Keeping your skills sharp in an ever changing industry

Given at the first NIdevConf 2017 on the 10th June.

Our industry evolves at breakneck speed. Being a developer is rewarding but keeping up with the latest technologies, techniques and tools is a constant struggle.

I share my experience of Continuous Learning, and failing to learn!, over the last seventeen years, discussing what I have done wrong, and what I have done right.

Transcript

1. Keeping your skills sharp in an ever changing industry Stephen McCullough
2. Who am I? • Stephen McCullough • Lead Engineer @ ShopKeep • @swmcc on most interwebs • Co-organiser of: • Belfast Ruby • pyBelfast • Belfast Elixir • I will *try* and behave
3. Disclaimer on the talk!!
4. “Sharpen” v “Hone” • I picked the title carefully believe it or not… • Why? • Honing - You “hone” a knife that’s already sharp to make it sharper. • Sharpen - You “sharpen” a knife that’s dull or partially dull.
5. -Stephen McCullough - Linkedin Intro “I have over seventeen years experience in web to database integration and transaction based web application development. I am an innovative self-starter, motivated by new challenges and an accomplished team leader with a professional and dynamic approach to the industry.”
6. Really?? Over seventeen years of experience?? • No! • Not even close! - Ten years at most! • Spent many years doing the same thing over and over again. • Dulling/blunting my skills overtime. • Not everyday is a school day. • Not growing as a developer.
7. 10th January 2000 • 17 years, 5 months and 1 day have passed since the 10th of January, 2000. • Music #1 - I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun - Westlife • Movie #1 - Stuart Little • Bill Clinton was US President • Tony Blair was UK Prime minister • I had *hair* and a *waist* • I started work at BlackStar.co.uk
8. Timeline of the jobs I have had • 2000 • BlackStar (programmer) • 2001-2002 • Bytel (programmer/sys admin) • 2002 - 2007 • BlackStar (programmer)
9. Timeline of the jobs I have had (part 2) • 2007 - 2008 • Maildistiller (programmer) • 2009 • RehabStudio (programmer) • 2009 - 2012 • Tascomi (programmer)
10. Timeline of the jobs I have had (part 3) • 2012 - 2013 • RepKnight (programmer) • 2013 - 2015 • MissionIQ (programmer) • 2015 - current • ShopKeep (programmer)
11. My Career Map • 2000 - 2004 • Learning my craft (programming) • 2004 - 2008 • Staying afloat • 2009 • A bit of learning • 2009 - 2012 • Stayling afloat • 2012+ • Sharpening and now learning
12. Learning your craft • Easy to learn at the start of a job/career • Everything is new • Through mistakes • Through mentorship • Honeymoon period • Wanting to prove yourself
13. Staying afloat • Nothing is new anymore • You can do your job/tasks at break neck speed • Mentorship is no longer required • Mistakes are rare • Easily rectified and known • No longer feel the need to prove yourself
14. A bit of learning • Event Driven Learning (EDL) • Not a nice situation to be in • Highly stressed • Not enjoyable • Means to an end • No endorphins to be found here • Diservice to your current company/colleagues
15. Sharpening now learning • A ‘watershed’ moment • Thursday night in early 2012 • Past colleagues started talking about their jobs • Words I never head of before • node / backbone / redis • A ‘watershed’ moment turned into a ‘oh moment’
16. How to sharpen? • Where did I start? • Basically read everything • Podcasts • Youtube videos • Code katas • Github/Gitlab stalking • Local community meetups
17. Consume content • Most of it is free and there is so much out there. • Blogs • Podcasts • Talks • Slack Channels • IRC rooms
18. Geek Crushes • Having a geek crush is an excellent way of learning. • Katrina Owen (github) • Paddy Carrey
19. Geek Crushes (cont’d) • Steve Rushe • ?????
20. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? • Code Katas • Sound awful but are actually very helpful • My kata of choice is the ordinal one. 1st 22nd etc • Yes it is very simple but helps me concentrate • Anyone that takes pride in their craft practises in some degree
21. Peer Review • Really the only way to get better • Codeschool • Pluralsight • They will only teach *how* to programme • Peer review is essential to being a better developer • Can be daunting but there are nice people out there
22. How to start • Open Source Contributions • Excellent way of learning • Passion is essential • Start an app with friends • Excellent way of learning • Passion is essential • Emulate peer review • http://exercism.io/
23. Local User Groups • Belfast has lots of user groups • USE THEM! • Get involved! • Local companies wanting to do good • Vibrant development community • Get involved!
24. Find a place that cares • I currently work for ShopKeep • They actually care!
25. Here it comes • If you care what others think then you’ll never really learn • People that aren’t worth thinking about • “I’ll let my work do the talking!” • “Oh you must think highly of yourself!” • “You like to show off!” • “I’m a better developer and don’t feel the need to” • ITS YOU THAT IS IN CHARGE!
26. –@swmcc “That’s it. FIN!”