How to become a valuable software developer

My Session at Java2Days @ Sofia Bulgaria

Transcript

1. Ahmad Gohar
   IBM WTC
   

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2. Who am I !
   Solution Architect at IBM WTC
   IBM Certified Expert IT Specialist
   Opengroup Certified Master IT Specialist
   M.Sc. In IS
   MIBA
   OCEJPA, OCPWCD, OCP SQL/PL
   Java Duke Award Winner 2016
   @ansgohar
   

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3. 1: Be crystal clear about your end goal
   

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4. A crystal-clear goal looks something like
   ●
   “I want to work as a software
   developer at an established tech
   company.”
   ●
   “I want to work at a brand new
   startup, as a software engineer, in the
   industry I adore.”
   ●
   “I want to build things on a team,
   and get paid well for it.”
   

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5. 2: Choose a language to learn
   

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7. 3: Practice…and practice some more
   

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8. ●
   Some people say it takes 10,000 hours
   to become an expert.
   ●
   Now, you don’t need 10,000 hours of
   practice to get your first software
   developer job.
   ●
   But you do need to dedicate some
   serious time.
   

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9. 4: Use tools that real developers use
   

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10. ●
    Git and GitHub
    ●
    Working in your terminal
    ●
    Test-driven development
    ●
    Group projects/collaboration
    

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11. 5: Read other people's code
    

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12. 6: Find a community
    

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13. 7: Build projects
    

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14. 8: Cultivate your professional network
    

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15. ●
    Go to meetups
    ●
    Maintain a blog
    ●
    Volunteer
    ●
    Speak at event
    

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16. 9: Master your pre-interview essentials
    

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17. ●
    LinkedIn profile
    ●
    GitHub
    ●
    Twitter
    ●
    Personal/portfolio website
    ●
    Blogging
    

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18. 10: Ace your job interview
    

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19. 11: Accept the job offer
    

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20. All of this sounds like a lot of work,
    right?
    ●
    Short answer: yes.
    

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21. ●
    It’s not easy,
    ●
    And you can all but guarantee that
    you’ll get frustrated sometimes.
    ●
    But it is absolutely doable.
    

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22. ●
    The Top 6 Myths Holding You Back
    

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23. MYTH #1: I need to be a genius to
    become a developer
    

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24. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    Anyone can learn how to become a
    software developer
    

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25. MYTH #2: Learning to code is like
    learning brain surgery!
    

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26. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    Learning to code is easy, mastering it
    is hard.
    

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27. MYTH #3: I need a college degree to
    know how to become a software
    developer
    

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28. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    Programmers without degrees are
    more common than you think
    

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29. MYTH #4: I need serious math skills to
    learn how to become a software
    developer
    1
    

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30. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    Success as a programmer and math
    proficiency are not directly correlated
    

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31. MYTH #5: Knowing the ‘best’
    programming language will accelerate my
    journey to become a software developer.
    

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32. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    There is no ‘best’ language to learn.
    

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33. MYTH #6: It is too late for me to become
    a developer.
    

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34. ●
    REALITY:
    ●
    It’s never too late to change careers!
    

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35. ●
    The bottom line…
    ●
    You have always had what it takes to
    learn how to become a software
    developer
    

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