Notes to a new developer from a tech lead
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Joining a new software development team as a junior developer can be a daunting prospect. How do you become productive when there are so many unknowns and everyone is more experienced than you? In this short talk I’ll share some learnings I’ve picked up from working with a diverse range of junior developers over the past few years, with the aim of helping you to hit the ground running and become a valued and successful member of your new team.
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Notes to a new developer from a tech lead
- 1. 1 I M A G I N E B E Y O N D Notes to a new developer from a tech lead October 2018 @robinweston
- 2. 2 Who am I? http://tiny.cc/robinmanagerreadmeRobin Weston BCG Digital Ventures
- 3. 3 Joining a new development team is tough
- 5. 5 Be curious
- 11. 11 Relax!
- 12. 12 I M A G I N E B E Y O N D BCG Digital Ventures 30 Broadwick Street Soho, London, W1F 8JB +44 207 758 7500 / bcgdv.com Thank you
Editor's Notes
- I’m Robin. Digital Ventures. Ex-TW Why am I here: Edyta. She asked me. Super important to increase diversity of our industry Laura Manager readme
- Large codebase New technology Don’t know problem domain Don’t know people Don’t know how the company works (2x for TW) Massive imposter syndrome. Very stressful and can be quite harmful Want to get to that point where you feel you’re adding value Put together tips and behaviors that I’ve seen new developers use in my teams
- Fresh eyes Window of opportunity “Why do we do it like that?” Previous experience is almost certainly unique
- Everything will feel like magic, don’t let it stay that way ”I’d like to take an hour to investigate how X does Y” How does this code end up running in production? My wife pointed out what curiosity did to the cat – picture too good
- Builds on curiosity Makes life much easier for you and your team Team welcome pack ”How to” documentation/diagrams Facilitating meetings/retrospectives Or a simple “how can I help?” Lina - IT Tell your coach/manager what you want to learn “That piece of work that Karen is doing, could I pair with her on it”
- Scattergun – going to burn yourself out. Tempting to spend all spare time learning Work out how you learn best. Books, podcasts, blogs etc. Be brutal in use of your time Hypocritical me
- Good feedback loop so you know you’re moving forward We rarely stop to think about how far you’ve come Useful to share with your manager or coach
- Go through Evans Zine No such thing as a bad question Questions good for everyone else to answer Internal timer when stuck Write questions down and batch them up Share learnings (draw on wall)
- Always understand the why. Our job is not to write code You use software every day (you don’t use it for the sake of it) Who is the customer? How will this benefit them? How will I know if it worked? Code has a cost Think about how your code will run Almost certainly not going to be writing the same language in 10 years, but this skill will transfer Trait I see in people transferring from other industries. They’ve felt pain It’s this way of thinking that separates good developers from great
- Supply vs demand. I don’t know any out of work software engineers. Odds in your favor Careful of burnout First job isn’t great – you’ll get another one Time is on your side Progress at steady rate, not shoot up then plateau You’re here! Puts you in top 5%