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What exactly does it mean to practice becoming a better programmer? Well, of course the boring dictionary definition is: "To do or perform something repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill." That definition feels a bit...
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What exactly does it mean to practice becoming a better programmer? Well, of course the boring dictionary definition is: "To do or perform something repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill." That definition feels a bit too narrow, though. I also want it to include the idea of studying, which the dictionary equally boringly defines as: "To apply one's mind purposefully to the acquisition of knowledge or understanding of a subject." If you're still awake after that mind-numbing paragraph, then I think you're ready to give it a try! Studying has a weird way of putting me to sleep, unless I'm doing it because I want to. Homework just seems to kill the desire to learn. Don't read this blog if someone is insisting that you read it! Wait until you really think you want to get better at programming, then read it. Incidentally, I toyed with the idea of coining a new word for "study and practice", like I did with servware. Unfortunately, "practudy" sounds like some sort of medical problem, and "studtice" is just unthinkably bad ("Honey, I'll be home late tonight -- I'm working on my studtice.") So for this essay I'll just use the word practice to mean study and practice. Contrary to what you might believe, merely doing your job every day doesn't qualify as real practice. Going to meetings isn't practicing your people skills, and replying to mail isn't practicing your typing. You have to set aside some time once in a while and do focused practice in order to get better at something. I know a lot of great engineers -- that's one of the best perks of working at Amazon -- and if you watch them closely, you'll see that they practice constantly. As good as they are, they still practice. They have all sorts of ways of doing it, and this essay will cover a few of them. The great engineers I know are as good as they are because they practice all the time. People in great physical shape only get that way by working out regularly, and they need to keep it up, or they get out of shape. The same goes for programming and engineering. It's a bit easier to tell if someone's in great shape physically than if they're in great shape mentally. You can't just stare at their brain and hope to find a six-pack in all those folds. It's easy to tell how physically fit someone is. You can make people run laps, lift things, take their physical measurements, etc. But for determining someone's mental fitness, you pretty much have to interview them. It it's hard to do a good job of it, since it's like running backwards in front of the person, egging them to go faster. You have to be in pretty good shape yourself to be a good interviewer.
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But not as embarrassing as having your zipper scratch a $9000 guitar you haven't bought yet.
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