I completely agree with this. Whatever's most familiar for you, but hopefully, it should be familiar for other people too. Try to write it in a way that you can switch out parts if you really needed to. For example, I'm still a Rails programmer but I've been structuring my apps differently from traditional Rails (oftentimes just doing the API backend).
However, that's only because I still have the luxury of time. If I had a gun to my head and a finite number of hours to code an app, then I'd go with vanilla Rails. If I was given a few weeks to study a new framework, I'd go with Elixir/Phoenix, but only because I spent a few days trying it around and while I'm not particularly fluent with it yet, I like its design and speed a lot more than Rails.
I think this is why we perfect our craft. We have to be able to code fast or code pretty, depending on the circumstances.
I build tools for teaching data science at DataCamp, so am really interested in this question! I think so, and suspect the ways in which a good language tutor assesses / recognizes where students can improve will have direct parallels for coding.
Greg Wilson (who founded Software Carpentry) has a great collection of thoughts on learning to program in general: http://third-bit.com/
Thank you for answering. At first I was surprised at "someone who's a productive expert in their field in some group, will not understand, and not be capable of working in some other group", but I guess at some level I as a Ruby/JS (and learning Elixir) programmer am drifting apart from the other languages. Like right now I can't visualize myself coding iOS/Android apps just because the tooling is different. I probably could if I really wanted to, but it'd be really hard.
My goal for the next few years is to just keep on mastering the craft as to make it easier to make things or make decisions on things, I hope to continue programming to at least make tools for myself and for other people.
I completely agre re: "its the people you do things with that matter", but I'd like to add "the people you do things for", too. I think everyone (bakers and soldiers included) likes working with nice people and working on something that will be used by other people.
I think the parent was talking less about the differences between programming languages and more about the differences between a programmer working at an early stage startup and a programmer working at a large enterprise company. They are going to go about doing their work in two very different ways. The way they speak, their concerns and the best practices for programming will differ.
If you're the type to not want to go to the gym (anxiety, or it's too far), I've had immense benefits from cycling, both indoors and outdoors. I can think more clearly about programming when I'm chilling on the bike, so many ideas and bug fixes have come while just pedalling along.
Do you have any recommendations for indoor bikes/trainer that you've used?
I agree that it is extremely beneficial. Though my cycling is only done to and from work. I've thought about getting a cycling machine with a reading/laptop platform for indoor use, but it's hard to identify what I'm actually looking for since they're a bit different from bikes and I've never used one.
I hook it up to a bike computer (Garmin Edge 520) and an app called TrainerRoad (https://www.trainerroad.com/platforms). It's a bit of an investment, but I find that having numbers/instrumentation makes things exciting especially when tracking your progress.
My bike and my bike trainer are in my top ten best purchases ever in terms of the value they've given (increased energy, increased fitness).
Instead of spending lot of money on cycling machine, look for "Magnet Steel Bike Bicycle Indoor Exercise Trainer" on amazon. Decent stand to use your bike indoors for $50-$60
Thanks for the recommendation. I've looked at trainers like that and some look solid. I might just have to go for one. It's just hard to gauge quality versus something like a Kickr Snap.
If you have the cash there are some great electronic resistance direct drive indoor trainers you attach a real bike to. Search Google for zwift enabled trainers (brands like tacx)
Seconding the recommendations for a cheap trainer + Zwift. Also, if the weather is good, find a local club to ride with outside. Although indoor training is great, nothing releases endorphins like an outdoor ride with some friends.
That's actually super smart. I usually try to log my habits/daily things to do (write in journal, exercise, spend at least an hour reading a book etc.) but doing it for virtues sounds like a good idea. What did you get from doing it? Why'd you stop?
Hey man, a lot of suggestions in the thread, but I think you can also do some journaling. Just open your text editor and write whatever you're feeling. For me I thought this was stupid and a waste of time but it's nice to see your thoughts and see the progression of how you're thinking/feeling. I sometimes have crappy days where I write "I just played the Sims all day" or "I am really not in the mood" and I find that for some reason I can't keep on writing that same thing for several days in a row.
It's like when I write "I did crappy things" down, I get irritated with myself for not being productive and I want to do better things tomorrow. Not necessarily programming at first but something productive (like cook a meal, exercise, etc.).
Not sure if this will help but for me it did so hopefully it works? Also eat right and try to exercise. If you don't like exercise just take walks. I find walking to be therapeutic too
I'm starting journaling today, it is a good idea. Thank you. I eat well and exercise 3-4 times a week and I'm in good shape, so that's taken care of thankfully.
I actually started at a new job Wednesday and the past week and a half has been a whirlwind of interviews and stress that I didn't have all that time I normally do to have existential dread creep in. New job is awesome and 100% remote and lets me keep a lot of my freedom and I think it's dramatically improved my mood. I think it's just what I needed.
Also agree here. I think you gradually get to know these technologies with the more practice/experience you get. I might not know Puppet or Chef, but I've used Ansible in the past and they're a bit different but they're also the same. So if I was applying to this company I'd say that I haven't used some of the specific technologies per se but I can learn them when I get there.
I think this job description just says, "we want to see if you can contribute in the front-end, back-end, database design, have some literacy in the Amazon services, use development tools like Jira, etc." This sounds daunting when you read it, but over a span of a few months with a company or with a project, you'll get to experience most of these anyway
However, that's only because I still have the luxury of time. If I had a gun to my head and a finite number of hours to code an app, then I'd go with vanilla Rails. If I was given a few weeks to study a new framework, I'd go with Elixir/Phoenix, but only because I spent a few days trying it around and while I'm not particularly fluent with it yet, I like its design and speed a lot more than Rails.
I think this is why we perfect our craft. We have to be able to code fast or code pretty, depending on the circumstances.