To continue with chapter four “Accurate Self-Assessment”, int his chapter we learn how to assessment ourselves. We learn our value in the team, how to work with each other. Everyone is beginner of craftsman at one point. We all at some point is a new apprentice on a project. This is where you’re unsure of your place on the team, and the team is unsure of you. This is not just when you are new software developer, its also apply to you are new to the group.

“Sweep the Floor”, a job not a lot of people want to do. Everyone in the group should contribute same amount of work, but that’s not always the case. Most people would want to be the best craftsman, but there are other important job that need to do. One way I discover while at school, to get group trust when you are newbie to the group is be active volunteer for work. We want to show our desire to work, it is the easy way for group get to know you. Also, a great way gets to know how the group operate/code design from bottom up. For example in the book, task as “maintaining the build system, production support, responding to maintenance requests, bug fixing, code review, eliminating technical debt, setting up the project wiki, updating documentation, acting as a sounding board for other people’s ideas, and so on.” This is do so for the group benefit. There are also a few negative consequences, your teammate also takes you wrongly as someone who doing job that no one else will do. You will not have opportunity to do changeling one. If we know our value, though our hard work we can earned their trust. With this mentality, we have the flexible to be in any environments. This also apply when there is other new addition to the group, you can understand them and show them the right way.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Nhat's Blog by Nhat Truong Le 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 fifth individual Apprenticeship pattern I have chosen “Concrete Skills”.

Summary

Although you may have the skills to learn quickly, it is important to acquire and maintain concrete skills. This is because when you demonstrate that you have certain ability with specific tools and technologies it will increase your chances to be trusted enough to contribute with minor task until you start gaining stature, where at that point you will be able to contribute more directly. The concrete skills pattern suggests you to acquire the type of skills that would reassure your prospective team that they do not need to babysit you because you have skills that could be put to good use. It states that an “Examples of concrete skills include writing build files in various popular languages, knowledge of various popular open source frameworks like Hibernate and Struts, basic web design, JavaScript, and the standard libraries in your language of choice”. These concrete skills shows how you can benefit the company because it shows what you can bring to the table and be able to do on you first day of hire. According to the book a way you can show this by having “A deep understanding of Your First Language“. These skills are important in the beginning because as you “transition to the role of journeyman you will become less dependent on these skills, as you start to be hired on the basis of your reputation, your portfolio of previous work, and the deeper qualities you bring to a team”. Action to take are:

1. “Collect the CVs of people whose skills you respect.”
2. Identify five discrete skills on the CV for each of the people you chose, and then determine which one is useful for the kind of team you want to join.
3. “Put together a plan and a toy project that will demonstrate that you have acquired these skills. Implement the plan.”
4. Make sure you go through your own CV and separately list the concrete skills.

My Reaction

This pattern stresses the importance of developing concrete skills that would help you get hire in a job market. I agree with this idea. I found this pattern interesting but also useful and thought-provoking. This pattern has definitely changed the way I think about my profession and the way I think because it has made me realize that I need to sharping up my concrete skills in order to show how I can be beneficial in the work place environment.

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 week, I read all about an apprenticeship pattern titled Be the Worst. This pattern details the benefits of being surrounded by people who are smarter than you and have more experience than you. The idea behind the pattern is that the more time you spend around others, the more information you can learn from them. Why spend your time figuring out a problem somebody already solved when you can learn the veteran’s way of handling it from a colleague? Surrounding yourself with more advanced developers can help build your skills and gain experience in ways you wouldn’t if you were learning concurrently with them.

This is a pattern I can absolutely relate with from experience. Some of my best classes where I learn the most are the ones where there are a few peers above my level to help me learn what they already have. Sometimes, the way someone explains something to you is difficult to make sense of, but another peer can explain it in a way that makes more sense and is easier to understand. Similarly, working with many people above your level gives you a wide variety of different methodologies and ways of doing things, which can help illuminate best practices and start insightful conversations.

The alternative, being the smartest person in the room, can be very unchallenging and doesn’t give you any room for development. It is nice to Share What You Know, but if that is all your doing it can be hard to progress your personal goals. A large disparity in the skill level of developers causes more time to be spent on closing that gap rather than working on the project at hand.

The challenge with this pattern is more the emotional toll it can take on you to be surrounded by smarter people. Being the dumbest person in the room can be beneficial from a self-centered learning perspective, however it can definitely feel a little embarrassing to be so far behind everyone else. Being able to swallow your pride for the development of yourself and the team is a challenge, but the rewards are worth it.

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.

There are going to be many situations in which we will not be able to figure out a solution to something. Deciding what to do in these situations is a big portion of solving the problem. Sometimes we can get very frustrated and give up. Other times we will try mundane fixes that won’t even solve our main issue. One thing that we need to realize, however, is that we are not alone. Most often than not, some issues that we run into have been solved by someone else. There is no reason to tread dead water if a solution is out there. Finding the way to this solution is a key part in problem solving. So, what do we do from here? We seek out help.

The thing I liked the most about this method is that by seeking help, it shows our willingness to understand and continue to learn. It also teaches us how to figure something out on our own, even if we don’t know what that issue is. One main part I agree with about this method is that it explains how, since this field of study is fairly new, it can be difficult to narrow down the “masters of the craft” because an apprenticeship can only mean so much. The difficult part is finding that one person who CAN teach you and guide to on the right path. One of the hardest part about mastering something is finding a that specific master or network of masters in order to reach the goals you have set for yourself. You can’t expect to learn everything on your own, this is an issue in itself. You need to seek help, evaluate that help, and then decide if it is worth your time to continue to learn by them. If not, that’s something you will have to decide. One great modern tool that we can use to do this is the internet. A simple google search can solve a lot of our problems, especially in this field of study. But sometimes we also should be careful at which sources we are pulling from.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Amir Adelinia's Computer Science Blog by aadelinia1 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

On my readings on the patterns, “share what you learn”. By teaching what you already know about your profession, you’ll learn more, make new connections with people, and find new opportunities. And by doing that you will may find it very fun.

From the reading, to my understanding, another reason you shouldn’t wait to start sharing with others is that it will help you learn. Research has shown that when we explain something to other people, we come to understand it better ourselves. The process of teaching or sharing what we have learned to others, helps us recognize gaps in our own understanding and better organize information in our minds.

Also one thing i notice about sharing what you learn with others will give your talents more exposure, thus giving the people you interact with the opportunity to identify you as a valuable expert. Helping others can help you build your reputation. Also sharing what you learn can be a great tool for everyone. All you need to do is to be permanently connected to the hot business topics and offer your expertise every time you can. When people are open to prove their value through their competence, it’s easier to notice the ones likely to organize people and to take initiative.

Let’s take for instance, you are in the team, by sharing  what you learn or known and talking about certain decisions and procedures, the new guys or juniors could easily acquire new sets of skills. Create an environment where everybody is encouraged to ask questions, and help professionals in all your locations and job positions stay updated with the latest information in their field. Also by sharing what you learn, increases the productivity of your team. You can work faster and smarter, as you get easier access to the internal resources and expertise within your organization. Projects don’t get delayed, people swimmingly get the information they need in order to do their jobs and your business fills the bill.

I really enjoyed reading the pattern because i got the some main importance of sharing, strategic ways of sharing and things that i do not have to do.

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

The apprenticeship pattern I decided to choose for this week’s blog was “Read Constantly.” It was somewhat self-explanatory, but I thought it had some good insights nonetheless.

It recommended reading books over blogs. I would imagine that this is the right course of action from researching blogs last semester. All the material was good and informative, but many times when the host was interviewing someone, it felt like a summary of what could be a very interesting book. There’s only so much that can be gained from a blog post or a podcast. The things that you learn from those can be valuable, but it is better to go deeper when possible. Even if you have a very wide base of knowledge, it will only get you so far when you only scratch the surface.

The quote at the very beginning, from Steve McConnell, says that if you read a good programming book every other month, you will distinguish yourself from your peers. This seems like a worthwhile task, and frankly it is very doable. He chalks this up to be 35 pages a week, which is less than many reading assignments for school. Those don’t take me very long and aren’t very hard. It would be helpful to read more supplemental material, especially on break and after I graduate.

I haven’t read any research papers in this field, but that sounds like something I should start thinking about doing, especially when I pursue a graduate program. It recommends reading some at least every once in a while.

It also recommends keeping a slim book to fill dead time throughout the day. I think this is a good idea, especially when something can be overwhelming. It’s like the old adage of how to eat an elephant — one bite at a time. Or in this case, one page at a time and whenever you have a moment.

This is something that I’ve been trying on my own in general as well. When I was younger, I was an incredibly avid reader, and I’ve slowly gotten out of the habit as I’ve gotten older. I would like to read more of everything. I think it is a mark of a well-rounded and intelligent person to be well read.

It was a new year’s resolution to read more. I have been trying read a few chapters everyday of something, which has mostly been non-technical so far. I’m going to to change that and start adding more material that will not just better me as a person but better me as a software engineer.

From the blog Sam Bryan by and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.