Andrew Carr

If you've ever had any interest in the prospect of software development but don't know where to start, here's a blog written up on Skillsoft by the very talented Alec Olson detailing a little bit about the overall gig, the tools we use, and what makes us tick. It even features a couple of quotes from yours truly! Thanks again Alec for the opportunity to share some of my experiences. https://lnkd.in/gECfjYen #coding #development #softwaredevelopment #fullstack

11

1 Comment

The number of characters that need to change to fix a bug is inversely proportional to the amount of time it takes to find the bug.

3

1 Comment

 It’s long been a bone of contention that Oracle owns the trademark for ‘JavaScript’ but this marks the first serious effort to try and change that, including petitioning the USPTO, if necessary. You can support the effort by signing this open letter, joining a vast array of JavaScript luminaries. Click here to sign letter: https://javascript.tm/ #javascript #java_script #frontend #backend #nodejs

3

1 Comment

Just transitioned back from parental leave and hit the interview circuit! It's interesting how some interviews felt more technical than others. This got me reflecting on my own past interview practices. Was I focusing on the right things? One thought leader who resonates with my approach is Dave Farley. His advice on "Hire Smart People and Let Them Be Smart" or "The Tech Matters Less Than the Person" aligns with how I believe we can get the most out of interviews. If you want to review his advices on detail check the following: https://lnkd.in/djGHkmAz. I hope that you enjoy the content as much as I did.

1

It drives me crazy when developer tools and APIs are hard to use just because the products are named badly. Companies shoot themselves (and their users) in the feet because employees have too much context to know when names are confusing. There's a 3 level hierarchy of naming quality that more companies should internalize. Names are either: 1. Obvious 2. Ambiguous 3. Misleading The goal should be obvious names, or at worst, ambiguous names with proper explanation of the meaning. Bad names happen when amiguous names aren't explained or they're outright misleading (meaning they seem to obviously mean one incorrect thing). </rant>

4

I'd be really interested in a follow-up study on this to see if there are any common "implementation details" of the agile process that these failed projects had. I think they're on to something with: `However, while the Agile Manifesto might have its problems, those stem more from its implementation rather than the principles themselves. "We don't need a test team because we're Agile" is a cost-saving abdication of responsibility.` If your organization has that attitude, I'm guessing it'll put you at high risk for having some failed projects that push these numbers so high. https://lnkd.in/gnCBmfr8

5

Before applying for a job, take a moment to read the job posting carefully! Make sure you're checking these key details: Location: Are you in the required city, or willing to relocate? Work Situation: Can you adhere to the specified onsite, remote, or hybrid work setup? Technical Skills: Do you have the right skills to excel in the role? Experience Level: Do you meet the required number of years of experience? Taking the time to align your qualifications with the job requirements will help you stand out as a serious candidate.

12

what is FDD (Fear Driven Development) : When project management adds more pressure (fires someone, moves deadlines forward, subtracts resources from the project, etc). https://lnkd.in/ebnmpz4p

9

3 Comments

Yet another UI library but a bit different. "If you haven't checked out Shadcn yet, you're missing out! 🔥 Integrated it with my latest React project, and the ease of component management and seamless styling integration is a game changer. It cuts down boilerplate code while allowing tons of flexibility." "Give it a try for your next project! #Shadcn #React #TailwindCSS #WebDev" Check it out:- https://ui.shadcn.com/docs

19

1 Comment

If culture fit isn't the most important aspect of adding another developer to your team I know you don't ship much. I follow so many small companies that out deliver large ones it's crazy. 3- 10 person teams, ship ship ship ship ship...Why? The mission is ____ing LOCKED in, everyone is on same page from character to keyboard. Let me give y'all hiring managers a tip. When you have those two candidates, one has ALL the tools technically but you vibe better with the other who wants the gig more? Hire the latter, train 'em up. That 4 week ramp up they need on 'X' will be well worth it long term, 100%. #softwarejobs #java #javascript #typescript #react #reactnative #vue #angular #svelte #astroJS #htmx #go #golang #rust #ruby #rubyonrails #scala #kotlin #closure #haskell #elixir #csharp #aws #azure #ai #aiml #tensorflow #python

7

3 Comments

I'm going to post a few challenges I have had as a software QA. I should be relaxing today but those that know me, know my brain is always in thirty places at once. To developers: Trust your QA. Y'all don't know how many times I've heard, "Well, it works on my local". I don't care. In the test environment, it breaks. I do my due diligence to investigate why, present evidence in logs and from the database, present recordings, and meticulously document steps of reproduction and results. And even after, I still get, "It works on my local". Get off the dang local. NO ONE knows this software, app, platform, etc. better than the QA because we live it more than anyone else does. To business analysts: I know you all are overwhelmed. But please stop copying and pasting Acceptance Criteria for similar features. It makes a mess for developers and QA because the AC doesn't match or conflicts with not only the developed feature but integration as well. Which brings me to my next point... What QA is: Everyone thinks of us as just testers. I am sick of that. I spend half my time working with the product owner, BAs, and Devs, just making sure the AC reflects the solution needing to be resolved. I can't tell you how many times I have had to address with the BAs conflicts in a story over AC, nonsensical AC, WTF verbiage, etc. So then the developers get confused and we are in long meetings addressing what is messed up. We are here to help you ask the questions you didn't think to ask. We don't just test..... we look at future issues too. We like process improvements. Automation: Stop asking me to automate a one-off feature test that hasn't even gone through UAT yet. It's time wasted. Too many companies do this. Might as well give me the day off for the time it takes to do that because the automation is useless after UAT. Learn the purpose of automation. Product Owner: When I tell you before a demo not to demo certain things because there are still issues, don't shred me after the demo because you decided to demo them anyway and they break. I TOLD YOU not to do that, and why. Data: QA worst nightmare. My last position I would get two test records to test against 20 AC when I first started. I said "Helz no". I built up a catalog of test records I could use, positive and negative, as I progressed because I want multiple records against every AC. Which I often shared with the developers for their unit tests who loved it. QA needs data, all. You give me two records, don't yell at me that coverage isn't thorough. Probably sounded more a rant. But I'm opinionated. Where many QA are not. And these are common issues. Want to improve QA, improve the above.

54

34 Comments

"How do I get my first job in DE or DS?" I feel horrible when I tell this to people. But look, the market is just really bad for junior engineers and scientists. There are a lot of startups right now and startups need people who can come in and build stuff. It sucks, but junior engineers take additional handholding before they can become independent, which (a) means you're not getting as much work per dollar for the salary you give to a junior, and (b) senior engineers are made temporarily less productive because they need to slow down to mentor juniors I'm not saying this is right or good. But this statement is generally true: the less onboarding you need, the more options you have in where you can work. --- The "bright" side is that in the tech space, you can manufacture your own experience without needing to get a job: building personal projects--ideally 1-2 super deep ones. If you have a family, specifically kids... I don't know. I'm pro family and I believe you're doing something amazing. Similar statement if you're struggling with health issues. The market only cares about output. I think what we're seeing is there are few "true entrylevel jobs". So if you can "make yourself into a mid-level or senior engineer" on your own time, you're suddenly in a new category of applicants and (in my experience) will find that there ARE jobs to be found. There is a simple formula for getting a job in software and DS: Inputs: Pre-onboard yourself. By getting experience and learning. By doing personal projects. And be decent at Leetcode. Outputs: The output is higher *likelihood* of getting accepted and having more options. People who keep the formula going long enough get jobs. But many stop because life pulls them away. Honestly, this outcome is totally fine--especially if they learned they don't find joy in SWE/DS. I'm just here to say that if you STAY and do the formula, it will happen. No guarantees on time, but for reference, I'd bet that a reasonable time frame to expect success is <2 years--potentially much faster or slower depending on your rate of investment. --- I don't have the time I once did to mentor 1:1, but: I'm willing to make Udemy course free for you. It teaches the basics of SWE principles, which are core for both DS- and DE-bound people. It covers the first skills you'd need before you can bring Python to production in any field: git, VS Code, GitHub, CI/CD, packaging, testing, etc. If you're at a point in your life where you can watch 27 hours of videos and another 27 following along with the exercises, I'll gladly send you a code to make it free. Comment or DM and tell me a bit about your situation and I'll send you a link. Happy to accept referrals if you know someone who this would be good for, but I'd like them to message me themselves to indicate that they want this.

31

4 Comments

💻 Small and medium software companies should not follow the herd. If they want to attract top talent—they can differentiate with a remote culture. I've been doing remote work way before the pandemics without any issues. I understand the narrative of those that can't afford remote—fair enough—but they should treat people like adults and let them choose what's best for both parties involved. I don't mind visiting offices from time to time—but going on daily / weekly basis to an office, when work can be done remotely—sorry, that's not for me. And I am a sociable and dynamic person—that's why, in order to deliver high-quality results on time, I want to choose the locations that best fit me. There are plenty of tools for online collaboration—for someone that isn't responsible, I understand why they need to be forced go to an office. 😄

18

2 Comments

Once you hit the #SeniorDev title, your career as a #SoftwareEngineer can go one of three ways. All of these are legitimate decisions and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise! 1. Management -> This is the oldest and likely the most well-known option. You can head into management and start developing careers of those younger than you. If you love mentoring others and like focusing more on the non-technical management of a project, this is probably the route you want! 2. Staff -> The term "#StaffEngineer" is relatively new to the industry. Many think its title bloat, but I disagree! I think the industry as a whole saw that we needed a new role and we created it. (See my blog on https://iamsellek.com for in-depth info on what a Staff Engineer role looks like!) If you prefer to work in the tec, and you enjoy the bigger-picture aspects of running a codebase/project from the technical side, this might be the route you want! 3. Stay Senior -> Some people look down on this option. Those people are wrong. If you love writing code and doing some light mentoring, there's nothing at all wrong with sticking around as a Senior dev! Some people spend their entire careers here. TLDR? Figure out what you like best about your job. If you prefer mentoring and the non-technical aspects of managing a project, you can head into management. If you want to focus more on the technical side of managing a project and/or a codebase, go with Staff! And if you're happy where you're at, there's nothing wrong sticking with Senior Dev. Now go seize your future! #career #SoftwareEngineer #CareerLadder #future

13

7 Comments