Joel Spolsky – 12 steps to better code – what every coder MUST read
Being a coder means that you must learn non-stop. Technology constantly changes, new things come out almost daily and you simply must adjust or be left behind. To keep me up to speed, I read. Let me clarify this – lately my evenings look like this – play with kids till about 9 PM, then kids are off to bed, and I am reading. Until about 1 AM. Not just reading, but expanding my own knowledge which includes coding, reading, debugging, prototyping and so on. For instance, since my game is C#, articles on C# occupy about 70% of my time. The rest of it goes to Java and Python, simply because I want to keep current with other languages.
I am also always on a lookout for a good recommends on running a coding shop. I know most coders would find it boring, but this is my reality. I got 4 developers to supervise, motivate, intimidate and keep busy. While most coders hate all that organizational and administrative work, I have no choice but to do it. And its boring, its tedious and very important. One of the best articles on running the coding shop that I read is The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code by Joel Spolsky of FogBugz. By the way, FogBugz is the coolest bug tracking project, I got to say that I watched that demo about 10 times.
Joel knows his way around coding shop, the article is great and summarizes my own experiences. I wish I could get testers, right now developers test stuff. This is how I try to run my office. I have to admit we not always get the top stuff, have to have a budget of some sort, but I do my best to convince the boss to get the things that matter. Anyone who is running a development team or is a lead developer, this article should be a required read.
I enjoyed your post and you are right! Frankly, I believe you can tell a lot about a developer by simply asking what he/she is reading at the moment. If its two or three books about development, languages, design patterns, frameworks etc. … You got yourself a winner! Blog posts are great … and I like yours! … but IMHO .. I need books for the background and depth for any new topic … from 9am to 1am … thats hard core … I usually do from a half hour to 2 hours every night … I hope you’ll post about what your reading and impressions of those authors and bloggers. – keith
Hi Keith!
Thanks for your comment. I have been doing this 9 till 1 am for couple of years now, the wife lets me sleep till noon on the weekends, but I still have to have couple coffees to get me going in the morning. Have to stay on top of things, not only for myself, but I have 4 other guys that come to me with their questions.
There is just too many things to know, for example, a junior came to me this morning with a question on how to access a two dimensional array list in vb. I have not touched vb in a year or so, but had to come up with an answer.
I will try to point out interesting articles that I come across, have couple of ideas for my own articles as well.
Thanks for reading
Paul
Cool !!!