Recently I started reading Apprenticeship Patterns by Adewale Oshineye & Dave Hoover. The main focus of this book focuses on the three stages of becoming a software Craftsman which includes the Apprentice, Journeyman and Master. While this may be the overall summary, there was much more to it. The first thing I noticed when it came to reading the introduction and the first couple of chapters was that this book was not just spitting a bunch of software information back at me while I try to retain it. It focused on preparing for and what I should expect, and be ready to do when it comes to joining the workforce. When speaking about the different topics, they go back to one man’s story and his relationship with apprenticeship patterns. His story focuses on how he had to go back to the basics and how to mentally prepare for that. While he had been a master in one language, he had to start back to the beginning when learning another. He had to make the conscious decision and decide to wear the ‘white belt’ again. What this meant was that he had to strip away all of what he had been taught and known about his previous language and start from scratch again. What first intrigued me was Dave’s story. It in some way relieved me to hear that Dave had to go back to wearing the white belt, even though he had been really skilled in another. I also feel that Daves story really goes in hand with what Chapter two was focused on. When I first started Computer Science I knew absolutely zero about it. I didn’t even know what my field had consisted of and what I would be doing with that major. Although I knew nothing, and where in classes with students (mostly men) who had a better understanding of what was going on, I am really happy that I had started that way. There was nothing that was going to affect my thoughts and ideas about the various languages I was learning. What I especially loved aout all of these chapters in general was that they gave various scenarios of work environments and what the problem & solution were and how to take action. Multiple of these scenarios have to do with an employee(yourself) who feels very out of place whether it be your excitement towards a new project, a new job, how to deal with not knowing as much as others in your group, and many more. Overall I believe that chapter two was the most relevant to me. Although this reading was very long it was extremely helpful and made me feel more at ease for the future. It also made me realize that although this field can make a lot of money, it is because it is a constantly changing field, and you always have to be updated on what is going on, that you are making this money. Languages are always changing, improving themselves and technology is always shooting for the future.
From the blog mrogers4836 by mrogers4836 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.