For this week I have decided to do my blog on the Breakable Toys pattern. The problem presented when your environment does not allow for failure. As a college student I know what it feels like to be in an environment that does not allow for failure. If you fail classes then you cannot move on to the next semester, class, project, or graduate! Since I understand the feeling of this environment, I was naturally interested in what this pattern had to offer for me. The book says that the only way to learn is by failing so that you can learn how to correct that failure and get it right the next time around, growing as a person and a software developer. I enjoy this thought because I can think of many numerous occasions where I have failed at something – not just limited to software  development – and learned from my mistakes in the end. How are we to learn why something is correct without first understanding what happens when it is not correct? In my eyes, if we see why it fails then we can understand its true purpose and understand why it needs to be correct. This pattern suggests failure in order to learn. It does not suggest blowing stuff off and failing at the “real deal” stuff that will  be done at work, but rather urges us to practice on smaller projects/ideas with the same toolset as the “big one” in order to fail on a small level and in turn understand the true meaning of our toolsets. This is important because if we fail at a small level it will be easier for us to understand where and what went wrong and how to better understand our toolset that way when it is time for the big project we will have full understanding and control of our toolset so that we will not fail on the real-deal. The book also suggests building a wiki style page as your small project because you can track yourself through it, in turn building off of it and making it something big and meaningful from something small and easy.

From the blog CS@Worcester – The Average CS Student by Nathan Posterro and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/apprenticeship-patterns/9780596806842/apa.html

Of the list provided above, I will go into detail summarizing specific patterns I find to be interesting or relevant.

I will begin with the pattern titled “Be the Worst.” The title is somewhat misleading, since the objective is actually to improve yourself at every opportunity. If you find yourself as the biggest fish in the software development pond, this pattern encourages you to find work in a bigger pond with bigger fish. Now, you can learn more from them and work your way up to being the biggest fish again, then repeat the process. From the standpoint of prioritizing knowledge above all else, this pattern makes sense, however, I don’t think I have the courage to follow it.

I can relate this to my current job at Best Buy. When I was first hired, I knew nothing about TVs, security cameras, and appliances also I didn’t know as much as I needed to about routers, car improvements, and drones. I struggled for the first few months as I awkwardly tried to give customers the answers I thought of on the top of my head. That period of employment sucked and I knew as I learned and practiced talking, I would get much better at it. As a result, my sales would improve, my job gets easier, and the customer buys something they actually need.

This pattern would encourage me to quit my job and go work at staples or another retailer where I knew nothing about the products, so that I may learn them all over again. This comes with great awkwardness, and the customers can always tell when I don’t know what I am talking about. This move seems absurd, certainly not worth it unless it came with a higher pay, to which I’d talk to my manager at Best Buy for a raise first. If this experience is like dealing with a new group of software developers, it would be a very difficult decision for me to leave my current group.

Another relatable pattern the article mentions is “Expose Your Ignorance.” This is about humbly accepting that you need help and actively seeking it despite looking stupid. It is very easy to feel ashamed for not having knowledge, based on the fear that it is very easy for people with knowledge to look down on those that don’t. Nobody really wants to raise their hand in class, a setting designed for answering questions, in fear of their question indicating they are ignorant. This is very destructive, very common behavior and overcoming it is necessary to learn more efficiently.

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

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/apprenticeship-patterns/9780596806842/#toc-start

I have been assigned to read the first chapter, and the introductions of the subsequent chapters two through six. My first take-away line from the first chapter is that this book was written for me, not for my boss or professor. I find this ironic, since I wouldn’t even know about this book if not for my professor assigning it to me. I understand the meaning is to read it for my own benefit above all else, which I agree with.

Martin Gustavson summarizes apprenticeship as having the attitude that there is always a better way to do things than what you produce. Does this mean that as soon as I believe I have produced something that I believe is perfection, I am now a journeyman? I feel like this definition is not very accurate.

The outcome of an apprenticeship depends on how much effort one wants to put into it, it is more my responsibility to succeed than my master’s/teacher’s. I’d like to add that having a good or bad teacher directly effects how much I am going to learn. In high school, I barely passed algebra 2 with a D, whereas in college, I got an A in calculus. Obviously there is a huge leap in difficultly of the two subjects, so why did I preform much better in the harder class? The main difference between the two classes (and the two outcomes) was based on the crappy high school teacher I had versus the professional college professor. That concept will repeat in an apprenticeship setting.

Chapter two’s introduction starts with an interesting story about a philosopher and a zen master. I found this passage particularly interesting. Every time the master tries to explain something, the philosopher excitedly interrupts him by expressing what he has learned or studied elsewhere. By interrupting the lesson, the philosopher misses out on information. The phrase “empty your cup” refers to the concept that you must come to new experiences with an empty mind in order to fill it with as much knowledge as possible. New learners especially have this problem where they rudely can’t listen and learn. I may be guilty of this, but at least now I am conscious of it.

Chapter three is all about the “long road” in reference to the endless journey of knowledge. It bothered me particularly when the chapter states the importance of long term goals over things like salary and leadership. If I understand this correctly, long term goals in this context only means more knowledgeable in a specific field, with the trade off being you wont make as much money. My long-term goal is solely to make as much money as possible.

I would rather rich and dumb than smart and poor, depending on your definition of “dumb.” The book seems to define “dumb” in this context as “not knowing as much about programming as you could” which I can live with. As long as I am smart enough to be a good person, I would rather make more money. Overall, I think this book prioritizes knowledge too much, knowledge is the means to wealth and power, not the other way around.

Chapter four is about not becoming comfortable as the smartest person in your development group. If that happens, the book encourages leaving that group and becoming the dumbest person in a different group, then working your way up again, which makes sense and is agreeable.

Chapter five reiterates that perpetual learning is important no matter what your skill level. It covers prioritizing a reading list and continuously learning as much as possible.

Chapter six is related to five in that you must maintain your own learning. Once you graduate, you don’t have assignments or due dates to keep you on track. Beneficially, this means you also don’t have to learn anything you don’t think is relevant/interesting.

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

On this Software Development Capstone journey part of my assignment is to choose 10 Individual Apprenticeship Patterns out of 35 patterns among Chapters 2-6 from the book Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsmanby Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye. For my second individual Apprenticeship pattern I have chosen “Draw Your Own Map”. I will first summarize the pattern and then I will state my reaction of this pattern.

Draw Your Own Map summarized

An employer might not have career path that fits you best. You should also, “Understand that it’s not up to your employer, your career counselor, or your professors to give you a hand up. Arriving at your next step and charting the course to ultimately arrive at your ideal destination is your responsibility.” It is important for you to draw you own path. That way you will be able to follow the path you want to be on and be in control of your own future. This pattern first suggest you to start out simple when drawing your map by first writing small achievable goals. These small step are important because they help you build your confidence and even allow you to be able to tweak your map. As you follow the map you have drawn up you should know that when needed it is okay to consistently modify your map to fit your mindset as you grow and change. The map you draw is for you and sometimes it might seem like your on the same path with everyone else around you or your on a lonely path either way it okay. As long as you are following your goal and remain motivated  in the long road it will lead you to great success.

My Reaction

This pattern guides you with the ability to draw up a map to your own goal. It also, reminds you that you are solely responsible for your own future and the path you take is ultimately up to you. I agree with this idea. I found that this idea is not just interesting but also useful and thought-provoking. This pattern has definitely changed the way I think about my profession and the way I think I will work because it has made me realize that I am in control of my destiny because as a software craftsman I will have a set of quality that will last me a life time.

Thank you for your time. This has been YessyMer in the World Of Computer Science, until next time.

From the blog cs@Worcester – YessyMer In the world of Computer Science by yesmercedes and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This pattern, “be the worst” to my understanding means, we should surround ourselves with people who are very clever or know more about the subject or field you are in.

From the readings under “be the worst ” which says “what do i do when my rate of learning has leveled off?” You have taken the time to learn something new, immersed yourself in the subject matter, practiced diligently for a period of time and look up and see that you are ahead of those around you. Now what? There are only so many books, blogs, and other resources you can learn from until you reach a point where you must learn new skills from other humans. We are social creatures, by nature. We rely on each other to survive and part of that survival involves learning from each other. It’s difficult to imagine a world where we all had to learn everything on our own and couldn’t benefit from the knowledge and insight of those around us. So for us be connected with the world we need to learn from others. And also the is a saying not everything that we know, we learn from each other and by that we grow. So the more we learn from other developers, there more we grow as a developer. We can look for people who know more than we do and learn from them. We can also be in a team were you a the least among them. Knowing you are the least, you tend to work harder to keep up with them and also you get to learn new skill from them too.

From the readings “weakest member of the team, you should be working harder than anyone else”. There are risks associated with this strategy. You will be the least effective developer or person around the team. This also means your contributions will not be sufficient whereby dragging the team down. Because of this situation, team members may not put up with you very long. So not putting all these risks into consideration, if you are really determined to learn, you will have to strive harder. In other sense, the only choice for you to stay in the team is to learn harder. That also means extra work for you.

Apart from all the risk involve, being the worst is a great way to improve your effectiveness in a given subject area quickly

Reading this pattern has made me know that in my own world i may feel i know everything till it get out of my world to see i really know everything or not. which knowing everything will never be the case. We all learn from each other. And knowing this idea, I will have to surround with people who are more challenging or better that me. Through that i get to learn new skill and better my self.

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

I understand there will be a point in time where your team will be assigned a project that does not necessarily excite you. Sometimes it becomes quite difficult to work on something that you are not passionate about or the environment surrounding you is too hostile. From this chapter I learned that by working on one of your passions outside of work, you are in fact nurturing your passion and giving yourself a sense of fulfillment.

The author illustrates the important of setting clear boundaries that define the environment you are willing to work in. Steer clear of settings that disrupt your good mood; always try to stay positive.

I agree with this pattern because things may get overwhelming at times and this is the time where you have to take a step back and breathe. It allows you to connect with yourself again. I actually am not looking forward to experiencing times where an outside source impacts me and my work negatively and am curious as to how I will handle it.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Life in the Field of Computer Science by iharrynguyen and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Draw Your Own Map is a pattern that discusses how you must forge your own path in terms of your career and not let yourself be boxed in by your employer. This pattern is relevant for everybody who wishes to advance their career as there is only a limited set of career paths that any employer can offer. It is not up to anybody but yourself to decide what the next step in your career should be. When you figure out you want your next step to be, you should visualize the smaller steps that you need to take to get there. Taking the first step will help propel you to achieve your goals. If you discover that your vision for your future is not compatible with your current employer, you should start looking for other opportunities. Draw Your Own Map is all about not getting stuck in one place that doesn’t provide for career advancement.

I think that this is a very useful pattern to follow. It is common for people to grow comfortable in a certain role which makes them unwilling to look for other opportunities. It is also unlikely that any company will provide you the exact path that you want your career to follow. It’s important to remember that your employer is not invested in you advancing the exact way you want to. Even though you may work for a particular company for a long period of time and feel like you should have some level of loyalty, it is better to examine other opportunities when your company’s ideas for you are not aligning with your own. This is the only way to truly draw your own map.

I thought that the two example stories given were interesting to read through. Reading real life examples helps to drive home the point of the pattern and shows that this type of thing is not uncommon. It was also interesting to learn about two actual career paths that have been taken by people in the industry. Overall I think that this pattern is applicable to everybody and is important to remember for people beginning their careers.

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

The White Belt Pattern, as defined by Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye, is an apprenticeship pattern with the goal to learn new concepts or information. The way the pattern achieves this is by having the user abandon their previous knowledge and conceptions regarding the topic, and look at the topic from a fresh perspective with a willingness to learn, despite the potential difficulty and inefficiency of doing so. This comes in handy if you are trying to learn a new programming language or if you need to solve a problem using a new or unfamiliar algorithm.

I definitely can recognize times in my life where use of the white belt pattern would have been helpful. Often times when I’m working on a puzzling programming challenge, I try to think of it in terms of challenges I’ve had before and previous problems I’ve overcome. If I can apply a previous solution to this problem, wouldn’t that be the best way to do it? While I personally do still think this kind of thinking can be useful in reminding yourself of your steps to reaching a previous solution, it can also be distracting and push your mind in the wrong direction. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to approach it from a totally new angle and abandon anything you think you know about how to solve it. Some times it’s the knowledge you think is helping you that is actually getting in the way.

I can absolutely see me reminding myself of this pattern and its intentions in the future. If I find myself overthinking something, or trying to shoehorn a solution to a problem that doesn’t fit, I will try to forget what I know and open my mind up to new solutions and ways of doing things. Even outside of programming, freeing up some of my preconceptions on the ways I think things work could be very healthy. It’s important not to let our accumulated knowledge cloud our judgement and prevent us from learning even more. After all, if our goal is to learn, we should approach it from the most practical way possible.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Let's Get TechNICKal by technickal4 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

When you ask a group of developers what is more important, writing adaptable code or writing tests for the code to pass? I believe that both are equally as important as the other. I came across a blog by Tobias Goeschel, “Writing better tests with JUnit”, where he talks about the importance of writing better tests. In order to keep your code as high quality as possible, you must write tests. Poorly written tests as he describes may lead to bugs bypassing your code and having malfunctions in your program. As he lists in his blog, a set of well written tests will tell you (and more):

• How to access the API
• What data is supposed to go in/out
• What possible variations of an expected behavior exist
• The exceptions that might occur
• How parts of the system interact with others

Tobias goes on and talks about how good tests should not be underestimated because it not only helps new team members understand what should be done but also reviewing old code that’s to be tampered with.

Reading through this article it all makes sense why we were always so test driven with the projects that we did in Data Structures. Every project we wrote had to pass a certain amount of pre-written tests. The author stressed the importance of unit testing which changes the way I will write in the future. Not only will I focus on written code but also tests. I believe that Unit Testing is equally important as mentioned.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Life in the Field of Computer Science by iharrynguyen and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.