What Languages Should Every Programmer Know?
It’s easy to get lost in the sea of programming languages. On top of that, there are some languages (I’m looking at you, JavaScript) that have a vast ecosystem of frameworks. Wikipedia has an exhaustive list of programming languages with several for each letter of the alphabet. I won’t count them, but there are at least 260 at a glance. There’s no way you can learn all of them. So, what languages should every programmer know? Where to Start? If you want to know where to start, you can take a few approaches. Of course, this depends on what you want to do in your programming career. If you want…
What Non-Programming Skills Do Programmers Need?
As programmers or aspiring programmers, we often focus on the technical skills we need to build software. We work on improving our programming skills, picking up new frameworks, or reading technical books to improve our knowledge of computer science. However, those technical skills will only get us so far. As with most careers, we need to expand our learning and also focus on professional skills. And actually, these skills will make the technical side easier, as we’ll have more clarity on what we need to do to solve problems. In this post, we’ll go over what non-programming skills programmers need to use in our jobs. 1. Communication First and foremost,…
Should Developers Write Documentation? Yes, and Here’s Why
Should developers write documentation? Yes. Yes, they should. That’s it. Everything you need to know! Come back next week for more helpful career advice for aspiring programmers. Oh. You want to know why developers should write documentation? Fine. Why Developers Should Write Documentation Developers should write documentation because it makes it easier for both you and your coworkers to use your code. Well-written code is easy to read and understand. Documented code, on the other hand, is a gift to everyone—even to the coder that created it. Writing documentation makes you a more valuable developer and will help your career. Documenting your code makes you a better developer and helps…
How Many Hours Do Software Engineers Work?
The world of software development has a strange reputation, both for insiders and outsiders. One thing many people have wrong ideas about is how many hours software engineers work, or should work. I’d like to dive a little deeper into this subject: What is the reality and what should you do? What Many People Think Many people think that software engineers work almost all the time. When you ask about average work hours per week, numbers between 60 and 80 hours per week are not an uncommon response. This idea lives among both developers and non-developers. Among some developers, there is also a strong feeling that you can only be…
Do Programmers Use Mac or PC?
In this post, we tackle a question that troubles many an aspiring programmer: Do programmers use Mac or PC? The question does have a short, straightforward answer. Here it goes: Some programmers use Mac, while others favor PCs running Microsoft Windows. Still others prefer to use one of the many Linux distributions. Last but not least, some use some combination of the options above. Are you satisfied with this answer? I wouldn’t be. As it often happens, the short answer turns out to be too short. Despite being technically correct, it doesn’t tell the whole story. I bet there are more things you want to know about this Mac vs.…
Lessons From a Veteran: Approaching Things From a Different Direction
This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today Eric Goebelbecker is telling us about what really matters for programmers. Eric is a developer, DevOps engineer, system administrator, and whatever else he needs to be for the small trading firm he works for. He’s also writes fiction and enjoys cycling in his free time. You can catch up with him here. How long have you been a programmer? What Stack do you work with? I’ve been working as a developer in one form or another for just about 28…
Do Programmers Need a Degree?
In today’s job market, many of you look for ways to improve your employability and earnings potential. And you may have noticed articles pointing out the apparent shortage of programmers, along with information on the amazing salaries and benefits they receive. Combining all these things, you may be one of the many people who are now trying to break into programming. And for those of you who are trying to break in, one of the most popular questions revolves around degree requirements. Mainly, you want to know if degrees are required. And you want to know if the degree has to be in a specific field of study. Today we’ll…
Lessons From a Veteran: Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone
This post is part of a series interviewing veteran developers, asking them questions about their journey to tech mastery and sharing the advice they have for those getting started. Today, Omkar Hiremath is telling us about lessons he’s learned during his journey as a programmer. Omkar uses his BE in computer science to share theoretical and demo-based learning on various areas of technology, like ethical hacking, Python, blockchain, and Hadoop. Let’s find out what advice he has for new programmers. Basic logistics: Stack? How long have you been doing it? I started programming when I was in school. Like everybody, I started with C and C++. But when I started…
Should Programmers Learn Linux?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Programmers only use Linux. PCs and Macs are for noobs!” Yeah, no. Linux is a tool. Windows is a tool. MacOS is also a tool. Each is an operating system (OS) that you need in order to make a computer useful, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The problem is that, just like many other tools, these popular OSs have tribes. If Windows is DC Comics and macOS is Marvel, then Linux is Dark Horse. Uh, What Is Linux, Anyway? Let’s start at the beginning. (It’s one of my favorite places to start.) If you’re asking whether you should learn Linux, you…
Lessons From a Veteran: Hard-Nosed Advice From a Softie
“Lessons from a veteran.” Ow, doesn’t that just make you want to duck and run? Trust me, I didn’t come up with the first part. Being called a veteran is a lot more attractive than the dinosaur label I put on myself more than 10 years ago (already!). Being a dinosaur is what it felt like, though, being at least 10 years older than my colleagues and having started in programming long before many of them were even born. From the Seven Seas to Bits and Bytes My career started in 1985, the week after I graduated from nautical college. Yes, I was trained as a ship’s mate. I loved…