Nathan Pickard
Software Engineer in Portland, Oregon
I make ideas a reality using Javascript
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How to improve your code without coding, Part 2!
6/27/2018
Crafting quality code is certainly it's own "trade". Putting out efficient and clean code is the overarching goal every developer hopes to achieve after a day of learning, testing, deploying, refactoring, and so on. However, there are times when you start coding a project, inevitably hit a wall, research the answer, and implement said solution. Then, you hopefully glean enough knowledge to overcome the problem in the future and continue on your way towards the app's completion. However, like most other vocations (tech related or otherwise), I've found it best to take a step back from hacking away, put things in perspective, and advance my skills through other productive means.
In part two of "improving your coding and becoming a better developer without literally coding" , I'm going to cover a couple other topics not covered in part one. The following resources continually aid me in my coding journey, so no matter your current experience level, I hope this helps you in yours!
Sites and blogs to keep you in the know:
There is a wealth of awesome sites and blogs out there that discuss the current world of web development. Finding the right sites to bookmark and blog authors to follow can just be a matter of taste or whatever appears to be the most popular trend at the time. However, it may just boil down to whichever particular stack you happen to be developing in, involved with, or currently learning about.
There is obviously no shortage of great web development content out there to digest. After checking out and stumbling upon many different sites the past couple years, I've narrowed down a list of the best web development sites and blogs I frequently visit. I believe most developers or anyone interested in the field would find the following sites informative and well worth the visit.
Smashing magazine is an excellent source of general web development and design news, along with in-depth editorials from the brightest minds in the industry. Their 'monthly web development update' serves up informative articles from the developer community and summarizes everything that is new and important in one handy reading list. They also offer up really useful and thorough tutorials, such as this guide to getting started with CSS layout.
The folks at Smashing have been at it for 11+ years and going and are committed to publishing quality content. With a great reputation and articles that don't leave you hanging, you can't go wrong with a weekly perusal of Smashing magazine.
Of all the blogging services I've combed through throughout the years, Medium is top of it's class in terms of polished content and ease of finding awesome and relevant material. While the platform itself hosts a multitude of various topics and hobbies, it's array (pun intended) of web dev and software engineering articles is top notch. I've listed a couple publications from Medium below that I recommend the most:
Hackernoon - 'How hackers start their afternoons'
From in-depth blog posts, insightful tutorials, and thought-provoking opinion pieces, the Hackernoon space on Medium offers up a wealth of great, well-recommended content. Posts are published daily, so a quick check-in to see relevant and reliable news is well worth a follow with a Medium account.
The freeCodeCamp blog on Medium "publishes stories worth reading on development, design, and data science" and features some of the best posts on tech from a community of millions of developers. Each featured article is curated and comes with high "applause", which you can give out yourself near the bottom of the page if you enjoyed what you read. From articles on becoming a developer to which programming language you should learn, FCC provides a wealth of awesome and diverse content.
freeCodeCamp itself is a non-profit organization that consists of an interactive learning web platform and an online community forum that helps millions of developers around the world build their skills. Founded by Quincy Larson, FCC is a great option for devs at any experience level looking to up their skills through a well-designed course catalog. A quick exploration through their supportive forum is definitely evidence of a quality organization!
For an all-encompassing resource covering the whole gamut of software development topics, look no further than DZone. This site touts one of the world's largest online communities and is one of the leading publishers of knowledge resources for software devs. While you can browse the front page and take in the latest technology trends, DZone makes it easy to sort the content you're looking for by offering a multitude of particular subjects you can click on at the top of the homepage. Whether it's the latest in AI, current happenings in open source, or a tutorial in web dev, DZone has you covered.
Writing your very own blog!
Writing about your coding experiences and sharing what you've learned with the world is an invaluable practice. Not only do you have to think thoroughly about what it is you'd write a blog post about, you also have to take the time to thoughtfully craft each blog post that clearly expresses your own ideas.
By blogging, sharing what you're learning, and teaching the subjects you've worked with, you end up cementing your own understanding. By contributing your own thoughts, you can end up teaching something to someone who may not know what you do. You also provide others with your own unique take of the subject matter. It provides everyone a chance to see how you see the material with your own unique perspective.
In a lifehacker article that recommends sharing and teaching what you've learned, the author discusses a story of two developers with the same expertise and learning rate. As they gain more skills, one of the devs shares their learning journey on a blog. This blog then became popular and garnered a huge audience of readers. The other developer, on the other hand, had no audience to speak of. He simply didn't realize that there was a large group of people who didn't know what he knew. So the moral of the story is that there's always someone who doesn't know as much as you and that you can offer a bit of value to those who could benefit from your own, unique insights. Not only do you deepen your own understanding, but you also reap the benefits of building your own personal brand through your writing. It's a win-win situation!
Coding, creating, and problem solving is what developers do. But to improve your skills and overcome obstacles, it's worthwhile to develop your ability to obtain the right resources and have quality information at your disposal. Remember that you don't need all the right solutions at all times, so keep learning and share your own coding journey with the world. Happy coding!
