For this week’s additional blog post, I have decided to look at the apprenticeship pattern “The Long Road”. In this chapter you, are aspiring to become a master software developer. However, your aspiration conflicts with what people expect from you. Conventional wisdom tells you to take the highest-paying job and the first promotion you can get your hands on, to stop programming and get onto more important work rather than slowly building up your skills. In this chapter it is advised that you should focus on the long-term. Value learning and long-term growth opportunities over salary and traditional notions of leadership. No one is so far ahead that you can’t match their skill level given the decades you will have to hone your craft. No business or technical domain is closed to you. According to Dave H. Hoover & Adewale Oshineye, the authors of the book, they say on this,

“This pattern is not for people aspiring to become CIOs or project managers, or filthy rich. Along the way, it is not unlikely that you will take on roles of power and responsibility or find yourself quite wealthy. However, these roles and benefits are not the main motivation of the successful apprentice—they are merely by-products of a lifelong journey. And rather than counting the days to retirement, the craftsman will willingly and joyfully work into her final decades. We don’t want to give the impression that everyone must follow a single road (see Draw Your Own Map) or that this is the right road for every software developer (see A Different Road). Some people leave development permanently and become executives, testers, salespeople, or project managers”. (Dave H. Hoover & Adewale Oshineye).

This chapter was an interesting one to read. I liked how it talked about how this is a unique profession, and you will be doing it for some time if the passion is there. I also liked how it talked about how you shouldn’t jump ship right away if there is an opportunity away from software development. I don’t think that this chapter will stick with me out in the real world, however. I feel as though this chapter is geared towards people with a mind set of already leaving this profession.

From the blog CS@worcester – Michale Friedrich by mikefriedrich1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

For this week’s blog post, I have decided to look at the apprenticeship pattern “retreat into competence”. The idea of this chapter is that you, a software developer, are beginning to realize how little you know, or that you have taken on a new challenge that is not working well in your favor, or your having problems with both. Due to you realizing how little you know you begin to get overwhelmed with your ignorance. The solution to this is to pull back and launch yourself like a stone from a catapult. You need to retreat or take some time away from your task to re collect yourself so you can come back to the task stronger than before. According to Dave H. Hoover & Adewale Oshineye, the authors of the book, they say on this,

“An apprenticeship is a roller-coaster ride. You will experience the thrill of learning new technologies, leveraging your knowledge and creativity to deliver value to your customers. But you will also experience the heart-in-your-throat terror of perceiving just how little you know compared to the craftsmen and experts you meet along the way. It can be overwhelming, particularly when a deadline is looming or when you’re dealing with production issues.” (Dave H. Hoover & Adewle Oshineye).

This pattern is most relevant to people who have stretched themselves to far thin to be able to concentrate on the task in front of them anymore. However, by pulling back you do have the chance to launch more forward than you have been able to before. Note however this pattern does come with risks as if you forget to launch back forward or don’t have the desire to there can be repercussions. I liked this chapter as I am a person who can get stretched thin very quickly and am not able to bring myself to walk away for a bit to recollect myself. I liked that this chapter talked about both the pros and the cons of using the pattern. This will be something that will stick with me while I’m in the field because I am prone to being stretched thin and will sit there and still try to figure out the problem for hours. By walking away for a bit, I will be able to launch forward.   

From the blog CS@worcester – Michale Friedrich by mikefriedrich1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

To avoid frustration, I try to keep myself motivated by thinking about the feeling when I complete my task. Along with the feeling of completion, sharing information among people is some sort of motivation that I want to show off every time I learn something useful.

In my view, I am not a beginner applying this method introduced in Dave Hoover’s book since I am not feeling strange when I explain to my mates what I have learnt, instead, I actually like doing it because it is not only a way to help my mates understand the part that I have been working on but also a great opportunity to test my understanding over subject and enhance my memorization onto it.

I started feeling the benefits of sharing information with other people since high school. Back then, I mostly helped my friends when they didn’t understand some math problems in class, and every time I do it, I remember that issue much longer, and I feel more comfortable with the technique used to solve that problem. The more I “teach” them, the better my “teaching” skill and my sense of learning improves as well. As they started counting on me in these difficult tasks, I would perceive the sense of motivation to push my learning into the higher level.

We are afraid of having a conversation about a topic that we do not really comprehend. In both math and code, exchanging information, in my opinion, is an infamous problem since I have encountered lots of people who suffer from it. Coding and mathematics have a similar concept (it is like a feeling, but I cannot think of a more specific word to describe it) that once you understand the flow, solving their problems is utterly attractive. Therefore, besides the benefit of improving my apprehension, I also want to help my friends be able to comfortably debate when it comes to specialized topics.

As we grow, we have less confidence to ask other people, searching for problems online is therefore becoming a more popular approach. Hence, publishing blog posts to share my learning will be my next path to maintain my motivation and improve my understanding. Stay tuned!!

From the blog CS@Worcester – Vien's Blog by Vien Hua and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Programming alone can be difficult with unclear paths to take with lots of uncertainty about which approach will be the best. Without someone who can give you guidance, it makes it difficult to move forward alone. It is necessary to find a mentor who will be there to guide you in times of uncertainty. The mentor you find does not need to be someone who knows all, but someone who has more knowledge and experience than you in a particular programming area. Finding a mentor requires a lot of searching because they may be hard to find, especially finding someone who is willing to spend the time to help. However, when you find one, they will provide a world of experience.

I found it interesting the author himself found a mentor after a few years of already being a programmer. It shows that it is never too late to find someone who knows more than you and to ask for help. This practice relates back to a previous pattern about exposing your ignorance. You must be willing to do this in order to get the proper guidance.

This pattern focuses on the theme of approaching programming as a craft where you must start as an apprentice. This reminds me of my grandfather who was a carpenter. When he was young, he started small jobs without much knowledge. He learned from the other men on the job who were eager to teach him what they knew. Eventually, he learned as much as they did and in his later years went on to share his knowledge with those who were younger just learning their craft.

After reading this far into the book, I have reshaped the way I view the development landscape. I feel that it requires the perspective of apprenticeship and the need for finding others to help you develop your craft. I think it is possible that at the same time you are being mentored, you can also be mentoring someone else. There are no areas in this pattern where I disagree with the author. I find that his recommendations and personal experience are well thought out and are great advice.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Jared's Development Blog by Jared Moore and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

For this week’s blog post, I have decided to talk about the chapter “The Deep End”.  The idea with this chapter is that you a software developer, feel as though you have hit a rut with your learning. To be able to feel confident you need to grow your skills, your confidence, and your portfolio of successful work. You feel the need to challenge yourself with bigger things. This may involve bigger projects, larger teams, more complex tasks, new and business domains, or new places. The solution to this problem is to jump into the deep end. The longer you wait and stir with the idea that you are in a rut the longer you will be in that rut. If an opportunity comes up when you can take a challenging job you should take it, most people learn by taking difficult jobs and expand their knowledge from the research it provides. According to Dave H. Hoover & Adewale Oshineye, the authors of the book, they say on this,

“Even though we advocate seeking out the most challenging tasks you are capable of, you still need to remember that if the water level is above your head it means you’re drowning. Even in Enrique’s example, where he was changing his life in a big way, he was still moving to a country where he knew at least one person and could speak the national language. It’s your responsibility to offset the risks of this approach by Finding Mentors and Kindred Spirits who can provide help when you need it” (Dave H. Hoover & Adewale Oshineye)

This means that if a job is too over your head, don’t take it just to prove yourself. If you need try to find a mentor that will help expand your knowledge. I found this chapter to be very interesting. I like how it talked about how if you feel as though you have reached the end, try to grab a more challenging project to expand your knowledge. I liked this because it reminds of being in school and being assigned project that I knew nothing about. By working on them and doing research I found those project to be the most fun to work on. This chapter will definitely be applied while I am out in the field as I will remember that enjoyment from school.

From the blog CS@worcester – Michale Friedrich by mikefriedrich1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

You should plan for the long run and not focus on short-term goals. The further out you plan for yourself the better you will be prepared for unexpected challenges. If you want to program for a very long time, then you’ll be more skilled than people who are newly coming into the field and this will benefit you. It is important that being a master at the craft is the goal and not wealth or another position. It is important to stay motivated to program and not be distracted by nonessential things.

I find it interesting that it’s possible to get distracted over time while you’re at your job. I think it makes sense that over time you lose focus of the goal. It’s easy to be tempted by money to find a different job and stop programming. I think it was a good reminder to stay focused on your passion for becoming a master of the craft. Mastering the Long Road means balancing your work life and goals to meet a long-term desire for programming.

This pattern will help me focus on keeping my motivation for programming. It’s important to have an outlook of what you want in the future rather than just focusing day-to-day. Focusing on becoming a master at programming will also make money. But if you just focus on making money then you might not become a master. Someone motivated by money is not going to have the desire to learn to program. I personally have encountered this with friends who have software engineering jobs. They dislike their job and are only there for the money. They’re always looking for different opportunities and never spend time learning to program, they spend time trying to figure out how to get a different job.

I do not have any disagreement about what is discussed in this pattern. I think it is essential to stay motivated on the task of learning programming and not be distracted by other less important motivations. I think it is possible to have the motivation to become a project manager or a CIO while also maintaining your passion for programming. However, I think this pattern is correct in that the ultimate motivation should be about programming and nothing else.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Jared's Development Blog by Jared Moore and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.