This Apprenticeship pattern, “A Different Road” is about admitting to yourself if software craftmanship isn’t the career path you want anymore. I think that this is a very important lesson to be learned, because it is much more harmful to yourself, and others that you work with in your field if you stick through doing something you don’t like than if you either take some time away or change career paths entirely. By doing something you don’t like as a career, you are doing a disservice to yourself and others, because you most likely aren’t doing the best as a software developer as you could if you don’t like it, and others may notice that you don’t like it and that you aren’t doing the quality of work that you used to, or that it is less than acceptable.

I think that instead of changing career paths immediately if you aren’t enjoying it anymore, maybe a good idea would be to take some time away, and then return to it later and assess whether you still aren’t enjoying it or not. The reason for this would be to see if you just have burnout from doing it for a while, and then maybe the time away would fix that burnout. You could have burnout for a number of reasons, but maybe taking some time away would fix it by helping you clear your head, and then if you’re still having burnout then it might be time to seriously consider changing careers.

Ultimately, I think it’s best to not force yourself into a career you don’t enjoy doing, and that goes for any career path, not just software development. Not enjoying what you’re doing everyday means that you’re likely doing it worse than you would if you were enjoying it and will inevitably lead to unhappiness. In my opinion, it is much better to do something that you enjoy doing and something you’re passionate about than something that has better pay. Additionally, there will always be other opportunities down the line, meaning a temporary career shift doesn’t have to be permanent, and you can either continue doing what you are, or return to the old job if you’ve discovered that’s what you like best.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Alex's Blog by anelson42 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

This Apprenticeship pattern, “Expose Your Ignorance,” is about admitting to others as well as to yourself the gaps in your knowledge. You must admit to yourself the gaps in your knowledge before you can admit it to others and begin to ask meaningful questions to expand your knowledge. I think this is really important to know because if you are unwilling to admit that you don’t know some stuff, then you will be unable to learn it, and furthermore unable to get help from others who possibly know more about the topic. Only by admitting that you have more to learn can you open yourself up to attaining more information, which will help you in the long run.

I think that this is especially important in the software development field, where there are constantly new technologies and tools to learn, and new information about emerging systems that you must learn to keep up with the ever expanding field on software development. If you don’t keep up by learning new things, and thereby exposing your ignorance, then you will quickly fall behind, and may be susceptible to being replaced at your job, or incapable of performing the tasks necessary to fulfill your goals.

I also think that this is applicable to many different fields, not just software craftmanship, where there are always new things to learn, and you must keep up to date with the latest information in order to do your job. One such example would be a doctor, where there is always new medical information coming out, and not knowing about it could be potentially harmful. Any person in a field such as this must be okay with admitting that they don’t know something, instead of pretending like they do and not learning new, important information. Admitting that you don’t know something, and exposing your ignorance, not only makes you seem humble to yourself as well as others, but it also helps others to assess what you do or don’t know so that they are able to help you in areas where you may need it, and you are able to help yourself in this way and by learning it on your own.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Alex's Blog by anelson42 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The context given here is that You want to get better at the things you do and you want to develop concrete skills in new areas. The problem is now that the performance of your daily programming activities does not give you room to learn by making mistakes. It’s as if you’re always on stage. The solution offered is to take the time to practice your craft without interruptions, in an environment where you can feel comfortable making mistakes.

Practice is important because it will get you to where you need to be. We talked about reading and going back to the classics as a way of getting you to master your craft but reading without practicing the acquired knowledge won’t really help. That’s why we believe efficient and deliberate practice methods not only help you learn faster but also help keep you motivated. Over time, this chain of exercises would hone your strengths and correct your weaknesses.

The book emphasizes that short feedback loops need to be incorporated into your practice sessions. While practice is good in theory, if you’re not getting periodic feedback, you’re probably developing bad habits. Over time, the need for constant feedback lessens as you grow as a craftsman, and is gradually replaced by your duty to take on the role of a senior apprentice, modeling good habits by practicing with less experienced developers.

I was very surprised by the following sentence: “Your grandmother may have told you that practice makes perfect. She was wrong. In fact, practice makes permanent. So be careful what you practice, and constantly evaluate it to ensure you haven’t gone stale. Choosing the right thing to practice every day is a skill almost as important as the act of repeated practice.”

The lines above shows that we could easily get comfortable and stop making concrete progress. Practicing is good but it has to be diverse to allow the growth to happen. The point is not to hone your memory, but to discover the nuances in even the simplest skilled activity. An easy to implement it could be as simple as finding an exercise in one of your old books and tweak it a little bit to make sure that it’s just a little harder than one you know you can easily solve.

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

The context of this pattern is that you are being enthusiastic about your passion to the points where it has open doors for you. The problem is such that there seems to be an endless stream of deeper and more fundamental concepts that are eluding you, despite the proficiency that you already have. The solution offered is to focus the thirst for learning on consuming as much of the written word as possible. Emphasize books over blogs as you construct your reading list.

The book emphasizes that reading the occasional research paper will stretch your mind and keep you in touch with the cutting edge of computer science, and also offers a source of challenging new ideas. Trying to implement these ideas will expand your toolbox with new algorithms, data structures, and design patterns many years before they reach the mainstream. An Important fact to remember is that Successful apprentices tend to focus on “long-lived books” and use the Web or experimentation to learn how the information has evolved and that’s why we should focus on going back to the classics. That being said, one danger of focusing on the classics is taking it too far and abandoning the more pragmatic knowledge and information that enables you to improve your day-to-day craftsmanship. Be sure to intermingle classics with modern, pragmatic books and/or articles in your reading list.

I really resonated with this because reading books hasn’t always been fun for me. Thankfully, the eBook and audio version of things have made it easier. I also like that they ended the pattern by the following: First, the trick is to keep up the momentum. After you’ve finished this book, decide now what your next book will be and make sure to buy or borrow it so that when you finish this book, you can switch immediately to the next one. Second, you should also try to keep a slim book with you at all times. This will let you use the little bits of dead time throughout each day (such as train journeys or waiting in queues) to learn. Third, Find the oldest book in your developer’s book collection and read that one first.

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