Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

We wrap up Thanksgiving week with some recommendations for making the most of that time off.  While you may be working frantically on Black Friday, there will be a time where you can take a day.  Those days off and vacation times are essential to take advantage of.  You can even become a better developer by making the most of your "downtime." Get Some Rest Our lives are incredibly hectic, and the...

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...

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 sh...

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 t...

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 deri...

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 t...

There are a wealth of reasons for understanding and recognizing software patterns.  However, these three crucial software design patterns appear in many different environments.  They might even rise to the level of things you should know even without knowing what they are called.  These patterns are prevalent and used heavily in modern software solutions. Model-View-Controller (MVC) The first patt...

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 fir...

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 Lear...

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 o...

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 start...

Our career path will inevitably require us to try to win projects or land a job.  There are simply no ways to avoid that.  That means that almost every time you apply for a project or position, there will be others to compete against.  Here are three ways to put your best foot forward and separate your proposal from the others.  While these do not guarantee wins, they will help you stand out and g...

Writer's block is a nasty situation when you are trying to crank out regular content.  This may be for a blog, a podcast, or a brown bag lunch session.  In all of these cases, we want to get straight to the work of creating the content.  When we lack a topic or direction, that is not an option.  This situation can lead to a lot of lost time while we try to find a subject.  However, there are some...

It is time for honesty.  There is a dirty little secret we need to discuss.  It might be surprising even.  However, we need to talk about the bugs in our code.  We all would like to think about writing error-free code.  Unfortunately, we also all know that we code bugs more than we want to admit.  Therefore, we spend a substantial amount of our time debugging errors ranging from typos to logical f...

Steady progress is an essential step in becoming a better developer.  One tool for achieving this is to create a good set of tasks to complete.  A daily list is an excellent starting point for building this habit.  However, not all approaches are the same.  Keep these three items in mind so you can create a better to-do list each day. Simple/Actionable The central idea of a to-do list is to provid...

Relational databases are an essential piece of many modern solutions.  Thus, most developers have some exposure to SQL within the first few years of their careers.  Nevertheless, there are a few skills that separate database developers from others.  These three areas make a significant difference between those that want to stick out from their peers. Understand Joins (Inner, Outer, etc.) Relationa...

  One of our often stated goals is to make progress on our goals every day.  That leads us to look for ways to create daily habits that promote progress and productivity.  In this episode, we look at three productivity habits you should adopt for a proper mindset before getting into the craziness that many days become.  These are easy to do and highly recommended among modern productivity gurus. L...

We live and breath technology.  Thus, most of us have several everyday applications for developer productivity.  While each of us has our way to work and preferred applications, there are three options you should look into.  These are personal favorites and great ideas to up your game in a short time. Codacy Static code analysis is one of those areas where developers do not do an excellent job of...

There are many ways to advance your career and earning potential.  A degree is one path.  However, technical certifications tend to be easier to earn and equally as valuable.  The process of going through a certificate track is an excellent way to learn new skills and validate them for others.  The challenge with this path is to select the technical certifications that are best for pay and the lat...

We spent an entire season going over Amazon AWS services at a high level.  That shows how many options you have available in that world.  However, there are some options that are more important AWS services to know.  These are the core offerings upon which many other services are built.  Thus, it provides a good foundation for growth. Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) The first of our important AWS serv...

In this episode of three things for improving your career, we look at important development languages.  This is not a look at a primary language.  There are a few good options, and the best will depend on your situation as well as where you live.  These will provide you more tools for solving problems while enhancing your resume in crucial areas. Javascript Frameworks (React or Angular) Javascript...

We take a turn away from technology in this episode to focus on life.  It is hard to be a better developer when your daily life is miserable.  Therefore, it is vital for us to look at some steps for a happier life.  These little habits are easy to start and can be a significant impact in positive ways. Daily Progress Makes for a Happier Life It may be my personality, but I think one of the worst t...

There are some activities that are part of any job.  While not all of these are also a common concern, it does seem that one often bubbles to the top.  That bad boy is the meeting.  Whether we are talking about a team, organization, or planning version of these activities, we all have bad experiences with them.  Thus, we can all improve our productivity by tackling ways to have better meetings. An...

Quality Assurance is an art as well as a skill.  We all can randomly break things.  However, testing is not just about breaking things.  It is also done with the goal of providing a sense of quality and stability.  Thus, we need to be intentional with our plans.  This process starts at the smallest level so let's look at three ways to improve unit testing. Create and Test For Exceptions, Notificat...

It is impossible to provide modern productivity suggestions without including a way to manage email.  This form of communication has done so much for us in shrinking the world.  On the other hand, it is also a substantial use of our time.  There are several important conversations we want to track.  However, there is also an endless stream of spam.  Here are some suggestions to help you with this...