Find Mentors

Programming can be a daunting task, with many uncertainties and unclear paths to follow. Without guidance, it can be difficult to make progress. That’s where finding a mentor comes in. The “Find Mentors” apprenticeship pattern stresses the importance of seeking out guidance from someone who has more knowledge and experience in a particular programming area.

Finding a mentor can be very challenging in some cases, but it’s worth the effort. It requires actively seeking out someone who is willing to dedicate their time and energy to help you grow as a programmer. The mentor doesn’t have to know everything, but they should have more experience and knowledge than the apprentice. The process of finding a mentor is similar to starting as an apprentice in any other craft. You start small and learn from experienced practitioners, gradually building up your skills over time. The author’s experience of finding a mentor after years of programming demonstrates that it is never too late to seek help from someone who knows more.

This pattern emphasizes the importance of approaching programming as a craft and seeking guidance to make your skill better in programming. It’s not just about finding a mentor but also about being open and willing to learn. The author’s recommendation to “expose your ignorance” means admitting what you don’t know so that your mentor can provide the necessary guidance putting in mind that no questions are stupid, just be open when you ask for help with the problem. The apprentice can also become a mentor, passing on the knowledge they have gained to someone just starting. This creates a cycle of learning and growth, where everyone benefits from sharing their knowledge and experience.

The “Find Mentors” pattern provides valuable advice on how to approach programming as an apprentice and emphasizes the importance of seeking out guidance. The author’s recommendations and personal experiences are insightful and practical, and they highlight the need for mentorship to develop programming skills. It’s a reminder that programming is not just about technical skills, but also about the community of practitioners who support each other in their growth as programmers. It’s not about just finding a mentor, you can also be a mentor for someone else and still learn new things.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Mausam Mishra's Blog by mousammishra21 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Falling Down the Deep End

I’ve always had this feeling of wanting to do more and challenge myself to reach the potential that I so desperately want to reach. In this pattern, the deep end is one that all aspiring craftsmen want to reach, and any apprentice or journeyman needs to gain that experience or take on a project that will finally take them to the next level. I know when I’m faced with a new challenge it can sometimes grow into fear because I’m not going to lie I have a really bad case of Atychiphobia, well it’s not that bad but failing in any task can put me down and so it’s easier for me to take an easier task when I can rather challenging myself in something that will benefit me in the long run. The most reassuring thing that’s even mentioned in the book itself is that when working in the field, taking risks will rarely result in destroying one’s career, especially when it comes to the IT world. So, reading this out loud makes me feel better about failing a task, no matter how I perform, I will still end up learning something in the end and I can take my failures in stride to create better solutions for the next big challenge.

Although taking some risks should be encouraged to take one to the next level, it is important to recognize whether the risk will pay off for the individual, it’s important to communicate with other people or a mentor and get their feedback on whether or not it’s wise to take on the risk and whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The book will emphasize that if the risk and challenges seem to be too out of the ordinary then it’s important to create a “Feedback Loops” the options are laid in from of you when need be. And for me especially, I tend to fall back on this quite often when trying to make big decisions for myself. It’s also important to save yourself once taking the risk. As the book refers to it as “drowning”; being able to bounce back when things don’t work as the plan is important hence why the feedback loop is Important.

Sources:

Hoover, Dave H., and Adewale Oshineye. Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman. O’Reilly, 2010.

From the blog CS@Worcester – FindKelvin by Kelvin Nina and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Sprint-1

Hi, and welcome to the Sprint Retrospective Blog. I have completed these tasks on GitLab for the group project; the team and I have been assigned to decide whether to implement these changes when necessary. For myself, I have done there is one activity that does require modifications, while the other three do not. These ISSUES weight totals are reasonable and easy to do once getting to the mindset of the work and practice.

The Issues:

Remove MongoID leftovers — generatewcfbreportfrontend (non-changes); This activity investigates whether there are any unused MongoIDs at the front end. It would appear that there are none.
Remove MongoID leftover – API (non-changes); the same goes for this with API.
Change the variables of JavaScript code on Front End (non-changes); After looking at the different variables, it appears to be simple to read and comprehend. Thus, there is no requirement for any necessary changes to be made here.
Remove MongoID leftover – Backend (changes). There are still MongoIDs available, and I will investigate this further. After I asked for feedback or assisted in making certain adjustments, the result seemed to be an improvement, and the team concurred.

My challenge concerning these works is that I took the time to review the codes, and everything seems to be great, so it does not require any modification. Even if it means setting aside some time so that you can go to the next activity or task in the sequence. On the other side, it makes it appear that all I have done is read the codes and determine that there is no need to update them, making me feel bad because I haven’t worked as hard as I should have been working on this project. To improve myself as an individual to have goals that include conquering negative emotions, recognizing that the quality of the job has been maintained, and making additional recommendations to the team regarding acceptable actions. In the upcoming year, is to improve my time management abilities and all of these measurements so that I can finish all of my work within the assigned time window. I need to improve my technical skills and knowledge to contribute to the team significantly.

The team and I had a rough start in completing all the tasks on the sprint backlog; we encountered some challenges along the way. We faced several technological challenges during the development process, leading to delays. Additionally, some communication breakdowns led to misunderstandings and duplication of efforts. To improve on those issues by strengthening our technical skills and knowledge. This work can be achieved through regular training and knowledge-sharing sessions. We also need to establish better communication channels to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that there are no misunderstandings. Additionally, we need better tracking and monitoring mechanisms to ensure we are on track with our goals.

In conclusion, our team had a rough start, but we got through a lot of success during the first sprint. We overcame some of the obstacles while working through the sprint backlog and completing some of the assignments.