goobar

Yearly performance reviews for software engineers can be a stressful and/or exciting time.  If we can prepare for review season by having a clear idea of our impact, data to support it and a clear vision for where we want to go in our career, we can set ourselves up for a successful yearly performance review. Chapters New Year - New End-of-Year Review Cycle 00:25 End of Year Reviews Focus on Two T...

Descoping a project or feature simply means making it smaller.  This might mean cutting out a few bells and whistles, or it could mean making large changes to the overall requirements. By evaluating project requirements and deadlines early on, and looking for ways to deliver smaller portions of that project earlier in the process, we can deliver value earlier and more often. This process can help...

When debugging an error in our code or looking for a solution to a given problem, it's easy to fall into the trap of going with the quick, obvious solution.  However, this often sets us up for future problems because many times the obvious solution does not solve the root cause of the error or solve the fundamental problem of the task in front of us. By asking questions like "how?"...

Why share your work?  Why take that risk and put yourself out there? Well, it's because there are a lot of very positive things that come out of the process of sharing.  From improved skills, to unexpected opportunities, to more effective conversations and documents at work - sharing can help us in many ways. Listen to this week's podcast episode to learn more about why you should think...

This week's podcast episode explores Jetpack Compose tips that have been helping my team while using Compose in an existing production Android app. Chapters 00:43 Intro 02:12 Leverage self-documenting apis 04:07 Embrace slot-based api design 07:46 Expose composable parameters with sensible defaults 11:18 Customize your Composable previews 13:15 Modularize for faster @Preview refresh 16:02 Bui...

In this episode, we're chatting about the exciting 1.0 release of Android's Jetpack Compose UI toolkit!  We'll explore what this release means for you and your projects, and I'll share my thoughts after working with Compose in production for the past couple of months. Show Notes Jetpack Compose Roadmap https://developer.android.com/jetpack/androidx/compose-roadmap Compose Multi...

What are the essential skills for Android developers looking to get into the industry in 2021?  In this week's episode of the goobar podcast, we're exploring this listener question to help Android developers understand which skills and concepts are most important for getting that first job, and for growing in their career. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:59 Today's Listener Question 01:45...

How to digest Google I/O and other developer events so you can stay up to date with the latest developer news? Show Notes New goobar website - https://goobar.dev Paid Coaching - https://goobar.dev/coaching Google I/O Content - https://events.google.com/io/program/content Contact https://twitter.com/n8ebel https://goobar.dev/ Thanks for listening devs! 👋 Let's Connect -- 🔔 Find More Develope...

Kotlin vs Java?  Java vs Kotlin?  Which language should you learn; Java or Kotlin?  Which language should you choose for Android development in 2021? This week's episode is an FAQ-episode covering a handful of the most commonly asked questions about Java and Kotlin for Android development.  These are questions I regularly see and am asked - and I want to give some quick, opinionated answers t...

Unsurprisingly, when discussing take-home assignments for coding interviews, much of the focus is put on code.  Can you code?  Are you using "best practices?"  What tools are you using?.  There's lots of code-related things that people think about, or even stress about.  Unfortunately, non-coding tips for coding interview assignments don't get talked about nearly as much. And,...

There's a lot of questions around "Kotlin vs Flutter" but comparing those two directly isn't really an accurate comparison.  Comparing Kotlin Multiplatform to Flutter is much more interesting. In this week's episode, we're going to compare Kotlin Multiplatform and Flutter.  We'll explore their unique philosophies, where they excel, the challenges of each, and hop...

This week, I want to talk about app security; specifically mobile app security; and being really, really specific Android app security; though the concepts will apply equally as well to iOS applications. App security is something that is vitally important to business and individuals that are possibly working with customer data, working with 3rd party services, or even working with your own service...

Developer "scores" and assessments can be motivating and a fun gamification element for some.  However, for others, they can be discouraging and misleading. In this episode, I'm sharing some of my thoughts on why I think these kind of developer "scores" are more trouble than they are worth. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:42 Intro 01:09 What Are Developer Scores? 02:09 What Is Th...

A listener recently asked how to stand out and get a software development job in another country. In this episode, we're going to explore this question and examine a number of ways to highlight your coding skills and focus your international job search. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 01:13 Intro 01:43 Listener Question - How To Get A Job In Another Country? 04:02 Phases Of Your Job Search 04:34 Beginn...

What is the state of the Kotlin programming language in 2021?  What are the new features?  Where are investments being made?  How is Kotlin being used? We're going to explore these questions and more in this week's episode. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:42 Intro 00:59 Kotlin Turns 11 This Year 01:29 Kotlin Today 03:45 Evolving In The Open 05:15 Kotlin In The JVM Ecosystem 06:15 Kotlin For And...

Let's explore the state of mobile app development in 2021. What are the major operating systems?  How are developers building apps?  Where are users getting their apps? We'll dive into these questions and more. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 01:02 Intro 01:58 What Mobile Operating Systems Are People Using? 03:00 Lesser Used Mobile Operating Systems 04:38 AOSP Variants 05:35 How Are Devs Building...

Can you still have active hobbies and be a software developer? Yes.  And, in fact, embracing your hobbies, and outside experiences might be the key to unlocking your "genius zone" and finding building your ideal career. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:34 Intro 00:59 Episode Summary 01:47 Can I Play Video Games And Still Be A Software Developer? 02:03 All Code All The Time? 03:08 We Are More Tha...

In this episode we're chatting about the New Year, and how to set ourselves up for success. It's so important to have big dreams; to always be learning; and to create. We're going to talk about how to Dream, Learn, and Create to help us move towards our dreams and goals with balance, and steady progress. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:41 Intro 01:06 New Year, New Opportunities 02:08 Happy...

In this week's episode we're going to help defeat the blank page by exploring 8 programming blog post ideas and themes that you can turn to the next time you want to sit down and write a technical article. Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:21 Intro 01:41 The challenge of the blank page 04:30 Two  Themes for Post Ideas 04:49 Tutorial Summary Post 05:57 Conference/Meetup Recap Post 07:12 Bug Fix Po...

This week, we're diving into the virtual mailbox and answering some questions that came my way during the past couple of weeks. Question 1 - When will development tools (Android) be stable? Question 2 - What are some good project ideas for a university course or portfolio? Chapters 00:00 Teaser 00:27 Intro 00:55 Mailbox Episode Summary 02:27 Question 1 -  When will development tools (Android)...

You've watched some videos on YouTube, followed a few basic tutorials, completed a codelab or two, and you're thinking.... now what?   In this week's episode, we're exploring that question.   I'm going to share with you the best thing I think we can do when we're looking to improve upon a basic understanding of any new programming concept.  And, we'll chat throug...

In this week's episodes, we're exploring one of my favorite software development mantras "no broken windows".  We're going to review the broken windows theory as presented in the book The Pragmatic Programmer and examine how that theory can be applied to our projects to to improve the quality of our software projects over time. We'll look at what the theory is, and is...

In this week's episode, we're chatting about a topic near and dear to my heart; continuous integration, or CI, as it's more commonly referred to. This is something that pretty much any modern professional dev team is going to use, and yet, it's something that many new devs have very little exposure to or understanding of.  Because of this, CI can seem very intimidating and is o...

 How are you feeling about working from home right now? As I look around the internet, it appears to me that results are mixed.  Many are loving the new remote work lifestyle.  Many others are stressed, working more hours, and feeling pressure to maintain productivity while working from home. I don’t believe either of these groups are right or wrong.  Everyone’s situation is unique. One thing I do...

Hello World 👋 Welcome to the first episode of the goobar podast; where we talk about building great software and helping others do the same! I am your host, Nate Ebel, and I'm very happy that you're tuning in to this first episode of a project I've wanted to start for quite some time now. In this episode, I introduce the podcast, share the goals and inspiration behind it, and then...