Book description
This unique book provides you with a wealth of tips, tricks, best practices, and answers to the day-to-day questions that programmers face in their careers. It is split into three parts: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, providing the knowledge you need to get ahead in programming.
About This Book
- Over 50 essays with practical advice on improving your programming career
- Practical focus gives solutions to common problems, and methods to become a better coder
- Includes advice for existing programmers and those wanting to begin a career in programming
Who This Book Is For
This book is useful for programmers of any ability or discipline. It has advice for those thinking about beginning a career in programming, those already working as a fully employed programmer, and for those working as freelance developers.
What You Will Learn
- Improve your soft skills to become a better and happier coder
- Learn to be a better developer
- Grow your freelance development business
- Improve your development career
- Learn the best approaches to breaking down complex topics
- Have the confidence to charge what you're worth as a freelancer
- Succeed in developer job interviews
In Detail
This is an all-purpose toolkit for your programming career. It has been built by Jordan Hudgens over a lifetime of coding and teaching coding. It helps you identify the key questions and stumbling blocks that programmers encounter, and gives you the answers to them! It is a comprehensive guide containing more than 50 insights that you can use to improve your work, and to give advice in your career.
The book is split up into three topic areas: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, each containing a wealth of practical advice. Coder Skills contains advice for people starting out, or those who are already working in a programming role but want to improve their skills. It includes such subjects as: how to study and understand complex topics, and getting past skill plateaus when learning new languages. Freelancer Skills contains advice for developers working as freelancers or with freelancers. It includes such subjects as: knowing when to fire a client, and tips for taking over legacy applications. Career Skills contains advice for building a successful career as a developer. It includes such subjects as: how to improve your programming techniques, and interview guides and developer salary negotiation strategies.
Style and approach
This unique book provides over 50 insightful essays full of practical advice for improving your programming career. The book is split into three broad sections covering different aspects of a developer's career. Each essay is self-contained and can be read individually, or in chunks.
Table of contents
-
Skill Up: A Software Developer's Guide to Life and Career
- Table of Contents
- Skill Up: A Software Developer's Guide to Life and Career
- Credits
- About the Author
- www.PacktPub.com
- Customer Feedback
- Preface
-
I. Coder Skills
- 1. Discovering the Tipping Point for Developers
- 2. Are Developers Born or Made? – Debunking the Myth of Prodigies
- 3. Do You Have to Be a Genius to Be a Developer?
- 4. How to Study and Understand Complex Topics?
- 5. Effective Study Practices for Developers
- 6. Defining Deep Work and What It Means for Developers
- 7. Task Switching Costs for Developers
- 8. How to Use Willpower Limits Instead of Letting Them Use You?
- 9. Cramming Versus Consistent Study and a Study System that Works
- 10. Is Reading Important for Developers?
- 11. Learning How to Code – Getting Past Skill Plateaus
- 12. Developer Learning Curve – Why Learning How to Code Takes So Long
- 13. Slowing Down to Learn How to Code Faster
- 14. Mental Models for Learning How to Code and Improve as a Developer
- 15. A Developer's Guide for Hacking Procrastination to Achieve Success
- 16. The Problem with Procrastination for Developers
- 17. Practical Ways to Use the Pomodoro Technique as a Developer
- 18. The Power of Making Mistakes – Learning by Failing
- 19. Learn How to Code – The Guide to Memorization
- 20. A System for Learning a New Programming Language
- 21. Development Study Tips – Reverse Note-Taking
-
II. Freelancer Skills
- 22. Tips for Organically Growing a Freelance Business
- 23. Freelancing Tips – Knowing When to Fire a Client
- 24. Dodging Silver Bullets for Scalable Freelance Projects
- 25. A Freelance Guide to Managing Advanced Features
- 26. Freelancer Interviews – Practical Tips for Taking Over a Legacy Application
- 27. Five Tips for Taking Over a Legacy Application
- 28. Guide to Freelancing – Starting Over Versus Refactoring
- 29. Should You Use TDD on Freelance Projects? – Comparing Quality Versus Speed
- 30. Automating Client Updates as a Freelance Developer
- 31. Freelance Requirement Elicitation – A Guide for Feature Development
- 32. How to Remotely Demo Work for Freelance Clients?
- 33. Defining Project Success as a Freelance Developer
- 34. Top Project Management Tools for Freelancers
- 35. Top Freelance Bookkeeping Options for Developers
- 36. Learning the Secret to Get New Clients as a Freelancer
- 37. Managing Client Conflicts as a Freelancer
- 38. Examples of Freelance Portfolios That Help Acquire New Clients
- 39. Importance of Test-Driven Development for Coders
- 40. SEO Best Practices and Strategies for Freelancers
- 41. Client Communication Freelancing Tips
- 42. Outsource Web Developers Properly with System-Based Processes
- 43. How to Create Accurate Freelance Bids?
- 44. Freelancer Tips – Three Ways to Get New Clients
-
III. Career Skills
- 45. Should I Learn to Code? – A Balanced Perspective on Programming
- 46. Following Your Passion – Good or Bad Advice for Developers?
- 47. How to Learn to Code from Scratch? – A Practical Strategy
- 48. How to Choose a Developer Specialty?
- 49. How to Choose Your Next Programming Language?
- 50. Developer Soft Skills – Learning How to Gain an Edge in the Marketplace
- 51. Developer Learning Options – A Practical Analysis
- 52. Is it Possible to Lose Your Coding Skills?
- 53. Is Writing Bad Code Immoral for Developers?
- 54. Inspirational Programming Advice from Howard Roark
- 55. Best Practices Versus Creativity as a Developer
- 56. A Practical Guide to Approaching Project Development
- 57. How to Practice Programming Techniques and Improve as a Developer?
- 58. What Does It Take to Become a Great Developer?
- 59. How to Stay Sharp as a Developer?
- 60. Developer Resume Tips – How to Create an Effective Resume?
- 61. Developer Salary Negotiation Strategies
- 62. Best Questions to Ask During a Job Interview
- 63. Answering in an Impossible Interview
- 64. Greatest Weakness Answers for Coding Interviews
- 65. Enterprise Software Job Strategy and Guide
- Index
Product information
- Title: Skill Up: A Software Developer's Guide to Life and Career
- Author(s):
- Release date: July 2017
- Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
- ISBN: 9781787287037
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