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241. How To Be a Better Software Developer · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Being a successful software developer means you need to be continually learning and growing.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do you do that well without burning out or going down the wrong path?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: If you aren't already asking that question, you should be.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode of Dev Questions, we are going to talk through the ways to move forward well as a developer rather than wandering aimlessly, hoping you're going in the right direction.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Software development is more than just writing code.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about the rest of it.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically, let's talk about how to improve as a software developer.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Back in episode 236, we talked about what your next step in your career might be.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: This episode is going to focus on becoming a better software developer, which is a third of the four options we talked about.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you have been following along over the last few weeks, you've probably picked up on a theme.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: You need a clear picture of where you want to go and how you're going to get there in order to accomplish your goals.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Becoming a better software developer is no different.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk through the steps you should take to accomplish this goal.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I want you to evaluate your weak areas.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: This takes dropping the ego.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: This takes being honest with yourself in a way that an employer would be or boss would be sometimes, but where you stop and actually look at where am I strong and where am I really weak?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So evaluate your weak areas.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: You want to have an honest look at here's the list of the things that I'm not the best at.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number two, prioritize that list based upon need and value.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So when you're looking at that list, you want to think through, hey, what could be the most bang for my buck?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm weak in these five areas.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And one of those I do a lot.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just say you're weak in debugging.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're you really struggle with debugging well, you get stuck a lot.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have to debug all the time if you're a software developer.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that's probably a high priority.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you say, hey, I need to do that a lot, therefore I'm gonna prioritize that higher.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Or it gives better value to me as a developer, to myself, to the organization, to my boss, to choose this one.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So number one, evaluate your weak areas.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, prioritize that list based upon need and value.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, schedule time to grow.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So growth doesn't happen just because.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Growth doesn't happen well accidentally.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it can happen.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you can grow over time just by existing as a software developer.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: But the reality is you want to be intentional about it, which means you need to schedule time.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Put it on the calendar.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Don't just say twice a week, say Mondays at 4 p.m.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: and Thursdays at noon.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Those are my days.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to schedule time to grow for one hour each day.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you focus on that particular area.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: You can even do this in your current job, even if your job's like, no, we don't have time to study.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: You can take some time, whether it be over your lunch break or even your 15-minute break or something where you do a little bit of studying and then you practice in your real job.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Where if it's debugging, you're practicing one technique to get better.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: But you take time, you schedule time to grow.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then number four, involve your boss in the process at this point.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: So you've evaluated your weak areas, you've prioritize the list based upon need and value, you've scheduled time to grow, you've done some proactive things.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's time to bring your boss into the process.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is because you can put this in front of your boss and say, hey, these are my weak areas, and here's how I prioritize fixing them.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do you agree and have that conversation?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you'll find out your boss says, actually, you missed a big weak area and it's this.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, I didn't think that's a weak area.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: We can have a conversation about that.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or your boss can say, Hey, you know what?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Let's add a little more time for you to grow.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Or let's adjust these things.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: But involve your boss in the process.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: When you go to your boss and say, I'm looking to be a better employee, and here's how.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's a huge green flag.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's a huge thing for your boss to say, oh, this employee is trying to be a better employee, not just putting their nose down and just working and hoping things change.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good thing.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: So involve your boss in the process.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Number five, actually train on a topic.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Pick that weakest area, figure out some good training for it, and train.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then part of that number six is practice that topic.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: So train on it, practice on it.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: That way you're starting to learn how to do it.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then number seven, apply that topic to real world projects if possible.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if you're learning debugging, you know, watch some training on it and then practice that in a few projects, and then start doing it in the real world and see how it works.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Try to get better at it.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of these things should be real world focused, things that are, you know, weak areas that you have to work in at work, where if you get better at them, then it's gonna show in your work.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna be better as an employee.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number eight, build a rhythm to your growth.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: So what I mean by that is this should start to become, yeah, first it's gonna be a hard process of, oh, I've got to gotta train.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I've got to figure out how to practice, oh, I've gotta figure out how to apply.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's a little bumpy, right?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: But over time, you should round out those bumpy spots where you're starting to learn, oh, here's how I practice, here's how I evaluate I'm learning.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then here's how I apply these things into my real job.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you start to get better and better at it.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so you've got this rhythm down where you're like, okay, Mondays, I learned something new.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I practice on practice projects.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And Friday, I actually try to apply that in something at my job.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you get this rhythm going of this is what I do.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it becomes part of who you are as an employee of this is what I do all the time.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's gonna take at some point going back to the beginning and saying, I've gone through my top five weakest areas and improved them.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's reevaluate what are my top five weakest areas now?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And let's improve those and keep going back and doing it over and over again.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, number nine, celebrate your progress and your success.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So celebrate that you've made progress and kind of say, hey, you know, I practice these, this thing over and over again this week.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've made some progress on learning how to debug better.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then celebrate your your wins of, hey, I applied something I learned on Monday to a project in our production code.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: I did something better because of what I've learned.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Celebrate those things.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then number 10, and this is a scary one sometimes, but share what you're learning with the world.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you may say, well, Tim, I don't want to be a blogger.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be a YouTuber.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to, you know, blog it.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Put it in a blog, write it down, share it with the world.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is not because you want to be a celebrity, not that bloggers are, not that YouTubers are, but the reason why you want to do it is first because it's going to help you when you try to put it on paper, when you try to write down and document how this works, it's going to help you really solidify your understanding of a topic.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to help make you better, but it's going to ask, you're going to ask questions, say, I don't know how the answer to that.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you're going to find out the answer before you put it down on the on the blog.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: But once you create that blog, it's also going to help others because other people are in the same spot you are and need the same information that you've now learned.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's going to help you become better.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's also going to help somebody else.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: Even it's one person.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's one more than you would have helped otherwise.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: But do this even just primarily for the fact that it's going to help you.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Continual growth doesn't have to be hard.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: You just need to make it a part of your normal operation.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: In doing so, you'll become increasingly valuable to your employer and you should see positive recognition at work as well.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to hear how you make out following this plan.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: So let me know down in the comments if you're watching this on YouTube.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: If you're listening to the podcast, well, go to YouTube and put in the comments there or email in.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Let me know.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I am Tim Corey.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to IamTimCorey.com and enroll in a course.