This week I read the apprenticeship pattern “Draw Your Own Map”, and it is on the the most inspiring patterns that I’ve read so far. This pattern instructs you to do exactly what its title states, and this is big for me because it gives me a sense of control. This pattern asks you to reflect about your current path, your current position and answer the question “is this really where I want to be in the future?”. If this the answer to the previous question is not a yes, and there is no way to alter your current path to fit with the path that you desire, then the author suggests that you leave, even if you are leaving a “great” title or fantastic salary. Of course what is being asked by this pattern is very intimidating and can be very difficult to actually do when the time comes. This is because from the moment we decide to go to school and take on a new career, the path is already laid out for us and society expects us to follow it, that is: get your degree, get a job, stick with that job and try to climb the corporate ladder there. That being said, there is nothing wrong with the climb if you are happy with where you are, the difficulty comes from taking the risk and abandoning what is sure and working for what you want.

I could not agree anymore with this pattern, and having read it it caused me to think about what some of my goals are. Though I enjoy learning about software and will be very happy to enter the field and work as an employee for a few years, one day I would like to start my own company. I’m sure that making the decision to leave a secure source of income behind a taking the financial risk of starting a company will not be an easy one, but that is what this whole pattern is all about. This pattern has changed the way that I think about the software industry and even working as a whole, it’s made me realize that in the end despite all of the technical challenges and setback that we will face in the professional world what matters is doing what you love, and this is a mentality that I will take with me throughout my career.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Site Title by lphilippeau and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

I chose this pattern because it is in connection with my previous pattern “record what you learn”.  I also find some useful links to expose your ignorance pattern too. It does made sense to me that after you record what you learn, you share them for other people to benefit from your learning; sharing with others will be easy because you already have them documented. You can share what you learn in many ways such blog post, tutorials and one on one or group discussion with people you think might be interesting in the topic. One on one discussion is sometimes embarrassing if your target group already knows the subject but it is good place to start when you find people interesting in knowing what you learnt.  Sharing is not always easy for me because I always feel like someone has already dealt with what I learnt and no one might need it. But I was proven wrong in one of my presentation as what I shared was straight forward and the people like it very much than what they already knew regarding the subject matter. Also, in the mixed of a team I always try to be first to respond to it if only I have an idea of what is being asked because I know how it helps me in understanding the scope of my knowledge better. This boiled to the point that sharing what you learn will not only make you valuable to the community but will also let you stay on top of your field of study.

Besides, the challenging expect of sharing what you learn is the ethical part of it. Sometimes how to re-factor what you learn into your own work is difficult because it is straight forward knowledge and you can’t go around it to make you own.

After reading this pattern, it has reinforced the power of recording what I learn as it will make it easy for me to share what I learn with others. I also didn’t pay attention to the effects of what I shared in the past and after reading this, it has opened my eyes to look out for the legal, political and financial implication to what I share in the future.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Computer Science Exploration by ioplay and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The ideas discussed in this pattern are often ignored by a lot of people including me. Documenting what you learn will not only serve as a further reference but will also save you a lot of time refreshing your mind on topics that you might have lost ideas. In the other hand, you may still remember what you have learned on a problem but the issue is that you have got only the main ideas, forgotten the details in it.

I got to realized how ignorance I am about recording what I learn after reading this pattern. I think I have never learn why I fails sometimes because on my reflection, I realized that in most cases, I overlook  some of the things I learn as a real event and therefore don’t  think I will ever forget them. But in the long round I lose track of most things as time goes on. On reflecting on why I sometimes don’t document what I learn, I couldn’t find a particular reason for that.  Gone on the days when there was limited storage in our computers, and in the worst case, no internet access, we could record what we learn on note books. The only problem I had with that was, as time passes, you turn to have more books and you overlook their important. Sometimes you are tempted to trash your entire old document thinking you have enough knowledge that can deal with issues coming from these documents. But I realized this is not true because not long ago, I have encountered a situation where I have to go all the way back to my high school note book for the solution.

After reading this pattern, I think I will not ignore the power of recording what I learn anymore.  With internet access, recording is going to be more convenient and effective. For some time now, I have been saving what I learn in goggle docs but after reading this pattern I have taken another twist to blog all my learning. I think this can help me easily managed and share what I learn with others.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Computer Science Exploration by ioplay and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This week, I will be writing a reflection on the “Practice, Practice, Practice” pattern.  This pattern addresses developers who want to get better at programming and to expand your diversity of concrete skills.  I chose to reflect on this pattern because I recently accepted an offer for a summer internship and I intend to put in quite a bit of practice before I begin working in June.   Oshineye and Hoover provide solid advice on how to exercise programming skills for those in the ideal situation of having a mentor and those who are left to their own devices.

They begin by saying “Take the time to practice your craft without interruptions, in an environment where you can feel comfortable making mistakes”.  I think environment is a very important element in getting the most out of practice.  The environment in which you practice should allow you to focus completely on the skill you are trying to improve.  Ideally, this environment would also include a mentor that can help guide your practicing and gauge your progress.  Personally, I think an ideal environment could also include peers who are also developing their programming skills because it would provide more outlets for each individual to discuss their work and mentor one another.

They go on to say that the key to this pattern is finding time to develop software in a stress-free environment with no due dates production issues, or interruptions.  This pattern, like the “Breakable Toys” pattern, also stresses the importance of short feedback loops in practice sessions.  Short feedback loops refer to the cycle of completing exercises and quickly receiving feedback on your performance for the purpose of gauging a person’s progress toward a goal.  Short feedback loops can be found in the form of feedback from a mentor or in your own incremental completion of progressively more difficult tasks.

To implement this pattern, Oshineye and Hoover advise developers to find exercises or create their own, and ensure that those exercises will challenge them to at least some degree higher than what they know they are capable of.  They also advise that you should solve and resolve the same issue over some period of time, so that you can see how your solutions change and progress.  I have been motivated by this pattern and I intend to implement it in the coming weeks as I prepare for my internship.

From the blog CS@Worcester – by Ryan Marcelonis and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

“Reading List” is the first in a set of design patterns written to help the apprentice craft a learning curriculum.  As more and more material becomes available, it’s important to carefully select a set of materials that can effectively guide oneself.

This particular pattern is focused on managing material, not necessarily curating it (although it does recommend asking mentors for suggestions).  The recommendation here is to create a list of reading material, and maintain it in a way that lets you see what you have read as well as what you have yet to read.  This allows you to fill in gaps as you go, even if the original list was not particularly comprehensive.  The basic form of the pattern is to keep a text file as a reading list.  In more complex implementations, you can use a version control system to track changes, or use a public form (like a wiki) so that others can benefit.

I am not sure how helpful this pattern will be to me.  While I do understand the need for continued education, and I do enjoy reading, I’ve found that I learn far better from practical, hands-on experience than books, blogs, or powerpoint slides.  While I definitely got a lot out of Clean Code, I got more out of taking Uncle Bob’s suggestions and putting them into practice.  I also tend not to take well to to-do lists, either making or sticking to them — although, perhaps, this pattern would give me an opportunity to expand my horizons in personal organization as well as software craft.

My implementation of this pattern might be a bit more complex than the simple suggestion of keeping a version-controlled text file.  I would prefer to curate a list of resources that contain practical, hands-on components (like Apprenticeship Patterns, although many of those are fairly abstract), or to learn from tutorials that give me room to experiment.

You could even apply this pattern to parts of a book (like Apprenticeship Patterns) that is more fragmented, or easier to digest across multiple readings.  Perhaps also to a video or article series.

From the blog CS@Worcester – orscsblog by orscsblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.