The document provides advice for senior developers to share with junior developers. It emphasizes that the job is about critical thinking and problem solving rather than just writing code. Software development requires teamwork and effective communication. Developers will inevitably make mistakes, so it's important to have processes and tools to catch and address errors. Estimating timelines accurately requires understanding the difference between predictions, targets, and commitments. Developers should continue learning new skills and technologies throughout their career rather than focusing on a single platform. The real world is more complex than may be assumed, so developers need a willingness to tackle difficult problems and the confidence to eventually solve them.

1. Things senior
developers should know
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2. What should junior developers
learn?

3. The job is not to
write code

4. What is the job of a bus driver?
(Yes, this is a trick question)

5. Our job is to write code to amplify
business value

6. Functional requirements
Non-functional requirements
Security of investment

7. We are building a business asset

8. You’re paid to think

9. It’s not about being a code
monkey churning out working
code

10. It’s about critical thinking,
prioritization and strategy

11. Often the first step is discover the
real problem

12. Strong opinions, weakly held

13. Software
development is a
team sport

14. Interesting problems are too big to
tackle solo

15. Diversity of viewpoint is essential
for success

16. Not everyone on the team will be
technical

17. Effective communication is
therefore an essential skill

18. You can’t specialize in everything

19. What should junior developers
learn?

20. You don’t live in a box

21. No matter how
careful you are,
you will make
mistakes

22. Coding conventions help us avoid
common mistakes

23. Code reviews help us find mistakes

24. Static code analysis tools detect
potential mistakes

25. Source code control helps us
recover from mistakes

26. Automated testing prevents
mistakes

27. Continuous Integration alerts us to
mistakes early

28. Continuous Deployment helps us
fix mistakes quickly

29. The impossible
happens

30. One in a million events happen
every Tuesday

31. Leave a good looking corpse

32. You have to cater for change

33. How to answer
“How long?”

34. The difference between a
prediction, a target, and a
commitment

35. A prediction is based on
everything you already know

36. A target is when you’d like to finish

37. A commitment is what other
people use in their plans

38. If your target is later than your
prediction, you’re conservative

39. If your target is later than your
prediction, you’re conservative
Prediction
Target

40. If your commitment is later than
your target, you have room to
move

41. If your commitment is later than
your target, you have room to
move
Commit
Target

42. If your target is earlier than your
prediction, you’re optimistic

43. If your target is earlier than your
prediction, you’re optimistic
Prediction
Target

44. If your commitment is earlier than
your target, you’re planning to fail

45. If your commitment is earlier than
your target, you’re planning to fail
Commit
Target

46. If you miss your commitment, other
people will fail to meet their
targets

47. If you miss your commitment, other
people will fail to meet their
targets
Commit
Target

48. The importance of
syntax, semantics,
and idiom

49. Syntax is the way statements are
constructed

50. Correct syntax means your code
will run

51. Semantics give the meaning of the
language

52. Correct semantics mean your code
will do what you expect

53. Idiom is about writing code in an
expected way

54. Correct idiom means another
developer will understand

55. Code is written for people, not for
machines

56. You are not a
platform choice

57. You are a developer

58. Know Ruby? Learn some Rust
Know Java? Learn some Python
Know C#? Learn some Ruby

59. Know Visual Basic? Learn some F#
Know JavaScript? Learn some C

60. The more technology you
experience, the better you become

61. Career
development is
your responsibility

62. Read a book for career growth
every month

63. Learn a new language every year

64. If you’re not embarrassed by code
you wrote six months ago, you’re
not growing

65. The real world is
more complex than
you think

66. Time is such a simple thing

67. Years can have 366 days
Minutes can have 61 seconds
Days can have 26 hours
Some times happen twice or don’t happen
at all
Not all time zones are whole hours
Not all seconds are 1000ms long

68. Names are such simple things

69. A person has exactly one name
People have first names and last names
Names don’t change
Names are case insensitive
Prefixes and Suffixes can be ignored
Families share a common name
Names are assigned at birth

70. Characters are such simple things

71. “/𐐞𐐞”.EndsWith(“/”) == true
char.IsLetterOrDigit(“𐐞”) == true
char.IsLetter(“𐐞”) == true

72. Addresses are such simple things

73. I think you get the point.

74. In Closing

75. The job is not to write code
You’re paid to think
Software development is a team sport
No matter how careful you are, you will make
mistakes
The impossible happens
How to answer “How long?”
The importance of syntax, semantics, and idiom
You are not a platform choice
Career development is your responsibility
The real world is more complex than you think

76. To be a great developer
you need two things:
Willingness to feel totally
lost;
Confidence that you will
eventually reach the
solution

77. @hanokhaloni
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