The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide: How to Learn Your Next Programming Language, Ace Your Programming Interview, and Land the Coding Job of Your Dreams

866 Pages·2017·2.47 MB·English

THE
COMPLETE
SOFTWARE
DEVELOPER’S
CAREER GUIDE
JOHN SONMEZ
For online information and ordering of this and other Simple Programmer books,
please visit simpleprogrammer.com. For more information, please contact: John
Sonmez, Simple Programmer
Contents
Preface
Is This Book For Me?
Chapter 1 – How to Use This Book
SECTION 1
GETTING STARTED AS A SOFTWARE
DEVELOPER
Chapter 2 – How to Get Started
Chapter 3 – The Technical Skills You Need to Have
Chapter 4 – How to Develop Technical Skills
Chapter 5 – What Programming Language Should I Learn
Chapter 6 – Learning Your First Programming Language
Chapter 7 – Going to College
Chapter 8 – Coding Boot Camps
Chapter 9 – Teaching Yourself
SECTION 2
GETTING A JOB
Chapter 10 – Internships
Chapter 11 – Getting a Job Without Experience
Chapter 12 – How to Find a Job
Chapter 13 – Creating a Resume
Chapter 14 – The Interview Process
Chapter 15 – Salaries and Negotiation
Chapter 16 – How to Leave a Job
Chapter 17 – Switching Mid-Career (Late Entry)
Chapter 18 – Going From QA or Another Technical Role to Development
Chapter 19 – Contracting vs. Salary
Chapter 20 – How the Recruiting Industry Works
SECTION 3
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 21 – Overview of Programming Languages
Chapter 22 – What is Web Development?
Chapter 23 – Mobile Development
Chapter 24 – Back-End Development
Chapter 25 – Career in Video Game Development
Chapter 26 – DBAs and DevOps
Chapter 27 – Software Development Methodologies
Chapter 28 – Testing and QA Basics
Chapter 29 – Test Driven Development and Unit Testing
Chapter 30 – Source Control
Chapter 31 – Continuous Integration
Chapter 32 – Debugging
Chapter 33 – Maintaining Code
Chapter 34 – Jobs and Job Titles
Chapter 35 – Types of Work
SECTION 4
WORKING AS A DEVELOPER
Chapter 36 – Dealing with Coworkers
Chapter 37 – Dealing with Your Boss
Chapter 38 – Working with QA
Chapter 39 – Work / Life Balance
Chapter 40 – Working on a Team
Chapter 41 – Selling Your Ideas
Chapter 42 – How to Dress
Chapter 43 – Acing the Review Process
Chapter 44 – Dealing with Prejudice
Chapter 45 – Being in a Leadership Position
Chapter 46 – Getting a Raise or Promotion
Chapter 47 – Women in Tech
SECTION 5
ADVANCING YOUR CAREER
Chapter 48 – Creating a Reputation
Chapter 49 – Networking and Groups
Chapter 50 – Keeping Your Skills Up to Date
Chapter 51 – Generalist vs. Specialist
Chapter 52 – Speaking and Conferences
Chapter 53 – Creating a Blog
Chapter 54 – Freelancing and Starting a Business
Chapter 55 – Career Paths
Chapter 56 – Job Stability and Security
Chapter 57 – Training and Certifications
Chapter 58 – Side Projects
Chapter 59 – Best Books to Read
Chapter 60 – Parting Words
Preface
I didn’t expect to be writing a book so soon after writing my last book, Soft
Skills: The Software Developer’s Life Manual.
Well, I guess it hasn’t been that short a period of time.
Soft Skills was released in December of 2014 and I began writing this book in
the summer of 2016.
But, when you write a book, 1.5 years doesn’t quite seem like enough of a break.
Writing a book is pretty hard work.
Sure, it’s rewarding to have that book you wrote sitting on your bookshelf, but
the process of getting it there is not always the most enjoyable.
So, you might be asking yourself, why then did I decide to write another book?
And why—by my standards at least—so relatively soon?
It’s definitely not a matter of economics, because there are definitely more
financially lucrative ways to spend your time other than writing a book.
And it’s definitely not because I love writing.
While I do admit I enjoy it—at times—it’s definitely a more painful than
pleasurable experience.
Why then embark upon another journey, that isn’t going to make me much
money, is going to suck up a large amount of my time and at least be somewhat
painful?
Well, mostly it’s because I have to.
When I look at all the books written for software developers, I find there isn’t a
single book that tells software developers from A to Z how to not only start their
career, but thrive in it and advance it and what exactly it is they need to know to
be as successful as possible.
I get thousands of questions on my YouTube channel from software developers,
young and old, experienced and new, male and female, from every country in the
world asking about all kinds of “soft” topics related to software development.
Questions like:
How do I get started as a software developer?
How do I learn technical skills?
How do I negotiate my salary or pick between a contract job and salaried
employment?
How do I deal with my boss, my coworkers, prejudice, women in tech, being a
woman in tech?
What do I really need to know and how can I learn it?
College, boot camp, self-taught?
How do I find a job? What if I don’t have any experience?
How do I pass an interview?
How should I dress?
How can I advance my career and take it to the next level?
I could go on and on.
The bad news is, I haven’t found a single resource to point software developers
to which answers all of these important questions.
The good news is, what you are holding now is that resource.
So, despite my reservations about writing another book—especially so soon, at
least in my mind—I decided to write this book, not because I want to write
another book necessarily—although I can’t deny there was some itch of wanting
to get back to writing—but because I firmly believe that when you see
something that is needed you either find it or you create it.
I couldn’t find it, so I’m creating it.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
Is This Book For Me?
There you were, minding your own business when this book’s awesome cover
grabbed your attention and you just had to pick it up (or click on it.)
Now you are flipping through the pages asking yourself, “is this book for me?”
Don’t worry, I can assure you I wrote this book just for you, even though I don’t
know anything about you.
How? You ask. After all, I don’t even know that you can read.
Well, actually I do know you can read, because if you couldn’t, my words
wouldn’t be magically vocalizing in your mind at this very moment.
I also know one other thing about you, which is that we share a keen sense of
humor—or at the very least you can tolerate my humor—since you are still
reading thus far.
Well, before I lose your interest permanently and you put this book back down
on the shelf or click that other window in your browser, I suppose I should get a
bit serious and get down to business.
All joking aside, no matter where you are in your software development career,
this book has something to offer you.
For the scanners among us, allow me to quickly categorize you into one of three
categories and you can read the category that is most relevant to you:
BEGINNER OR JUST INTERESTED IN
LEARNING SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
If you are starting out and trying to learn software development / programming
or you’ve learned a little, but haven’t gotten your first job a software developer