In this pattern, the authors discuss the importance of building what they call “breakable toys.” The context they present is one in which the apprentice needs an outlet for failure, so to speak, because in order to gain the experience needed to excel in the software development field they must make mistakes and learn from them. This can be difficult in a professional setting as management and other superiors may not be expecting failure from the new apprentice. Hence, making mistakes in the work environment can have negative repercussions. While it’s impossible to avoid failure in the computer science field, it can be somewhat contained by adopting this pattern and breaking things in a low-stakes environment where the only one effected by failure is the apprentice himself.

The authors stress the fact that the only way to progress in the software development field is to make lots of mistakes and even just flat out fail sometimes in order to learn and grow as an individual and as a software craftsman. The authors advise apprentices to make breakable toys which resemble what they might be building at work. This allows the apprentice more flexibility in design and a lot less stress when compared to the professional setting. One example of a “breakable toy” the authors suggest for apprentices is putting together a wiki. They go on to show that by taking on this type of project the apprentice can learn new things about a variety of topics ranging from “HTTP, REST, parsing, web design, caching, full-text search, databases, and concurrency.”

I have to say I certainly agree with the authors after reading about this pattern. Even before I read this I have been experimenting with “breakable toys” of my own. When it comes to learning new things within the field, I am a very hands-on learner so building things and breaking them are a must if I hope to gain new useful skills. Since I work in Security, some of the side projects I have going on at the moment are things like building my own firewall and deploying a Security Onion instance within my home lab in order to gain first hand experience regarding best practices for Network Security Monitoring.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Caleb's Computer Science Blog by calebscomputerscienceblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This is the first pattern in chapter 5 of Apprenticeship Patterns which focusses on how to address the steep learning curve associated with picking up new programming languages and/or practices. The context the authors present in this pattern is one in which the apprentice has acquired a set of “basic skills” that must be improved in order to become a journeyman. They describe the problem as being that the basic skills held by the apprentice are insufficient for high-level projects that require a more extensive knowledge base and/or skillset. The authors use the analogy that up to this point the apprentice has been sipping information through a straw but the time has come where they must drink from the fire hose of information.

As a solution, the authors suggest apprentices should “expand [their] ability to take in new information.” To do this, the authors advocate for apprentices to not just read books pertaining to knowledge they seek to gain but rather utilize a number of resources in combination with the reading to increase retention and understanding. Some of things they suggest are signing up for Google Reader and subscribing to software development blogs, following “luminaries” on twitter, subscribing to online mailing lists and answering people’s questions, as well as physically or virtually attending technical conferences. The authors note that when the so-called fire hose of information is turned on it can be difficult for an apprentice to get other work done as most of their time will be taken up by the process of ingesting a plethora of new information. Hence, they recommend that this pattern should not be used for more than a few months otherwise it may have yield diminished returns by decreasing an apprentice’s development velocity.

I found this particular pattern to offer some highly valuable advise in terms of how to really push my development career forward. I think that I can actually put this pattern to practice after graduation as I am moving into a position that requires a strong understanding of python programming. Up until this point in my career, I would describe my python programming skills as being basic but in order to excel in my position I will need to acquire a deeper set of skills. After reading this, I decided that when I start my new job I will try to put my mouth to the fire hose information, so to speak, in order to gain essential knowledge and put myself in a position to excel.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Caleb's Computer Science Blog by calebscomputerscienceblog and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Complementing and maybe even contrasting The Long Road pattern described earlier this week, A Different Road is a pattern about when you stop being a craftsman.

After a long time on your Long Road of being a software craftsman you will have to seriously consider your future in the career and the industry. And as you do this, you may realize you no longer wish to continue the life long journey of moving to software mastery. In this case, you move off the long road and take a different road in your life. We all are on our own life long journeys and this can take us in many different directions depending on the circumstances.

Other software craftsman will not hold it against you if you decide to move on to something else. I personally would never judge someone for deciding they needed to change careers or that this particular career is not for them. I would wish them the best.

And this different path can also lead back to the long road. It is not a clear cut thing. Life is flexible and can the path you take through it can wind around in interesting ways. People can leave the road of being software craftsman and later on realize it was a mistake or it suits them better now. And as the book states, and my personal opinion states, other craftsman would welcome them back with open arms. I would think nothing of it if someone left the field for several years to follow another dream or similar, and then coming back when realizing that that was their calling. I can see myself changing careers and fields in pursuit of my calling depending on how each turns out. As I have stated before, what someone desires in life can change even day to day, as can their goals.

The unfortunate reality is that some in the industry will look down on this, or look at it with suspicion. Mostly those in charge of hiring decisions, most unfortunately. But this is a minor hurdle that can be overcome. It should not dissuade anyone from pursuing what they believe is their path in life. This is something I also whole heartedly believe.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Fu's Faulty Functions by fymeri and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Long Road is an apprenticeship pattern that is much more focused on the long term than some others. The situation it is designed for is essentially your entire career path. A craftsman is someone who is wholly dedicated to their craft and improving themselves in this. Someone who holds a genuine excitement and skill for the craft. Because of this, the path to becoming a true master craftsman is one that focuses wholly on the craft. So what to do you do when the opportunity presents itself to you to gain a promotion or a new job that gives you a large raise in income or something similar, but takes you away from your craft?

The Long Road posits that the best path to being a true craftsman is taking, well, the long road. There are no shortcuts, no big jumps that can lead to mastery. And moving away from this long road to being a master is something that should be avoided. This goes against conventional wisdom that most people have, to take the biggest opportunity that raises your station in life when it presents itself. But this does not improve yourself as a craftsman.

The way to do this is to slowly, but surely, build yourself up. Use the other patterns and have a genuine desire to learn and improve. It will take a long time and could be arduous, but it is the sure path to mastery. And it has no end, a life long journey of steady improvement. Such a long journey presents itself a wide variety of possibilities, which should be kept in mind as one walks the long road ahead of themselves.

This pattern definitely has the ability to be controversial for some, because it does go against conventional wisdom. When choosing whether to follow it one has to consider what they truly want in the end. I agree that the best way to being a master software craftsman is not veering off the path of being a software craftsman. But do I stick to this path that stringently? Is my ultimate goal in life to become a master? This pattern forces one to look to the future and question what their ultimate goals are, and I’m still wondering. There probably is no straight answer, as desires change throughout ones life, maybe even day to day.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Fu's Faulty Functions by fymeri and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The Long Road is an apprenticeship pattern that is much more focused on the long term than some others. The situation it is designed for is essentially your entire career path. A craftsman is someone who is wholly dedicated to their craft and improving themselves in this. Someone who holds a genuine excitement and skill for the craft. Because of this, the path to becoming a true master craftsman is one that focuses wholly on the craft. So what to do you do when the opportunity presents itself to you to gain a promotion or a new job that gives you a large raise in income or something similar, but takes you away from your craft?

The Long Road posits that the best path to being a true craftsman is taking, well, the long road. There are no shortcuts, no big jumps that can lead to mastery. And moving away from this long road to being a master is something that should be avoided. This goes against conventional wisdom that most people have, to take the biggest opportunity that raises your station in life when it presents itself. But this does not improve yourself as a craftsman.

The way to do this is to slowly, but surely, build yourself up. Use the other patterns and have a genuine desire to learn and improve. It will take a long time and could be arduous, but it is the sure path to mastery. And it has no end, a life long journey of steady improvement. Such a long journey presents itself a wide variety of possibilities, which should be kept in mind as one walks the long road ahead of themselves.

This pattern definitely has the ability to be controversial for some, because it does go against conventional wisdom. When choosing whether to follow it one has to consider what they truly want in the end. I agree that the best way to being a master software craftsman is not veering off the path of being a software craftsman. But do I stick to this path that stringently? Is my ultimate goal in life to become a master? This pattern forces one to look to the future and question what their ultimate goals are, and I’m still wondering. There probably is no straight answer, as desires change throughout ones life, maybe even day to day.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Fu's Faulty Functions by fymeri and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.