Level Up Coding

  The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in burnout among software developers. According to a study conducted by Haystack Analytics , a firm that focuses on engineer productivity, 83% of software developers experience burnout. The primary causes cited for this exhaustion are excessive workloads (47%), inefficiencies in processes (31%), and ambiguity in objectives and targets (29%). Most areas of human activity have had to rely on technology to remain productive during the coronavirus pandemic, including implementing telework. For the most part, businesses saw significant productivity gains in 2020, directly related to the widespread use of telework. Some are even anticipating a total productivity gain of 17% over the next two to three years. In addition, through telework, 88% have realized savings on real estate expenses over the past year. Similarly, 92% expect further savings in the next two to three years. However, has maintaining or increasing productiv

 In the past 7.5 years I have supervised over a dozen programming interns and have seen hundreds of portfolios of students and graduates. In almost all of those I saw the same things that they needed to learn. One might expect that I think they need to learn specific techniques, algorithms or math, or other forms of specific knowledge. And of course they do, but in my opinion that is never the main thing. The main thing they need to learn is self discipline. The discipline to always write the clearest code you can, the discipline to refactor code if it becomes muddy through changes later in development, the discipline to remove unused code and add comments. Most of the time I spend supervising programming interns is spent on these topics. Not on explaining advanced technologies or the details of our engine, but on making them write better code in general. I always ask applicants what they think is important in being a good programmer and they usually answer that code should be cle

 One of the problems with being a consultant, and trying to help organisations change for the better, is that - bet your bottom dollar - the key barriers to change will sit with the people who hired you in the first place. Management are the root of 99.9% of obstacles to organisational excellence. Find a problem, pull the string and trace it back to its root cause and you'll normally find a manager sitting at the other end pulling in the opposite direction. But from their lofty perspective, all the problems seem to start at the bottom with the people who are supposed to implement the manager's vision. They don't do as they're told. They give incorrect estimates. They deliver late. Their code is buggy. They have low motivation and a surly attitude. And when the manager is the person signing your timesheets, it's all too easy to subscribe to their point of view and set about the developers with a big stick. But, as always, there are two sides to this

 I am the greatest software developer in the entire world ever. This is an extraordinary claim, of course. But I make it safe in the knowledge that nobody out there has any way of refuting me. If I said I was the fastest runner, or the best angler, or the quietest farter, then you could probably devise a way to test and disprove my hifalutin claims. But can anyone out there suggest a way to refute my claim to the greatest software developer of all time? For your argument to outweigh mine, you would need to find at least one other person who agrees with your test as to what constitutes software development greatness. Good luck with that one. In the meantime, I think I'll get a trophy made. Maybe even a crown.