Career

What’s in a name? Nomenclature wars sound a little medieval for tech and yet… is there really a difference between coder, developer, software engineer, or programmer? It seems like every time we turn around, there’s another new job we’re all supposed to be doing. Code Architect? Software Gardener? Programming Ninja? I wasn’t trained for this!

Open source makes the world go round, from Google, Facebook and Twitter to Android smartphones and Linux in self-driving cars. The Linux Foundation’s 2017 Open Source Jobs Report confirms that the hiring market for developers with open source skills is hot, hot, hot. Are you ready?

How can a business decide between investing in DevOps or full-stack developers? Richard Gall is here to explain how you can navigate this tricky choice. For one thing, the difference between the two might be smaller than you think.

Growing pains are difficult for everyone, but especially for start-ups. Today, we look at whether it is better to hire testers first or a manager. Logically, it should be a tester, right? Nope. In this article, Kevin Dunne explains why your team actually needs a QA manager first.

Coding at night? It’s probably not in JavaScript. The data scientists over at Stack Overflow have done a deep dive and discovered when certain programming languages are used. Surprisingly, not a whole lot of people are asking questions on Stack at 5am. Who knew?

The software development profession is becoming little more than an amalgamation of abstract paradigms, useless concepts and ‘cool’ tools that bring us few real results, says Steve Naidamast. In this long read, he takes a sociological look at the downward trajectory of programming.

The more languages you know, the better a programmer you are, right? Not always – your coding skills are just the beginning of what most companies are looking for in a fresh programming recruit.

Developer performance and how it impacts the industry is a big deal – so much so that Jacob Kaplan-Moss made an attempt to tackle it during his PyCon 2015 keynote. Calling himself a mediocre programmer, he confronts the programming talent myth.

As a developer, are you able to run free with other species? Are Ops and architects allowed to frolic together as God intended? Or are you trapped in a pen of expertise? Nigel Moulton discusses the pros and cons of converged skills in IT departments.

No concept is more complex and nebulous to a software developer than the one that is suggested by the word “done”. Is there such a thing as a finish line in IT? And if so, what exact requirements should a programmer need to fulfil in order to cross it?

Do you really want to hire somebody that’s good at making themselves look good? Or are you looking for a certain skill-set? Perhaps you need to shape your job spec differently, or recognise non-traditional talent. How do you define expertise?

Are you a junior or a senior developer? Perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle, but how do you know for sure? We look into what differentiates each rank and how experience plays the major part in determining your position and authority.

The perfect candidate for that developer job is hard to find, but are you taking more than their skills into account? How can you tell they’ll be a great addition to the team? Developing with passion is something that all hiring managers should look out for.

David Heinemeier Hansson says that workaholics aren’t the solution to your start-up cash woes. Rather than rely on slave-driving to push your idea, DHH thinks you need a better strategy to get creative, interesting people investing in your vision.