<p>Finishing the two part episode on skills web developers need to know the guys tackle the skills needed to land a job along with advanced skills to set yourself apart. The episode closes with a list of honorable mentions that do not directly apply to web development but are interpersonal skills useful to a career in development.</p> <blockquote>You've got the basics down and this is what you need before you start submitting resumes.</blockquote> <p>The intermediat...
Mar 31, 2016•59 min•Ep. 30
<p style="text-align: justify;">The question was asked on Quora: What are the five essential skills every web developer should have? There were 91 different answers to this question, though most could be broken down into one of three categories: technical, personal, and interpersonal. Within each answer some similarities existed including basics of the web (HTML, CSS, JavaScript,&nbsp;HTTP(S), and server basics), security, testing, and a willingness to learn. A few of the unique respon...
Mar 24, 2016•57 min•Ep. 29
<p>The term technical debt can be misleading and confusing. It is generally referred to as a metaphor referencing the consequences of system design or software architecture in a codebase. Technical debt can be difficult to identify directly so developers need to use clues that can be broken down into social cues, code cues, and testing/deployment cues. When developers don't like dealing with a particular area of code or frequently complain about working in a certain part of the codebase th...
Mar 17, 2016•59 min•Ep. 28
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; font-weight: 400; font-style: oblique;">"I want to reconfigure my code to best survive the environment it lives in, it's an evolutionary process." ~ Will</blockquote> <p>Refactoring is the process of making the internals of an application less painful to code without affecting the functionality of the app. Refactoring code improves the ability of developers to troubleshoot problems and increases the speed of developing new functionality. ...
Mar 10, 2016•53 min•Ep. 27
<p>Resilience is the ability or capacity to quickly recover from difficulties. Systems that are resilient have less risk, a lower cost of ownership, and the ability to build upon the system. The CAP theorem of Consistency, Availability, and Partition applies to resilience within the domain of distributed systems but is instructive in regards to any system. The seven principles of resilience used in this episode were gleaned from the Stockholm Resilience Centre's guidelines for general-purp...
Mar 03, 2016•47 min•Ep. 26
<blockquote>“Flags allow us to restrict features to certain environments, while still using the same code base on all servers.” ~ Ross Harmes</blockquote> <p class="abstract">Feature flags offer an alternative to maintaining multiple various branches of source code. Continuous deployment requires such feature branches to be integrated with the master branch as early as possible. Feature flags are toggles that allow for early integration with execution paths turned off by a togg...
Feb 25, 2016•56 min•Ep. 25
<p>This episode is highly influenced by Paul Graham's essay on maker's vs manager's schedules. He points out they are inherently conflicting in priorities. The biggest issues come from developers not being able to handle interruptions and managers not being able to wait for a convenient time. The guys start the episode looking at the differences in schedules and where time is allocated throughout the workday. The latter half of the episode is dedicated to ways that managers and developers ...
Feb 18, 2016•55 min•Ep. 24
<p>A few weeks ago when recording the mood was hostile. Both Will and BJ were on edge but could not define the problem. Finally after over an hour of recording BJ says, "I'm getting frustrated and angry" to which Will responded, "Me too, let's figure out why." At that point they stopped recording and happened next is the basis for this episode.</p> <p>After telling the story of what happened that night BJ and Will get into a Conflict 101 lesson followed by a list of healthy and...
Feb 11, 2016•54 min•Ep. 23
<div class="shownotes post"> <p>Whether a single coder like BJ or one with a spouse and a child like Will this week's discussion focuses on the myth of the work-life balance. Work and life are intermingled and to imply a balance is to imply that one outweighs the other. A better description would be work-life separation and maintaining boundaries. This is accomplished by focusing on the quality of the time spent working and with family instead of the quantity. Throughout the episode ...
Feb 04, 2016•53 min•Ep. 22
<p style="text-align: justify;">Faster coding does not equate to better coding. This week Will and BJ put together five tips for faster and better coding to improve performance on the job and in personal projects. From continuing to drill basic typing skills to learning your IDE's shortcut keys the guys discuss improvements that can be useful no matter your level or skill.</p> <ol> <li style="text-align: justify;">The absolute basics (typing skills, equipment, and code ed...
Jan 28, 2016•58 min•Ep. 21
<p style="text-align: justify;">The episode begins with BJ detailing his recent experience writing his first technical spec for a client and what he learned from that along with questions about the process. Will then leads the conversation into a discussion of best practices for writing technical specs that will help both junior and senior developers while answering BJ's questions along the way.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">Links</h3> <a href="http://iotlist.co...
Jan 21, 2016•59 min•Ep. 20
This week the guys broke the episode into two parts. BJ starts out with a study from Harvard University on the perceptions of asking for advice. The first half of the episode then outlines good question asking strategies for newbies and junior developers. Starting with closed ended questions leading into longer open ended questions and when to use each. This can also apply to senior developers as well in areas they don't have as much knowledge. They then talk about planning out your questions an...
Jan 14, 2016•59 min•Ep. 19
<p style="text-align: justify;">Being the first episode of 2016 the guys give their predictions for the tech world this year. Some optimistic and some not so optimistic predictions from both. Will and BJ give six predictions each for 2016 five in the development or technology field and the last prediction about the future of the podcast. Enjoy the discussion when they have similar predictions and the debate when they disagree.</p> <h3>Links</h3> <a href="http://www.ins...
Jan 07, 2016•55 min•Ep. 18
<p style="text-align: justify;">The guys start off the episode with a year in review of their journeys this past year as well as a brief description of setting up the podcast and how it all started. Following this they each give their resolutions for the new year.</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">Links</h3> <a href="http://bowtiebeej.com/building-a-raspberry-pi-computer-for-my-nieces/" target="_blank">Bowtie Beej Blog</a> Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...
Dec 31, 2015•57 min•Ep. 17
As we approach the end of the year BJ and Will discuss strategies for setting goals to take back control of your life. Actively setting and reviewing goals helps to maintain focus and motivation. It gives significance to our long term improvements. The guys take a top-down approach to setting goals with analogies to programming structure. They start with lifetime goals and work down to daily to do lists to achieve those goals. The majority of the episode is spent discussing the well known S.M.A....
Dec 24, 2015•56 min•Ep. 16
<p style="text-align: justify;">This week starts a new series titled Developer Power Techniques. The series will not be in back to back fashion as the Health Series though each episode in the series will be announce and the series in general can be followed on the Developer Power Techniques page of the website.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Will starts the episode out explaining why he started tracking his own time. He describes feeling like his career wasn't going where ...
Dec 17, 2015•55 min•Ep. 15
<blockquote>In project management, a death march is a project where the members feel it is destined to fail, or requires a stretch of unsustainable overwork. The general feel of the project reflects that of an actual death march because the members of the project are forced to continue the project by their superiors against their better judgment. ~Wikipedia</blockquote> <p style="text-align: justify;">Will and BJ discuss the troubles and tribulations of the death march. They ar...
Dec 10, 2015•54 min•Ep. 14
<p style="text-align: justify;">Coming out of a holiday week the guys full on turkey and dressing discuss the impact that distractions have on developers and productivity as well as ways for both developers and management to minimize the amount to distractions faced by developers in a day. They begin looking at the effect of distractions on other professions and explain what a distraction means to a developer. Next Will and BJ talk about the effects of distractions on developers from the p...
Dec 03, 2015•58 min•Ep. 13
<p style="text-align: justify;"><img class=" wp-image-557 alignleft" src="http://completedeveloperpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/aa-logo-300x300.jpg" alt="aa-logo" width="162" height="162" />This being a holiday week the guys chose to air a special episode on substance abuse. This was originally part of the Mental Health episode but BJ went "Full Med Student" on the notes and produced a few shows. As many of us gather with our families this week we can see issues with substan...
Nov 26, 2015•47 min•Ep. 12
This week the guys discuss ways to find motivation and self motivate in times when developers are down and discouraged. They begin by looking at Frederick Hersberg's study on the two factors that influence employee satisifaction: hygiene and motivation. Which leads them to talking about how different companies motivate their employees from by providing autonomy, mastery and purpose to developers. In the bulk of the episode they discuss different strategies to find your own motivation starting wi...
Nov 19, 2015•45 min•Ep. 11
In this the tenth episode Will and BJ discuss ten reasons a programmer or hobbyist might not want to go into full time development. It is best to know early on in your career or training if this is the life for you. The guys are not out to discourage anyone from going into the field but want those entering to be able to make an informed decision. They address some of the challenges that face developers as well as aspects of the working environment that make a career as a developer unique. The ep...
Nov 12, 2015•53 min•Ep. 10
<h2>But They Are NEVER Wrong!</h2> <p style="text-align: justify;">In Episode 9 Will and BJ discuss a common misconception in the workplace. The idea that the customer is always right. They begin by looking at why this attitude is hurtful to employees, other customers, and management explaining why the customer is not always right. Then the guys delve into why the customer is never wrong and how it is the job of employees to guide the customer. Next they take a look at who is t...
Nov 05, 2015•58 min•Ep. 9
<div class="post-justified">This week BJ keeps his promise and brings an episode on understanding the roles and relationship of sales to development. The guys begin with a discussion on the importance of sales and what they do for the company. Next BJ takes us through an abbreviated Sales School 101. They then talk about differences in pay structure between development and sales with emphasis on why pay better matches ability with sales. The episode finishes with a discussion on how this e...
Oct 29, 2015•57 min•Ep. 8
<div class="shownotes"><p>In this episode the guys discuss beliefs that developers hold (or act as if they hold) that simply are not true. They delve into commonly held yet erroneous beliefs that developers tend to have about work, employers, other departments, and more. While it is not an exhaustive list they cover everything from interacting with others to interacting with databases, to changing specs mid project, and misunderstandings about how business works. These are the sort o...
Oct 22, 2015•56 min•Ep. 7
In this episode of The Complete Developer Podcast, the guys discuss strategies for getting through boring meetings, which are the bane of software developers everywhere. Packed into this episode are a number of strategies you can use to turn boring, time-wasting meetings into something that helps your career, rather than something that simply wastes your productive time. <a href="http://bitesizebio.com/306/free-mind-mapping-software/"><img class="wp-image-438 alignleft" style="padding-r...
Oct 15, 2015•59 min•Ep. 6
Finishing out our series on Health Concerns for Developers we delve into the realm of financial health. In this episode, we discuss a number of issues that can derail software developers from effectively managing their finances. We start out with a breakdown of some pretty alarming statistics regarding average household debt levels in America and how those are broken down across a number of categories. Next, we discuss some ways that developers can deal with their financial problems. Without get...
Oct 01, 2015•55 min•Ep. 5
Continuing our series on health concerns for developers we delve into the mental health of developers. Originally this began as one episode but the information and conversation extended so we divided it into three separate episodes. This first mental health episode we discuss the more prevalent concerns that are less clinical in nature but if left unchecked may lead to a more serious problem. In Episode 4 we discuss the topics of workaholism, stress, and sleep problems. A workaholic is a person ...
Oct 01, 2015•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 4
In episode 3, we continue our four part series about health concerns for software developers (part 1 can be found <a href="http://completedeveloperpodcast.com/episode-2-physical-health-concerns-for-developers/">here</a>). The series will examine multiple aspects of our lives and provide some stumbling blocks and dangers to watch out for as well as tips and tricks to avoid them and stay healthy. We will be following the format of Physical Health, Social Health, Mental Health, and fina...
Sep 24, 2015•43 min•Ep. 3
In episode 2 we begin a four part series on health concerns for developers. The series will examine multiple aspects of our lives and provide some stumbling blocks and dangers to watch out for as well as tips and tricks to avoid them and stay healthy. We will be following the format of Physical Health, Social Health, Mental Health, and finally Financial Health. The specific topics discussed in this episode are obesity/diabetes, back/neck issues, RSI (Repetitive Strain Injuries), Computer Vision ...
Sep 17, 2015•36 min•Ep. 2
In this episode we discuss how to talk about technology with non developers such as bosses, customers, or coworkers. We provide seven tips for how to explain yourself and your ideas to those that don't speak geek. These are: <blockquote>1. Use of analogies 2. Be empathetic: avoid jargon, don't talk down 3. Phrase your statements in terms of how it can help the business 4. Rephrase complaints and requests back 5. Give them an out. If there's still contention 6. Present a solution rather tha...
Sep 10, 2015•25 min•Ep. 1
