5 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Programming Before I Started - RubyConf 2014

There's more to being a successful developer than simply being great at programming. The gotchas that slow us down or trip us up are often outside of the code we write, manifesting instead in our process or how we work with our peers. Whether you're new to programming or a veteran of many projects, these 5 things can improve your code, your career, and your team. If you're just starting out, you'll be glad to hear that you frustrations are not unique -- there are strategies for overcoming them. For experienced developers, this talk is a refresher course on what goes into the day-to-day, reminding us to have some empathy for individuals new to our community. Come (re)discover these 5 (sometimes surprising, always honest) truths, tips, and tactics for success.

Transcript

1. 5 THINGS I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME BEFORE I STARTED PROGRAMMING Monday, November 17, 14
2. 5 THINGS I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME BEFORE I STARTED PROGRAMMING Monday, November 17, 14
3. Monday, November 17, 14
4. Lead Software Development Engineer Monday, November 17, 14
5. ADA DEVELOPERS ACADEMY Monday, November 17, 14
6. Monday, November 17, 14
7. Monday, November 17, 14
8. Monday, November 17, 14
9. Monday, November 17, 14
10. Monday, November 17, 14
11. IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE HARD 1 Monday, November 17, 14
12. Monday, November 17, 14
13. Monday, November 17, 14
14. Monday, November 17, 14
15. “SOMETIMES IT WILL BE FRUSTRATING. IT'S OK TO BE FRUSTRATED. USE THAT AS TOOL TO GUIDE HOW YOU WRITE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION AND LEARN WHAT KINDS OF PROGRAMMING AND WRITING YOU DON'T LIKE.” -- Pete Higgins (@pete_higgins) Monday, November 17, 14
16. “SOMETIMES IT WILL BE FRUSTRATING. IT'S OK TO BE FRUSTRATED. USE THAT AS TOOL TO GUIDE HOW YOU WRITE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION AND LEARN WHAT KINDS OF PROGRAMMING AND WRITING YOU DON'T LIKE.” -- Pete Higgins (@pete_higgins) Monday, November 17, 14
17. Monday, November 17, 14
18. “IT'S EASY TO GET THE WRONG IDEA AND THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU'RE SPENDING MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THINGS THAT ARE HARD FOR YOU, YOU'RE NOT DOING A GOOD JOB. YOU HAVE TO SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THINGS THAT ARE HARD FOR YOU IN ORDER TO DO A GOOD JOB.” -- Andrew Gorcester (@marginoferror) Monday, November 17, 14
19. “IT'S EASY TO GET THE WRONG IDEA AND THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU'RE SPENDING MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THINGS THAT ARE HARD FOR YOU, YOU'RE NOT DOING A GOOD JOB. YOU HAVE TO SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THINGS THAT ARE HARD FOR YOU IN ORDER TO DO A GOOD JOB.” -- Andrew Gorcester (@marginoferror) Monday, November 17, 14
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21. Monday, November 17, 14
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23. “YOU'LL BE TOLD YOU'RE WRONG REPEATEDLY, BY THE COMPILER, BY YOUR FAILING TESTS, BY BUG REPORTS, AND THAT'S TOTALLY NORMAL AND OKAY.” -- Mary Ann Mierau (@mabmierau) Monday, November 17, 14
24. Monday, November 17, 14
25. HAVE FAITH Monday, November 17, 14
26. HAVE FAITH HAVE COURAGE Monday, November 17, 14
27. YOU DO YOU 2 Monday, November 17, 14
28. YOU DO YOU 2 Monday, November 17, 14
29. DEFAULT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT RUBYISTS "We all use vim" “We all do TDD" "We all enjoy whisky" "We all love Javascript" Monday, November 17, 14
30. Monday, November 17, 14
31. "ALWAYS WANTED TO GO BACK IN TIME TO TRY FIGHTING A YOUNGER VERSION OF YOURSELF? PROGRAMMING IS THE CAREER FOR YOU!" -- Elliot Loh (@loh) Monday, November 17, 14
32. “TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH, BOTH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK FROM TIME TO TIME, AND BE MINDFUL OF YOUR MENTAL STATE.” -- Elizabeth Naramore (@elizabethn) Monday, November 17, 14
33. I have a few hobbies... Monday, November 17, 14
34. Monday, November 17, 14
35. “YOU ARE MUCH MORE COMPETENT THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE. IF YOU WERE HIRED FOR THE JOB, YOU CAN DO IT! DON'T DOUBT YOURSELF.” -- Cordelia Dillon (@cordeliadillon) Monday, November 17, 14
36. Monday, November 17, 14
37. HATERS GONNA HATE Monday, November 17, 14
38. THERE’S NO MAGIC 3 Monday, November 17, 14
39. Monday, November 17, 14
40. “BEING GOOD AT PROGRAMMING DOESN'T LOOK LIKE BEING GOOD AT OTHER THINGS.” -- An Anonymous Ada Student Monday, November 17, 14
41. Monday, November 17, 14
42. math (and premise): http://abstrusegoose.com/474 1 + 1 = 2 Monday, November 17, 14
43. math (and premise): http://abstrusegoose.com/474 1 + 1 = 2 Monday, November 17, 14
44. https://www.codefellows.org/blog/this-is-why-learning-rails-is-hard Monday, November 17, 14
45. “YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEARN IT ALL AT ONCE.” -- @jc_socal Monday, November 17, 14
46. “IT’S ALL JUST CODE.” -- me, all the time Monday, November 17, 14
47. LEARN HOW TO LEARN 4 Monday, November 17, 14
48. “EDUCATION IS A PROCESS, NOT A DESTINATION.” -- Kevin Stevens (@kevdog) Monday, November 17, 14
49. Ruby Monday, November 17, 14
50. Ruby Monday, November 17, 14
51. Ruby Monday, November 17, 14
52. Ruby Monday, November 17, 14
53. Ruby Rails DevOps Monday, November 17, 14
54. R R D Software Engineering Monday, November 17, 14
55. R R D Software Engineering ? Monday, November 17, 14
56. “ALWAYS KEEP PUSHING YOURSELF AND LEARNING MORE. THE INDUSTRY MOVES FAST AND PART OF EVERY DAY SHOULD BE LEARNING SOMETHING NEW.” -- Greg Tarnoff (@gregtarnoff) Monday, November 17, 14
57. Monday, November 17, 14
58. Dear Princess Celestia: Letter About Equestria. Today I learned: I wrote "Hello, Equestria". Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Monday, November 17, 14
59. “EVERYBODY THINKS DEVELOPMENT IS HARD SOMETIMES. GOOGLE ANY PROBLEM YOU'RE HAVING AND YOU'LL FIND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO SWEAT, STRUGGLED, SOBBED AND SWORE OVER THE SAME THING!” -- Jaime Lyn Schatz (@edupunkn00b) Monday, November 17, 14
60. FIND YOUR COMMUNITY 5 Monday, November 17, 14
61. “IT'S ESSENTIAL TO FIND THAT DEV ON YOUR TEAM WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE THE TIME TO TEACH YOU THE ROPES.“ -- Mitchell Lee (@theevildev) Monday, November 17, 14
62. SHARE THE LEARNING • Teach a class • Volunteer at RailsBridge or GDI • Study Group • Book Club • Write a blog post • Give a lightning talk Monday, November 17, 14
63. “THE BEST THING I DID FOR MY PROGRAMMING CAREER WAS FOCUSING ON LEARNING BOUNDARIES AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS.” -- Sonia Connolly (@sonia_pdx) Monday, November 17, 14
64. “YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MAKING IT UP AS YOU GO ALONG AND THAT'S THE MOST ENJOYABLE PART ABOUT PROGRAMMING.” -- Eric Hodel (@drbrain) Monday, November 17, 14
65. GET STARTED 6 Monday, November 17, 14
66. “SOFTWARE IS NEVER ‘DONE’” -- Carol Nichols (@carols10cents) Monday, November 17, 14
67. CULT OF DONE MANIFESTO • Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done. • Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing • Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done. Monday, November 17, 14
68. “DON'T BE AFRAID OF TOPICS THAT SOUND DIFFICULT. SOME CONCEPTS IN CS ARE INHERENTLY HARD TO THINK ABOUT, BUT NOT AS MANY AS YOU MIGHT THINK.” -- Sam Livingston-Grey (@geeksam) Monday, November 17, 14
69. 5 THINGS I WISH I KNEW... It’s Supposed To Be Hard Monday, November 17, 14
70. 5 THINGS I WISH I KNEW... It’s Supposed To Be Hard You Do You Monday, November 17, 14
71. 5 THINGS I WISH I KNEW... It’s Supposed To Be Hard You Do You There’s No Magic Monday, November 17, 14
72. 5 THINGS I WISH I KNEW... It’s Supposed To Be Hard You Do You There’s No Magic Learn How To Learn Monday, November 17, 14
73. 5 THINGS I WISH I KNEW... It’s Supposed To Be Hard You Do You There’s No Magic Learn How To Learn Find Your Community Monday, November 17, 14
74. GET STARTED Monday, November 17, 14
75. CREDITS • @srbaker • @marginoferror • @gelicia • @moishel • @ssoroka • @pete_higgins • @_zph • @sonia_pdx • @edupunkn00b • @eassumption • @TheEvilDev • @carols10cents • @shadowspar • @pfctdayelise • @gregtarnoff • @ChrisAnnODell • @drbrain • @geeksam • @muness • @anthonyarnold_ • @CodeFancier • @c9952594 • @mrezaurrahman • @dead_lugosi • @spargonaut • @iosengineer • @ariellauthentic • @kevdog • @_redwire • @dawnmoyer3 • @pestophagous • @phad • @infixum • @mwop • @ElizabethN • @mark_menard • @lornajane • @JC_SoCal • @sammikes • @mabmierau • @needshortername • @scrumdilligent • @cordeliadillon • @ln1draw Monday, November 17, 14
76. KERRI MILLER (@KERRIZOR) • glass artist • Vespa mechanic • lighting designer • author & teacher • player of games • software developer Monday, November 17, 14