This week, I decided to read the “Concrete Skills” section of the “Emptying the Cup” chapter. This section discusses and highlights the importance of having strong technical skills, as well as good team skills, in order to be a promising and invaluable candidate for any prospective employers. I recognize that others who have been in the workforce longer, regardless of past profession, will have a head start on my soft or team skills by having more work and life experience than I possibly can at this exact moment. With this knowledge, I must understand that having soft skills alone won’t get me a position anywhere, since even though I do have some experience, it is very limited. By focusing on my hard or technical skills, I will be able to show any employer the types of direct contributions I can make to the team without needing to be taught or walked through.

I haven’t had the opportunity to gain software-related work experience, but I have been able to acquire some experience from a position working with data for around a year now. Even with that being said, I know I am still a risk to any employer since I still have yet to get my first position on a software team. By ensuring I have a strong foundation of technical skills, I can show to any future employer of mine that I can and will contribute to the team in a mutually beneficial way. In exchange for giving me a chance to learn and improve upon my craft, I will bring the pre-existing technological skills I possess to contribute to the optimization of any team’s efficacy.

Of course, as time goes on, I will become less focused on my technical skills and find the balance between displaying my “hard” skills as well as my “soft” skills complemented by any experience or achievements I will gain in the future. But at this current moment, I understand I don’t have that luxury, and any employment in the near future will be solely focused on my skills and what I could bring to the table.

Overall, this section reinforces the necessity of strength in the technical abilities of an entry-level prospective employee to ensure that their ability and understanding of programming will help jumpstart their journey into becoming a master craftsman. Over time, however, building a balance between technical and team skills, complemented by my future achievements, will be key to progressing from apprentice to journeyman and, one day, to a master.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

I decided to read the “Reading List” section from the “Construct your Curriculum” chapter, and I found it quite eye-opening. I have read some general books related to software development and computing, whether discussing theory or practical information. However, I must admit that most, if not all, of what I have read has either been out of necessity for course requirements or coursework-related. I have yet to build a list of literature to read or go out to seek literature to read now. After viewing this section, I will get started looking deeper into the literature related to the particular fields I’m interested in to aid me in my future profession(s).

While there is plenty to read and endless amounts of information to consume, it’s important to find things that are related and applicable to my work or studies. At this current moment, I am interested in software development in general, but I would like to get into the fields of robotics and/or artificial intelligence after graduation. Even though these topics are constantly changing and evolving, I can find some good literature to aid in building my overall knowledge related to such topics.

With the advent of the internet, text is no longer purely physical, and I can access even more literature than ever before. But with that perceived benefit also comes the caveat of there being too much for one person to reasonably consume. There are plenty of resources I can use, though, including the internet, peers, and/or mentors. Utilizing such resources can aid in my sifting through the unnecessary filler content to delve into text that will meaningfully add to my knowledge base. Even if something may not be useful directly at the moment, I also recognize that important information isn’t always apparent at the exact moment it’s consumed. Focusing on my present needs but also tending to potential future ones, will most definitely add to my progress on my craftsman journey.

I recognize that my learning must never come to a halt since complacency could easily lead my path toward becoming a master craftsman to become derailed either temporarily or permanently. By looking for and curating literature to serve my own needs and wants related to my present and future professions, I will be able to become a well-informed craftsman while remaining open-minded to new and ever-rapid changes within the entire computing field, whether that lies in practical work or research. Regardless of what field I venture into, this skill will always serve to benefit my work and hopefully help me aid others in their journeys as well.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Even though it may seem counterintuitive, it makes perfect sense. If you take yourself away from the code you will slowly lose your way with your craft. It’s important to continue learning and practicing even as a master craftsman. Higher positions in a company won’t always equate to “better” positions for a craftsman.

It’s a part of “walking the long road” and staying on the path is crucial to one day finishing that path. As it goes for anything in life, you can never truly fail at something until the day you give up and cease trying. If one were to take a position that pulls them away from programming it allows for their long journey to appear shortened, but in reality, they just took one of the many exits along the way onto the intended destination of becoming a journeyman then master craftsman. Along this road, journeyman status can be achieved and one may choose to stop there but personally, I’m striving to eventually arrive at master status in the future.

I also agreed with the pragmatic response offered in how to react if faced with promotions that pull away from programming. If working for a flexible company, ask for better pay or non-traditional technical management roles instead of accepting such a promotion. If working for an inflexible company, it’s better to seek other opportunities elsewhere than to let yourself become lost along the long road.

I also found myself agreeing with the notion that if the rewards offered by employers aren’t appealing, one should counter with some rewards that are better suited for their interests and professional growth. It could be helpful if one were to prepare alternative incentives and rewards before refusing a promotion (if possible) to allow for transparency and understanding of the professional goals of the individual.

I think that overall, to “stay in the trenches” is a great mindset to have. It’s equipped my mind with the knowledge that shines importance on staying within a position that allows me to continue to practice and grow as a craftsman. If I were presented with such an opportunity in the future, I’d remember that it’s more important to continue on my long journey than to let some small miscellaneous gains to pull me away from my end goal of eventually becoming a master craftsman.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

While sometimes difficult, I found the practice of “Exposing your Ignorance” to be extremely important in many aspects of life, and naturally it makes sense that it applies to software development the same.

Understanding what is left to be done/improved upon is a core part of development and this rings true for anyone’s apprenticeship. If one cannot see what needs to be improved in their craft, they can subtly become too comfortable with one expertise causing them to never be able to achieve true master craftsman status by holding themselves back due to their complacency.

By asking yourself and figuring out what you are good at and what you are bad at it will allow for the greatest improvement along the apprenticeship journey. Having humility when learning is essential, you may try to fake it until you make it but that will only take you so far before too many errors or issues arise putting your overall proficiency and potentially your position in question. Accepting you are not going to know or understand everything allows for one to learn more efficiently and quicker by choosing to reach out for help when needed rather than forcing themselves to “figure it out”.

I also found it interesting that this practice shines importance on displaying your learning ability to your team. It’s important that if you don’t understand something it’s okay to speak up and let that be known since the team you’re a part of is most likely going to be understanding of your inexperience. One must remember, that their team members had to be in your shoes at one point to get where they are currently.

From my own experience, I learned the hard way that struggling alone is so much harder than just swallowing my pride and asking for help. It seems like obvious advice but generally, I can be stubborn and sometimes I can feel reluctant to ask for help. Sure there can be lots of gratification in solving hard problems on your own, but sometimes it takes way longer than it should to make a seemingly “easy” change. This is because an “easy” or routine task for the team you’re a part of might not be “easy” or routine for a new inexperienced member.

By asking questions I can and have avoided misusing my crucially valuable development time by not being afraid to admit I need help. Struggling alone is always going to be worse than reaching out since there are many more meaningful uses of said time instead of being drained unnecessarily. If you don’t take the steps to become informed and more well rounded then you will continuously bottleneck your development as a craftsman.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week I was searching for an article to write about and I stumbled upon an article from Codecademy sharing the story of Juan Paredes, a Full-Stack Engineer from Mexico. The article is an interview of sorts where Juan has responded to prompts related to his journey from a Call Center Supervisor to a Full-Stack Engineer.

Juan covers how exactly he got into software engineering. When first moving to Mexicali, Mexico he got a job as a call center specialist. After 3 years Juan was promoted to Operations supervisor where at this point he decided to expand on his love for computers and wanted to start learning how to code through a free course on Codecademy.

After completing the free course, Juan decided to pay for a subscription and before Juan was completed with his first paid course, he was able to find an entry-level developer position. After figuring out that software engineering is what he truly wants to do, he also started attending the Mexicali Institute of Technology and is currently studying to obtain a degree in Software Engineering.

Juan also talks about how limited time and a pay cut made things temporarily more difficult but between his passion and determination, Juan continues to learn and progress.

When the article was created, Juan had just found a job with better pay and benefits than his first position and continues to progress forward in the software field.

Juan finishes off his remarks by recognizing the importance of organization and being open to learning new things as traits that will carry you far in the field. With organization, one can more easily find how to and be able to implement changes and by keeping an open mind you may learn things that while not valuable at the present, could become of great use in days, weeks, or months later on.

After reading this article I wanted to share and reflect upon it since I could relate to Juan. I too discovered my interest in programming through another medium of computers, however mine was video games. I started my journey by wanting to learn how to script in Lua for Garry’s mod addons and after that, I gradually kept learning more about coding. I never saw it as more than a hobby at the time, but here I am today almost finished with my Bachelor’s in Computer Science and preparing to join the workforce soon. Juan’s story serves as a reminder that through determination and perseverance, I can learn and do whatever I want within the extensive computer science field after obtaining my degree. It may take time, but in the end, the hard work will pay off regardless of how hard it may be or how much I would want to give up.

Article Link: https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/from-call-center-sales-representative-to-full-stack-engineer/

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

While I was perusing for an article to write about this week I found this interesting blog post posing the question, “Why SOLID principles are still the foundation for modern software architecture”. The post is written by Daniel Orner, a Software engineer from the likes of Flipp and formerly IBM.

Daniel starts by explaining what exactly is “SOLID”, he attributes the meaning of SOLID to “the writings of Robert C. Martin in the early 2000s” which provided a framework for creating quality object-oriented programs.

Daniel then covers what has changed since the 2000s but also what hasn’t. Things that have changed are the popularity of scripting or dynamic languages has risen greatly, some facets of object-oriented programming have become meshed with functional programming, open source software has become extremely popular, and microservices have seen massive growth in use since the 2000s.

However, things that haven’t changed are that programs are still written and modified by people, there is still a form of organization/separation of code regardless of the language used, and code can be used for either internal or external purposes. I believe that all of these facets of programming may never change no matter how much time passes. Even with the advancement of AI, I still believe that the human factor in programming will always be important. When faced with potential moral or ethical problems, a human element would always result in a better outcome than an AI could/would.

Daniel then goes through each of the five principles and alters them to become more general and applicable to modern programming trends. He starts by altering the single responsibility principle to “Each module should do one thing and do it well.”, the open-closed principle to “You should be able to use and add to a module without rewriting it.”, the Liskov substitution principle to “You should be able to substitute one thing for another if those things are declared to behave the same way.”, the interface segregation principle to “Don’t show your clients more than they need to see.”, and finally he left the dependency inversion principle as is!

Daniel then wraps up his post concluding that modern SOLID is ensuring that your code is not surprising or confusing to anyone who will use or work with it, keeping things reasonable, and properly organizing said code. Reiterating that SOLID is still key to creating and maintaining well-written code.

Overall, after reading Daniel’s post it allowed me to widen my view and understanding of the solid principles. After comparing his new definitions to the ones crafted by Robert Martin, it showed how well thought out SOLID principles were to be able to last 20+ years already and remain relevant for plenty more to come. The SOLID principles offer a framework not only for object-oriented programming but programming in general and Daniel showed this impeccably just by changing a couple of words in the definitions while keeping the same meanings given to the principles back in the 2000s.

Article Link: https://stackoverflow.blog/2021/11/01/why-solid-principles-are-still-the-foundation-for-modern-software-architecture/

From the blog CS@Worcester – Eli's Corner of the Internet by Eli and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.