The Coding Blocks podcast has always been about trying to figure out how we can be better programmers.
I was fascinated by the book Outliers a few years ago, and it is quite controversial now though I think the premise is solid: Extraordinary skills require a winning combination of opportunity AND hard work.
I’ve been on a quest to create and foster these two things ever since!
Along the way, I have read a lot of the popular literature about “deliberate practice” and I have tried to distill the information for the field of software engineering.
Here is a collection of blog posts and resources on the subject. Some are still in progress so check back soon. I hope you are able to get something out of it. Also, make sure to join the slack if you’re interested in practicing.
We are doing @CodeFights and @codewars in the #codewars channel of the @Codingblocks slack regularily. If anyone has questions regarding a kata or just wants to share his solution and talk about it – that's the place to be 🙂
— Byteflux (@bytefluxio) March 26, 2018
What does it mean to be “good”?
- 4 Reasons why the 10X Developer is so Controversial”
- Knowledge vs Skill
- Programming is a skill, and it is hard!
- What does “better” mean to you?
What is deliberate practice?
- TODO: The deliberate practice cycle
- Be Careful with your Side Projects!
- TODO: Flow is great, but it is not practice
How can we apply deliberate practice to programming?
- TODO X for Y vs Soft Skills
- TODO Interviewee example
- TODO How do writers do it?
Resources
Books
- Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
- Outliers: The Story of Success
- Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better
- The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Other
Most resources are “inline” but here are a few that I liked that weren’t explicitly called out somewhere else
