How to grow into your best developer self
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How to grow into your best developer self
1–10 of 73 posts
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#2Author here. Long time reader, first time writer. Just wanted to say thanks to HN community for such an enlightening discussion here. Helped me to grow and learn especially at times when there were no mentors around.
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#3Author here. Long time reader, first time writer. Just wanted to say thanks to HN community for such an enlightening discussion here. Helped me to grow and learn especially at times when there were no mentors around.
I am not sure you wanted to use 'crafty' :)
> clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#4Author here. Long time reader, first time writer. Just wanted to say thanks to HN community for such an enlightening discussion here. Helped me to grow and learn especially at times when there were no mentors around.
I am not sure you wanted to use 'crafty' :) > clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods
Sorry, I'm not native English speaker. Will fix! Also, that kind of approach would entitle own blog post ;)
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#5Finding a mentor probably helps most and is the hardest. I know a few good people who wouldn't have got where they are without a mentor.
I never found one and I'm 10 years in the game now. So I'm probably cursed to mediocrity, haha.
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#6Finding a mentor probably helps most and is the hardest. I know a few good people who wouldn't have got where they are without a mentor. I never found one and I'm 10 years in the game now. So I'm probably cursed to mediocrity, haha.
I too would welcome a mentor!
I've often thought this would be a good social network - online mentoring. Lots of upside for the mentee, not sure about the mentor...
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#7Finding a mentor probably helps most and is the hardest. I know a few good people who wouldn't have got where they are without a mentor. I never found one and I'm 10 years in the game now. So I'm probably cursed to mediocrity, haha.
For those who lack colleagues sitting by and ready to help you getting involved into open source will provide you a kind of mentoring.
Then there are people who will mentor you for money. Giles Bowkett (http://gilesbowkett.com) did this a while a go. Not bad option at all. I'd see paying for someone way smarter than my self to teach me as an amazing investment.
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#8I just can't agree with the recommendation to read the comments before articles you find online.
Critical thinking is such an important skill for everyone, not just engineers, and this habit all but eliminates it. You go into an article with a framed opinion of what it's trying to convey, and spend the time reading the article looking for confirmation of that opinion rather than thinking critically for yourself.
This might be OK in some communities like HN where people are usually pretty reasonable and the site seems fair. But it becomes a habit and can be dangerous in other places where the top comment could be paid for or manipulated without you knowing, seeding opinions and confirming them as you view the content.
Definitely read the comments. The author is spot on about the gems and lessons to be found. But do it after you've read the article, and thought about what it meant for you.
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#9I just can't agree with the recommendation to read the comments before articles you find online. Critical thinking is such an important skill for everyone, not just engineers, and this habit all but eliminates it. You go into an article with a framed opinion of what it's trying to convey, and spend the time reading the article looking for confirmation of that opinion rather than thinking critically for yourself. This…
The comment section is pure gold for discovering contrasting opinions - which will feed critical thinking. Reading what ever article while remembering different opinions from comment section gives a really nice insight.
Totally agree about the top comments. Not that valuable and some times even misleading/manipulated/bought/nasty.
Re: How to grow into your best developer self
#10I just can't agree with the recommendation to read the comments before articles you find online. Critical thinking is such an important skill for everyone, not just engineers, and this habit all but eliminates it. You go into an article with a framed opinion of what it's trying to convey, and spend the time reading the article looking for confirmation of that opinion rather than thinking critically for yourself. This…
The comment section is pure gold for discovering contrasting opinions - which will feed critical thinking. Reading what ever article while remembering different opinions from comment section gives a really nice insight. Totally agree about the top comments. Not that valuable and some times even misleading/manipulated/bought/nasty.
His whole point is that reading comments first is the mistake. It primes you with thoughts and opinions with little to no cognition required (recognizing they still may be valuable, but those comments will be there after your analysis...)
What we really need is to develop our own critical reading skills, how to connect dots on our own etc. I agree that seeing others comments first before starting that process might be a negative for many reasons.