As programmers, we generate a lot of text. I’m not just talking about the sheer quantity of code written, but the text generated by our programs. Whether its writing messages to log files, generating error messages for user, or building messages sent between systems, our applications work with text a lot. But have you really thought about the various ways in which your code generates these strings of text?
It’s been one of those days. You start working on one of your tasks and then your manager drops by to ask about something. Or the siren’s call of email and social media sends you down the rabbit hole of blue links. Or a coworker pings you on Slack with a question. Before you know it, the day is over with nothing to show for it.
Do you use version control? If you’ve been in the software industry for any length of time, chances are good that you’ve aware of tools like Git, Subversion, CVS, or one of the many others.
The Spring Framework is one of my favorite frameworks to use. It just works and it does what you would expect.
Except when it doesn’t.
This week I ran into a little known feature (at least, to me) called “inferred destroy”. This was not a behavior I expected and I had to go digging into the source code and documentation to figure out what was going on.
Do you feel like your days are crazy? Are you busy all day but when you get home, you’re not entirely sure what you accomplished?
What if you were able to change that? What if you were able to face the day with more energy and intention? What if you were actually working on things that mattered and advanced towards your goals?
If that sounds appealing, it’s time to take back your morning!
It is said that “curiosity killed the cat.” I disagree. Rather, a lack of curiosity is the path to a slow quiet, uneventful, life. Perhaps you find yourself in a rut, doing the same things over and over without really thinking about it. Rekindle your inquisitiveness! If you develop curiosity, the world comes alive again and can benefit your career at the same time.
Software developers are in high demand these days, so we are typically given a lot of leeway. But that doesn’t mean you should be a complete, unprofessional slob on the job. Sometimes the most simple professional habits can make a huge difference in your career.
Software tends to live a lot longer than we ever imagine. Remember that one-off tool you built that’s still in use…3 years later? Over the course of your software development career, you’ll spend more time reading code than writing it. If you do nothing else, write clear code, not clever code.
Would you like to be more productive? Who doesn’t want to get more done in the same amount of time? The secret isn’t additional automation tools or learning to use your development environment better (although both are good ideas). It isn’t the Pomodoro technique or the GTD system (though both are useful). So what is the number one productivity hack for software developers?
