This unique book provides you with a wealth of tips, tricks, best practices, and answers to the day-to-day questions that programmers face in their careers. It is split into three parts: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, providing the knowledge you need to get ahead in programming. About This Book Over 50 essays with practical advice on improving your programming career Practical focus gives solutions to common problems, and methods to become a better coder Includes advice for existing programmers and those wanting to begin a career in programming Who This Book Is For This book is useful for programmers of any ability or discipline. It has advice for those thinking about beginning a career in programming, those already working as a fully employed programmer, and for those working as freelance developers. What You Will Learn Improve your soft skills to become a better and happier coder Learn to be a better developer Grow your freelance development business Improve your development career Learn the best approaches to breaking down complex topics Have the confidence to charge what you're worth as a freelancer Succeed in developer job interviews In Detail This is an all-purpose toolkit for your programming career. It has been built by Jordan Hudgens over a lifetime of coding and teaching coding. It helps you identify the key questions and stumbling blocks that programmers encounter, and gives you the answers to them! It is a comprehensive guide containing more than 50 insights that you can use to improve your work, and to give advice in your career. The book is split up into three topic areas: Coder Skills, Freelancer Skills, and Career Skills, each containing a wealth of practical advice. Coder Skills contains advice for people starting out, or those who are already working in a programming role but want to improve their skills. It includes such subjects as: how to study and understand complex topics, and getting past skill plateaus when learning new languages. Freelancer Skills contains advice for developers working as freelancers or with freelancers. It includes such subjects as: knowing when to fire a client, and tips for taking over legacy applications. Career Skills contains advice for building a successful career as a developer. It includes such subjects as: how to improve your programming techniques, and interview guides and developer salary negotiation strategies. Style and approach This unique book provides over 50 insightful essays full of practical advice for improving your programming career. The book is split into three broad sections covering different aspects of a developer's career. Each essay is self-contained and can be read individually, or in chunks.

For most software developers, coding is the fun part. The hard bits are dealing with clients, peers, and managers and staying productive, achieving financial security, keeping yourself in shape, and finding true love. This book is here to help. Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual is a guide to a well-rounded, satisfying life as a technology professional. In it, developer and life coach John Sonmez offers advice to developers on important subjects like career and productivity, personal finance and investing, and even fitness and relationships. Arranged as a collection of 71 short chapters, this fun listen invites you to dip in wherever you like. A "Taking Action" section at the end of each chapter tells you how to get quick results. Soft Skills will help make you a better programmer, a more valuable employee, and a happier, healthier person.

"Early in his software developer career, John Sonmez discovered that technical knowledge alone isn't enough to break through to the next income level - developers need "soft skills" like the ability to learn new technologies just in time, communicate clearly with management and consulting clients, negotiate a fair hourly rate, and unite teammates and coworkers in working toward a common goal. Today John helps more than 1.4 million programmers every year to increase their income by developing this unique blend of skills. Who Should Read This Book? Entry-Level Developers - This book will show you how to ensure you have the technical skills your future boss is looking for, create a resume that leaps off a hiring manager's desk, and escape the "no work experience" trap. Mid-Career Developers - You'll see how to find and fill in gaps in your technical knowledge, position yourself as the one team member your boss can't live without, and turn those dreaded annual reviews into chance to make an iron-clad case for your salary bump. Senior Developers - This book will show you how to become a specialist who can command above-market wages, how building a name for yourself can make opportunities come to you, and how to decide whether consulting or entrepreneurship are paths you should pursue. Brand New Developers - In this book you'll discover what it's like to be a professional software developer, how to go from "I know some code" to possessing the skills to work on a development team, how to speed along your learning by avoiding common beginner traps, and how to decide whether you should invest in a programming degree or 'bootcamp.'"--

Skills to grow from a solo coder into a productive member of a software development team, with seasoned advice on everything from refactoring to acing an interview. In Skills of a Successful Software Engineer you will learn: The skills you need to succeed on a software development team Best practices for writing maintainable code Testing and commenting code for others to read and use Refactoring code you didn’t write What to expect from a technical interview process How to be a tech leader Getting around gatekeeping in the tech community Skills of a Successful Software Engineer is a best practices guide for succeeding on a software development team. The book reveals how to optimize both your code and your career, from achieving a good work-life balance to writing the kind of bug-free code delivered by pros. You’ll master essential skills that you might not have learned as a solo coder, including meaningful code commenting, unit testing, and using refactoring to speed up feature delivery. Timeless advice on acing interviews and setting yourself up for leadership will help you throughout your career. Crack open this one-of-a-kind guide, and you’ll soon be working in the professional manner that software managers expect. About the technology Success as a software engineer requires technical knowledge, flexibility, and a lot of persistence. Knowing how to work effectively with other developers can be the difference between a fulfilling career and getting stuck in a life-sucking rut. This brilliant book guides you through the essential skills you need to survive and thrive on a software engineering team. About the book Skills of a Successful Software Engineer presents techniques for working on software projects collaboratively. In it, you’ll build technical skills, such as writing simple code, effective testing, and refactoring, that are essential to creating software on a team. You’ll also explore soft skills like how to keep your knowledge up to date, interacting with your team leader, and even how to get a job you’ll love. What's inside Best practices for writing and documenting maintainable code Testing and refactoring code you didn’t write What to expect in a technical interview How to thrive on a development team About the reader For working and aspiring software engineers. About the author Fernando Doglio has twenty years of experience in the software industry, where he has worked on everything from web development to big data. Table of Contents 1 Becoming a successful software engineer 2 Writing code everyone can read 3 Unit testing: delivering code that works 4 Refactoring existing code (or Refactoring doesn’t mean rewriting code) 5 Tackling the personal side of coding 6 Interviewing for your place on the team 7 Working as part of a team 8 Understanding team leadership

Software startups make global headlines every day. As technology companies succeed and grow, so do their engineering departments. In your career, you'll may suddenly get the opportunity to lead teams: to become a manager. But this is often uncharted territory. How can you decide whether this career move is right for you? And if you do, what do you need to learn to succeed? Where do you start? How do you know that you're doing it right? What does "it" even mean? And isn't management a dirty word? This book will share the secrets you need to know to manage engineers successfully. Going from engineer to manager doesn't have to be intimidating. Engineers can be managers, and fantastic ones at that. Cast aside the rhetoric and focus on practical, hands-on techniques and tools. You'll become an effective and supportive team leader that your staff will look up to. Start with your transition to being a manager and see how that compares to being an engineer. Learn how to better organize information, feel productive, and delegate, but not micromanage. Discover how to manage your own boss, hire and fire, do performance and salary reviews, and build a great team. You'll also learn the psychology: how to ship while keeping staff happy, coach and mentor, deal with deadline pressure, handle sensitive information, and navigate workplace politics. Consider your whole department. How can you work with other teams to ensure best practice? How do you help form guilds and committees and communicate effectively? How can you create career tracks for individual contributors and managers? How can you support flexible and remote working? How can you improve diversity in the industry through your own actions? This book will show you how. Great managers can make the world a better place. Join us.

Learn what you need to succeed as a developer beyond the code. The lessons in this book will supercharge your career by sharing lessons and mistakes from real developers. Wouldn’t it be nice to learn from others’ career mistakes? “Soft” skills are crucial to success, but are haphazardly picked up on the job or, worse, never learned. Understanding these competencies and how to improve them will make you a more effective team member and a more attractive hire. This book will teach you the key skills you need, including how to ask questions, how and when to use common tools, and how to interact with other team members. Each will be presented in context and from multiple perspectives so you’ll be able to integrate them and apply them to your own career quickly. What You'll Learn Know when the best code is no code Understand what to do in the first month of your job See the surprising number of developers who can’t program Avoid the pitfalls of working alone Who This Book Is For Anyone who is curious about software development as a career choice. You have zero to five years of software development experience and want to learn non-technical skills that can help your career. It is also suitable for teachers and mentors who want to provide guidance to their students and/or mentees.

Elevate your technical career with practical guidance, best practices, and actionable insights shared by industry experts Key Features Develop the right skills to advance your career with comprehensive skill development Explore practical examples and case studies for real-world career guidance Understand the importance of networking and community engagement for professional growth Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionWritten by industry experts that have spent the last 20+ years helping developers grow their careers, this book offers invaluable insights and guidance tailored to the specific needs of technical professionals. By discovering the secret of continuous learning and adapting in the ever-evolving field of software development, you’ll explore various learning paths with formal and informal methods, as well as gain an understanding of the value of certifications to validate your skills. This book will teach you the significance of building a strong support network, holding crucial conversations, and taking ownership of your career growth. You'll delve into acquiring both soft and hard skills, becoming a well-rounded and sought-after developer. Packed with practical examples, stories of successful developers, and real-world applications, the chapters will equip you with actionable advice on how to push beyond your comfort zone and embracing communities to enhance your teamwork abilities. Additionally, you’ll uncover the benefits of joining open-source projects, speaking at conferences, and building a personal brand to amplify your visibility and reputation. By the end of this book, you'll have a well-laid-out long-term and short-term plan for your career progression, equipping you with advanced technical skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to effectively manage relationships within your organization.What you will learn Explore skills needed to grow your career Participate in community and mentorship programs Build your technical knowledge for growth Discover how to network and use social media Understand the impact of public speaking Identify the critical conversations to advance your career Participate in non-technical activities to enhance your career Who this book is for This book is for technical professionals, particularly developers, seeking practical career growth guidelines and best practices. It addresses both junior and senior developers, offering valuable insights and experiences from within the developer community.