new language and library features of C++20. Learn how this impacts day-to-day programming, to benefit in practice, to combine new features, and to avoid all new traps.
Buy early, pay less, free updates.
Other books:
Jetpack Compose internals
Jorge CastilloJetpack Compose is the future of Android UI. Master how it works internally and become a more efficient developer with it. You'll also find it valuable if you are not an Android dev. This book provides all the details to understand how the Compose compiler & runtime work, and how to create a client library using them.
Maîtriser Apache JMeter
Philippe Mouawad, Bruno Demion (Milamber), and Antonio Gomes RodriguesToute la puissance d'Apache JMeter expliquée par ses commiteurs et utilisateurs experts. De l'intégration continue en passant par le Cloud, vous découvrirez comment intégrer JMeter à vos processus "Agile" et Devops.
If you're looking for the newer english version of this book, go to Master JMeter : From load testing to DevOps
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
The PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking Book
Don Jones and Jeff HicksLearn the patterns, practices, and details of PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking from the industry's two most recognized experts on the subject.
Mastering STM32 - Second Edition
Carmine NovielloWith more than 1200 microcontrollers, STM32 is probably the most complete ARM Cortex-M platform on the market. This book aims to be the most complete guide around introducing the reader to this exciting MCU portfolio from ST Microelectronics and its official CubeHAL and STM32CubeIDE development environment.
Introduction to Data Science
Rafael A IrizarryThe demand for skilled data science practitioners in industry, academia, and government is rapidly growing. This book introduces concepts from probability, statistical inference, linear regression and machine learning and R programming skills. Throughout the book we demonstrate how these can help you tackle real-world data analysis challenges.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #4
Pattern-Oriented Memory Forensics and Malware Detection
2 Books
This training bundle for security engineers and researchers, malware and memory forensics analysts includes two accelerated training courses for Windows memory dump analysis using WinDbg. It is also useful for technical support and escalation engineers who analyze memory dumps from complex software environments and need to check for possible... - #6
All the Books of The Medical Futurist
6 Books
We put together the most popular books from The Medical Futurist to provide a clear picture about the major trends shaping the future of medicine and healthcare. Digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, the future of 20 medical specialties, big pharma, data privacy, digital health investments and how technology giants such as Amazon...