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Oftentimes, the whole reason we became programmers in the first place is because we wanted to move beyond being a mere player and change the game, control it, modify its parameters, maybe even create our own games.
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Jeff Atwood |
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7. Beware of comparison shopping
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Jeff Atwood |
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That's not to say that all software project management books are crap. Just most of them. One of the few that I've found compelling enough to finish is Johanna Rothman's "Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management." She co-wrote it with Esther Derby."
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Jeff Atwood |
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8. Follow the herd instead of your head
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Jeff Atwood |
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most developers don't test at all! They key in a few values at random and click a few buttons. If they don't get any unhandled exceptions, that code is ready for QA!
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Jeff Atwood |
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The toughest thing in life is not learning a bunch of potentially hypothetically useful stuff, but figuring out what the heck it is you want to do.
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Jeff Atwood |
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the ultimate unit test is whether or not users want to use your application. All the other tests you write are totally irrelevant until you can get that one to pass.
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Jeff Atwood |
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Writing code? That's the easy part. Getting your application in the hands of users, and creating applications that people actually want to use--now that's the hard stuff.
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Jeff Atwood |
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Good thing you're tagging all those "Low Priority" tasks. God forbid you'd ever lose track of shit that's not worth doing."
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Jeff Atwood |
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The proper monitoring attitude is not to be distrustful, but instead, to show interest in their work.
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Jeff Atwood |
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Let's say I was tasked with determining whether your software project will fail. With the responses to these three questions in hand, I can tell you with almost utter certainty whether your project will fail: How many lines of code will your team write? What kind of software are you building? Do you like your coworkers? That last question isn't a joke. I'm not kidding. Do you like the company of your teammates on a personal level? Do you re..
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Jeff Atwood |
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Reading self-help advice from other people, however well-intentioned, is no substitute for getting your own damn work done. The
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Jeff Atwood |
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If you do not trust your people, you will not get their whole-hearted effort and you will not capitalize on the enormous creative potential of cohesive and motivated teamwork. It
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Jeff Atwood |
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even Mozart, who was a musical prodigy at age four, took 13 more years before he began to produce world-class music. The
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Jeff Atwood |
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Obviously we want to succeed. But on some level, success is irrelevant, because the process is inherently satisfying. Waking
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Jeff Atwood |
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5. Pay now and consume later
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Jeff Atwood |
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But everyone should try writing a little code, because it somehow sharpens the mind, right?
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Jeff Atwood |
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6. Think about what you're not thinking about
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Jeff Atwood |
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Being an expert isn't telling other people what you know. It's understanding what questions to ask, and flexibly applying your knowledge to the specific situation at hand. Being an expert means providing sensible, highly contextual direction.
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Jeff Atwood |
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e1589e7
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If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
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Jeff Atwood |
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I'm constantly running across comments from developers who don't seem to understand that the code already tells us how it works; we need the comments to tell us why it works. Code comments
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Jeff Atwood |