My First Github Project

2015 action items for improving my technical skills, my people skills, improving my network of great people in order to increase job satisfaction and achieve some career goals that have been floundering.

Step 1: Start this blog, check.

Step 2: Get  more involved in local user groups, check and check.

Step 3: Be more active on LinkedIn and networking in general, check.

Step 4: Start a GitHub project, check.

Here is the git hub project I started earlier this week: https://github.com/mwrand/SaraCms/tree/dev

I know, I know, not another CMS system!  There is totally no need for another CMS system. However, for my entire career this is the thing I've done.  My first real exposure to professional development was as the technical lead at a couple of web design companies.  And even past that, all the projects that I have worked on have had elements that would make great additions to a repeatable, extendable framework/system that would  allow for code reuse, easy deployment of large applications, and the tools developers need to make their projects extremely valuable by leveraging past projects to allow them to focus only on the "new work" in their current projects.

Given that there are literally hundreds if not thousands of CMS projects on github, and hundreds of commercial CMS systems on the market right now, I have no idea if I can get anyone working on the project with me, but with new adventures like this you have to start with what you know, what you are passionate about.  And as a developer, a development lead, there is little that gets me as excited as development/business productivity.

In addition a CMS system gives me the opportunity to tie together code I've written, and  dreamed about writing in the FIFTEEN different jobs I've had over my 12 year career.  When you have worked as a contractor, and on short term assignments as much  as I've had there is a real (mental/spiritual) value in being able to tie all of that history together.  I also think that if I can hold my motivation on this project there is a chance a number of side projects (libraries, frameworks, etc) can be pulled out and be useful to others.

But ultimately, I want a large project, a large code base, that I can point prospective employers to, because I love working on large projects with big teams.  Having a large CMS is a great way to show my skills for working at that scale.

So you want to be a team lead...

"Don’t tell people what to do, show them. Do what you expect other people to do, yourself, first, and then let them see why what you are doing is beneficial.

"You can argue and try to cajole people until you are blue in the face, but if you really want to inspire people, if you really want to move them to action, you have to lead by first showing them the path to take and generate the results to prove that your way is best.

"If you want developers on your team to write better code, you have to start writing better code yourself and you have to write such good code that the effort you put into that code is apparent. Only then can you credibly produce a set of coding standards that will help others to write good code as well. Once they see your code, they should be inspired to write code of the same quality and understandability.

"If you want developers on your team to write unit tests or practice test driven development, you had better be not only doing the same, but having tangible results that show what you are recommending is the best way to proceed. This will require some commitment and pragmatism, so that you aren’t just preaching something because you heard or read this was the best way to do things.

"If you want developers on your team to work on developing their skills and personal development, you had better be a shining example of the same. You should spend more hours than anyone else learning new things and sharing what you have learned with others. You should be the one writing up blog posts that share what you are learning and inspiring others to do the same."

Great advice, read the rest here:

http://simpleprogrammer.com/2015/05/25/some-advice-on-becoming-a-lead-developer/

Design Patterns

It is always interesting to note how much value effective teachers and mentors have to offer, even if they are talking on a subject you know inside and out.

Having this experience right now while watching Derek Banas' Design Pattern Series on Youtube:

Design Patterns Video Tutorial

This is a very well paced, expertly taught series.  Even if you use Strategy, Singleton, Builder, or any of the others on a regular basis, I promise you will learn something from this series.

Hiring: On Working with Recruiters

Chris has an excellent post over at IExtendable for hiring managers on working with agency recruiters.

Having spent a lot of times on both as recruit and as a hiring manager, Chris's recommendations are spot on.

http://iextendable.com/2015/05/08/of-purple-squirrels-how-to-work-with-an-agency-recruiter/