Monday, May 14, 2018

Ep 63, Where Does The User Fit In All This?


The user's place in the software development has changed a lot in the last ten years.  Way back when, the user was a faceless entity that we tended to avoid.  Today, thanks in no small part to the Agile movement, users and user representatives are often key stakeholders from the beginning of the SLDC.  In this episode, I dig into how I think the user fits into today's software development process.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Bonus Ep 3, Reputation: A Cautionary Tale


Reputation.  As programmers, we tend to hang most of our reputation on our coding abilities, if we even think about our reputations at all.  As very technical people, sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that reputation is for managers and other political game players.  The truth is, however, that reputation is highly important, and ignoring that can have horrible consequences.  In this episode, I give a cautionary tale of a programmer who didn't heed that lesson.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Monday, May 7, 2018

Ep 62, Gatekeeping and Shadow IT


Gatekeepers, those IT professionals who become so possessive of their systems that they become more of a hindrance than anything else.  In this episode, I talk about gatekeepers in the context of software development and how they lead to shadow IT efforts.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Ep 61, The Art of Self Management


The ability to self-manage is one of those things that separates an average programmer from a senior developer, in my opinion.  In this episode, I talk about the importance of being able to manage your own time and work and strategies for doing so.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Monday, April 16, 2018

Ep 60, People Skills vs Developer Skills


Software development is only partially a technical skill.  As your career progresses, your people skills become as important.  This is true even if you're never put into a leadership role of any kind.  In this episode, I cover three tools I've used to help with my people skills game:  Non-confrontational language, tactical empathy, and open-ended statements.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Monday, April 9, 2018

Ep 59, How I Moved Past Writing Code Professionally


Last week I talked about how I realized I no longer want to write code professionally.  In this week's episode, I go into how I arrived at this point in my career and how tech turnover pushed me into thinking beyond just implementation.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!

Monday, April 2, 2018

Ep 58, I Don't Want To Write Code Anymore


The other day while sitting at my desk, I had a sudden realization:  I don't want to write code professionally anymore.  I still enjoy it as an intellectual challenge, but professionally I'm in a different place.  In this episode, I dig into the topic and go over some honest truths I've realized recently.


A new episode of A Programmer Refactored has been posted!