Getting the job is just a start; learn how to excel at it — Getting a job is the first step of your software development journey. The second step is becoming a great employee and growing. It's not as easy as it sounds. I've seen many junior developers who got discouraged after a few months of work. They felt like unwanted underachievers and eventually…

You are your worst enemy — It makes me sad to see how many junior developers abandon their dream of a programming career. I know that programming is not for everybody. Similar to other professions, it requires particular skills and character traits. You need to think logically, be okay with sitting all day in front of…

How to find a job and grow as a developer. — It's the best time to become a software developer. There are so many tools and resources. You can learn everything just by sitting in front of your computer. It's the worst time to become a software developer. There are so many tools and resources. You can spend months or even…

Learn developer interview-winning strategies — What is the goal of the developer interview? The company is looking for the best employee possible. But what does the best mean? For most companies, especially those looking for junior developers, the best hire is not the person with the best skills but a person who is an excellent…

There’s a massive gap between being good and great — Have you ever worked with a brilliant developer? I did. And I couldn’t help but notice what he did differently than others I met. Here are the four traits of outstanding developers that make the difference. They learn all the time Being a software developer is being a lifelong learner. When I started, and it…

Lessons from the Twitter tech community — Twitter is one of the great communities for programmers. You can get so much free knowledge there if you know where to look. A few days ago, I asked Twitter what the best strategy for getting good at JavaScript was. To my surprise, I got over 250 answers.

Learn to manage your most important asset — time — Programming is all about tradeoffs. Early in your career, you’ll discover you have to find a balance between different priorities — simplicity and performance, execution speed and ease of use, readability, conciseness, etc. The thing that’s rarely mentioned, yet it’s critical for your career, is learning to manage your time…

Lessons from the “Make Good Art speech” — Neil Gaiman is one of my heroes. He’s not only a great writer but also an avid learner and teacher. In his Make Good Art commencement speech, he shared the best tips on creating art with the University of the Arts graduating class. And even though it was advice for…

Learning to code by yourself is hard, here are some tips to make it easier — Learning to code full-time is a dream for many. Only a few of us can afford to dedicate many months to a long boot camp or studying alone. I was one of the lucky ones. When I quit my job, I had nothing else to do but learn to code…