A Jr. Developer’s Guide to Software Engineering

New developers often ask, “How much Python do I need to know to get a job?”. They overlook the other skills needed to be a successful software engineer. This talk highlights the other skill and tools needed, which can be used from the start of your coding journey.

Transcript

1. Kojo Idrissa @Transition A Jr. Developer’s Guide to Software Engineering October 2018 • Now: Jr. Developer, Pythonista/Djangonaut • Then: Accountant & uni instructor w/ an MBA 1
2. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Who Else Am I? • DjangoCon US Organizer • DEFNA North American Ambassador • @DEFNADO for more info 2
3. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Coding? Why? How? 3
4. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Programming • Individuals • Author • Less robust 4 Software Engineering • Teams • Others • More robust Two Styles of Coding
5. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Interjection(!): “Real” coders • If your code runs & does what you want it to do, you’re a “real” coder. • Choose your style 5
6. Kojo Idrissa @Transition The Issue • Career changers seek internships or "Jr. Developer" jobs • Jr. Developer == ??? • “When am I ready?” 6
7. Kojo Idrissa @Transition The Issue MOAR Programming! 7
8. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Secondary Issue How do you mentor a new developer? 8
9. Kojo Idrissa @Transition 9 What I’ll Talk About • Version Control • Documentation • Testing • Dependency Management/Deployment • Development Environment
10. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Version Control: Why? • Protect yourself from mistakes • Enable yourself to try new things • Learn to work on a team 10
11. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Version Control: When? • More code than you want to retype • Working code you're scared to break 11
12. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Version Control: How? • Solo usage • Basic feature branch/merge workflow • Git != Github • Ask me about a practical example 12
13. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Version Control: How? • Reference • Pro Git Chapters 1-3 • Free! 13
14. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Documentation • Refine your thinking • Help your future self • Help your teammates help you 14
15. Kojo Idrissa @Transition (!) Self-Documenting Code • Kinda, not really • Naming is hard • Start to think about it now 15
16. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Documentation: When? • Writing code using a new technique • Writing functions, especially if they call other functions 16
17. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Documentation: How • Docstrings for functions (minimums) • What the function does • What’s the input? (include data type) • What’s the output? (include data type) 17
18. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Testing & TDD So. Many. Reasons. 18
19. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Why Testing: The Big Picture • Tests ->Automated tests • Automated Tests ->CI • CI -> CD (Continuous Delivery) • CD -> CD (Continuous Deployment) 19
20. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Why should YOU write tests? • Protection from future changes breaking things • Assurance past fixes still work 20
21. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Testing: When? • As soon as possible • Art + Science: experience helps 21
22. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Testing: How? • doctest & unittest: builtin • pytest: pip install pytest 22
23. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Dependency Mgmt & Deployment • Virtual Env(ironments) • Containers • Virtual Machines (VMs) 23
24. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Other • Development Environment • A shell language • Terminal multiplexer 24
25. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Finding New Developers To: • Engineering Managers • Dev Leads • Others trying to hire developers… 25
26. Kojo Idrissa @Transition Questions/Comments? • @Transition on Twitter • kojoidrissa.com • https://github.com/kojoidrissa/pygotham_2018 26