Book Image

Developer Career Masterplan

By : Heather VanCura, Bruno Souza
5 (1)
Book Image

Developer Career Masterplan

5 (1)
By: Heather VanCura, Bruno Souza

Overview of this book

Written 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.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1 The Basics: Learn and Practice the Technical Skills
7
Part 2 Get Involved: Participate in the Community
13
Part 3 Create Impact: Share and Lead

Interview

Scott Wierschem

Q: Scott, can you quickly introduce yourself?

A: My name is Scott Wierschem. I’ve been doing software development for about 40 years. I’ve been doing Java development for 20 years.

My forte is working on legacy systems: old crusty code that most people are afraid to dig into. I like to find ways to get in there and make it maintainable.

I have a project I call the Keep Calm and Refactor project. It’s a mentoring program to help developers who have got some experience but need help to become better at handling legacy software development, as that’s really what most of us are going to be working on for most of our careers. If you can be good at that, you will have a much more enjoyable career in software development. That’s what lights my fire these days.

Q: That’s awesome. One of the things that you do is help developers not only deal with legacy code but actually to become better developers. You practice...