CodingBlocks
CodingBlocks
82. Programmer Strengths and Weaknesses
Inspired by Rob Conery’s The Imposter’s Handbook, we take an introspective look at ourselves to find two weaknesses and one strength while Allen shows off his vocal prowess in song, Joe needs a list, and Michael is a dash.
Sponsors
- Datadog.com/codingblocks – Sign up today for a free 14 day trial and get a free Datadog t-shirt after creating your first dashboard.
Survey
Do you regularly evaluate your weaknesses in an effort to strengthen them?
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OMG. Daily.
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I try to pick up a new skill or get better at an existing one every few months.
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Yeah, but realistically, probably only once or twice a year.
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I learn what I want to learn, when I want to learn it.
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No, that's why I listen to you guys.
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Why? I already know everything I need to know
News
- Thanks to all that left us a review:
- iTunes – JonJmz, Cweldfwch, changed_perspective, Steve5553567
- Stitcher – NickTheGreek, DizzleMcShizzle, kettch
- Come out to see Joe give his talk at the Orlando Backend Developers Meetup June 21 on Building Search Driven Apps with Elasticsearch
Two Weaknesses, One Strength
Assess your Knowledge
- Look at the StackOverflow Survey Results
- Try building something, writing, or teaching about your subject
- Read the Imposter’s Handbook, Listen to podcasts, go to meetups, etc, things that introduce new perspectives – diversify!
Build your Skills
- LinkedIn and Pluralsight have self assessments
- If it’s something measurable, establish a baseline!
- Code Wars, Code Fights, HackerRank, Interviewing.IO
- Find a friend!
- Ask for specific feedback (are my variable names clear, is my project screaming architecture?)
- Never been easier!
- Worst case scenario: assess yourself, but take it with a grain of salt
- Beware the Dunning Krueger effect
- Record yourself
Our Weaknesses
- Joe’s
- Modern UI development
- Machine Learning Trend
- Allen’s
- Time Boxing / Non-Targeted Learning
- Academic / Big O / Algorithm Forgotten Knowledge
- Michael’s
- Python
- Algorithms
Honorable mentions
- Estimating
- Organization
Our Strengths
- Joe – Algorithms / Academic (Project Euler Problems Archives)
- Allen – Understanding and breaking down complex problems / Ability to learn how to solve the problems / Resourceful
- Michael – Attention to detail
Honorable Mentions?
- UI Development
“Successful software engineers are smart, but many have an insecurity that they aren’t smart enough.” – John Washam
Resources We Like
- The Imposter’s Handbook (bigmachine.io)
- How to pick up a new technology in minimal time (dev.to)
- Dreyfus model of skill acquisition (Wikipedia)
- Overview of learning styles (https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/)
- The Technical Interview Cheat Sheet (GitHub)
- How to be a Programmer resources:
- How to be a Programmer: Community Version (GitHub)
- How to be a Programmer: Personal and Team Skills (Episode 38)
- How to be an Intermediate Programmer (Episode 39)
- How to be an Advanced Programmer (Episode 40)
- Common gaps among programmers is a common question:
- How to get hired by Google:
- Why I studied full-time for 8 months for a Google interview (freeCodeCamp)
- John Washam’s amazing Coding Interview University resource (GitHub)
- Computer Science Flash Cards (GitHub)
- How we hire (Google Careers)
- Grow Your Technical Skills with Google (Google Tech Dev Guide)
Tip of the Week
- App Dev Diary – Listen to devs discuss their journey building a guitar practice app!
- Package Management in Visual Studio Team Services
- Microsoft has been sneaking in T-SQL enhancements like CREATE OR ALTER and DROP TABLE IF EXISTS
