Latest Posts - Page 154 of 201

June 27, 2018July 1, 2018 Podcast

Measuring Your Way To Improvement

When we plan our way to becoming better at anything we have to find a way to grade progress. Thus, measuring is a critical factor in improving our performance. We can try to achieve success with something that is not measured. However, how do we know when we have made an improvement or when we have gotten worse? Measuring Provides Our Pace We often talk about becoming better developers. In doing so, we assume that there are specific ways to measure our progress as a developer. These metrics include coding skills, problem-solving productivity, job difficulty that we can handle, and more. The way we track progress is a vital part of how we plan for improvement. Just as a lack of... Read more

June 26, 2018March 14, 2020 Become a Better Developer

Use Experience To Help You Learn a New Development Language

To become a better developer, we need to grow our skills beyond one or two languages that we use. This is a challenge we face throughout our careers as technology advances, and new platforms are created. It may seem like this is an overwhelming obstacle. However, we can use what we have learned to make learning new languages easier every time we do so. The Basics of a New Development Language Anytime you learn a new platform there are steps that are taken. It starts with the “Hello World” application however that may exist in the new development language. One of the reasons this is a standard first step is that it teaches some core requirements for the platform. The application may have little... Read more

June 25, 2018June 14, 2018 Podcast

Coding Standards – A Personal Approach

Most of us were just getting started on our career when we were introduced to coding standards. These are common in the industry and more so where there are entry-level developers. Although the purpose of coding standards is often related to easing team development, there are far more benefits as well. Thus, you should create these for your improvement as well. Coding Standards As A Productivity Tool The first benefit you will get from a standard approach is a template for writing code. We spend more time thinking about naming and structure than we realize. This cost dwindles away as we gain experience because we do tend to have standards we adopt. This occurs even when we do not have... Read more

June 22, 2018June 12, 2018 Podcast

Master Remote Work Through Preparation and Planning

The Gig economy has many facets. One of the big positives for many people is the option of remote work. There is a freedom that comes from being able to get away from a desk and an office outside of the home. This goal is achievable. However, some planning is required to be productive while working remote and making this your regular routine. A Good Workspace We have discussed your workspace in a recent episode and touched on a home office. That is a good starting point, but remote work requires some tools as well as an eye for comfort. For example, you need to have a reliable Internet connection, a way to be reached (cell phone is ordinary), and general... Read more

June 20, 2018June 9, 2018 Podcast

Defining An MVP Properly for Your Goals

When you need to create a minimum viable product (MVP) the process is not that different from designing any other product. However, the process is more challenging. The process requires tighter control over the scope of requirements through to deployment. This type of product is becoming a standard way to step towards funding and is worth closer examination. Why Create An MVP? As with any software product, the decision to create an MVP needs to be made. Thus, we need to look at whether an MVP is a better choice than a full-blown product. The first thing to understand is that an MVP must be a product that has value and is usable. That is the “V” of the equation. ... Read more

June 19, 2018June 3, 2018 Become a Better Developer

Plan and Estimate Your Project Better With Software Components

One of the challenges of building software applications is the planning and estimation required to get started. This can be a daunting task as we see more complex software every year. However, we can learn from experience and build a list of components that we know will be required. This list provides us some everyday tasks to be completed for software as well as easy chunks of work to estimate. Logical Software Components There are software components that are a feature or construct of some languages and platforms. In this case, we are talking about logical pieces instead. For example, a login, logging, general user interface facets (header, footer, navigation), and a database setup/configuration are all components of most applications. There might also... Read more