developer

Hi people

As a developer, be it a beginner or an experienced developer, reading books or articles, especially tech-related ones is necessary for growth. I read this book (better dev 2021) and it has been a very good one because it is worth every second I spent reading it. for some, it might much while it just a normal read for some but as for me it was much cause reading ain't my thing, sincerely I learnt a lot from the book after reading it. it was like putting years of people's experience down into a book.

The book has helped me grow mentally and technically as a new developer, so I surely do recommend it to other developers who have not read it because there is a lot to gain from it, even someone in a different work field can actually gain one or two things from it.

The book is a collection of helpful developer guides from the hashnode community, so this article is about summary of the ebook and what I learned from it.

summary of the book

The book is in six parts

Developer essentials
Learning hacks and productivity
Contributing to open source
Technical writing
Landing a job
Resources and tools to use

Developer Essentials:- essential advice and tips for those who are getting into tech (web development)

5 pieces of advice for a new developer

Code and build stuff: write codes and build something, not necessarily for other users, you can build something fr your personal use, it will help improve your coding skills and can be an addition to your portfolio
Focus on what has your best interest: Tech is wide and there is much to learn, so instead of trying to learn almost everything you come across, just focus on what you enjoy doing and be good at it.
Invest in yourself: Try to spend on yourself, don't be cheap, buy courses and improve in any area know you're lacking or want to get better at.
Create your own content: Don't follow the crowd, build new stuff, be unique and make your own creations, just try to build what stands out from others.
Invest in the community: Contribute to the community by teaching, sharing ideas and resources, it can improve your skills and will surely help others one way or the other.

5 things a developer should have

An editor (VS Code )
a blog (hashnode)
version control (Github)
browser extension (daily dev)
task management (Trello)

Becoming a developer

Freecodecamp is a good place to start, they have learner-friendly curriculums that help a learner learn web development, backend & APIs, front end and many more, what makes it more exciting is that it's free and accessible by anyone with a laptop or a smartphone.

Build real projects: As you learn, use the newly acquired skill to build real projects on your own without following someone's steps or copying an existing code built by someone written by someone else, with time you get better and master the skill by doing this.

Tools needed to get started: You don't necessarily need to have a high-resolution computer to start, a normal modern computer will do, an internet connection and an editor also, with these you are good to go.

Be prepared for ups and downs: In life, failure is something we encounter as humans, the same thing applies to developers, but when you fail at something, don't sulk, accept it, learn from it and be better at it.

The Imposter syndrome: having the imposter syndrome as a developer is a norm, just don't let it beat you down, understand what is making feel that way and fix it.

DRY Principle: don't repeat yourself, writing two different sets of codes that does the same function is a bad practice and it might complicate your output, also it makes your cod unclean.

Clean code: what is a clean code? A clean code is a readable and understandable code.

The essence of a clean code: it is readable and maintainable by other developers

Attributes of a clean code: clean code reads like a good novel,

Clean code is simple,

Clean code is tested,

Clean code is focused,

Clean code does not repeat itself,

Clean code does not speak about the solution but the problem,

Clean code pays close attention to details,

Clean code does not smell,

Learning hacks and productivity

How to stay up to date as a developer:

Subscribe to newsletters (e.g Freecodecamp, pointer, bytes e.t.c)
Blogs: read blogs and follow good and consistent bloggers that write articles relating to your domain.
Social media platforms: be active on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, then follow people with similar interests with you.

Essential tips for every developer:

. Focus on one thing at a time

.just start, you will figure everything out automatically

.Build, build and build again

. Always seek help when needed

. Plan your work ahead

. Take your time and write tests

. Learn to read documentations

. Connect with more people

. Teach others what you know

. seek for mentorship or mentor someone if you can

. Read more books

. Don't quit

. Be able to balance between theory and practical

. Be consistent

. Celebrate every wins, be it little or big

. Don't be scared to show off your work

. Take care of your mental and physical health

. Take breaks

. Sleep is important

. At the end of it all, there is family

How to ask effective questions:

We keep on learning, relearning and unlearning every day, so finding solutions is key. If you need to ask a question, follow the read, search and ask method Before asking you first read and understand the problem, it's possible you find your solution while reading but if you do not you can then proceed to search for the solution online if you are still unable to get your solution you can then ask someone who would have the solution to your problem.

This is important so as to save the person you want to ask unnecessary stress, as we all know developers are mostly busy

Contributing to open source

Contributing to open source is a great way to improve as a developer.

What is open source? Open source refers to software, projects or community where people can modify and share ideas because they are designed to be publicly accessible e.g android by Google, Firefox browser, VLC media players

Benefits of contributing to open source:

You can benefit a lot from the open source even if you work for free on it, it will help you gain more experience as a developer, it helps improve your portfolio and skill, it helps you get better at working with people and also it expands your network

How to start contributing to open source:

contributing to OSS? Here’s how:

Let’s talk about Github

Github is the house of collaboration for OSS projects so it’s a great place

to start contributing to open source, but this shouldn’t scare you as if

you don’t know how to use it, it is learnable (documentation and guides)

noting that learning is a gradual process.

Github houses many open source projects in form of public repositories.

So you see a project, you either submit an issue suggesting ways to fix

the errors or problems you have noticed with the project (ideas) or create

a pull request with your corrections and improvements.

It’s going to be quite frustrating if I advise you to use the explore area

on Github to search for projects cause you would see a lot in your face, although you can streamline your search by language. To be more specific, here are some ways you can start: • First-timers only: A great resource site to find beginner-friendly open-source projects, to begin with. Designers I got you covered! You can check out Open Source Design for beginner-friendly design projects too • You can create your own open-source project bringing your wonderful ideas to life and allowing others to collaborate and contribute. You can check here for a guide on how to start an open-source project. • Joining a community: You can be part of a community as a way of promoting the open-source way. With a google search on local open-source communities and be actively part of them. Finally, here are some useful tips when contributing to an open-source project: • Do some research on the project, community, or organization before joining, and when you do, ask questions where not clear. • When you join the community, try to be active by introducing yourself and stating areas where you can help the project • Don’t think you can’t offer anything to the project, kill that thought. You’ve got wonderful ideas to share. • Scout for issues on the repository(if any) to see where you can help, issues having labels like the good first issue, help-wanted, first-timers only is a great place to start. • Before starting to contribute, be sure to go through the contributing guidelines so you won’t have conflicts contributing. Just using an open-source tool is contributing, attending an opensource event is contributing, as well as volunteering or donating to one. I’d end with Open-Source Africa Festival Slogan: THE FUTURE IS OPEN, so join the train.

Technical writing

As a writer, if you want to be taken seriously, you have to be consistent, actually, it applies to every work field.

As a writer you should be able to :

Share valuable things with your blog posts & also build an audience

Staying consistent as a writer can be hard but making it a habit to write can make it easier for you. As a developer too, writing articles or blogging is a good practice because It can help you grow while sharing your knowledge with others.

Landing a job

5 things to fix in your portfolio:

The colour theme and layout
Broken elements & design
Do away with popular projects
Add a downloadable pdf resume
Include what makes you unique

How to interview properly: The first thing to do is properly be prepared before the interview, be calm and comfortable Have the mindset of you talking to someone that has your best interest at heart, be interactive and understand the conversation and be neutral, and also prepare for the worse.

These are most of the things I learned from reading the book Thank you for reading ☺️ And if you would like to read the book yourself, here it is, drive.google.com/file/d/1vwFaFf0OjTGpoLCaB1..

Review Of The First Tech Book I Read (better dev 2021)