Twyste

What makes a manager a good mentor: a jr dev’s perspective

I’ve benefitted from working with a manager who is focused on making our development team as strong as possible. He invests time and thought into our growth and development on a regular basis. As I’ve talked with other junior developers who’ve received varying degrees of support and instruction, I’ve become increasingly aware of the things a manager does that truly … Continue reading →

whoami: I’m a web developer

Just over six months ago, I decided I wanted to become a programmer. Now, I’m working as a web developer for a great company. It’s amazing to me how much has changed in such a short amount of time. I get to work with PHP, ReactJS, and a smidge of NodeJS/npm, Ruby on Rails and … Continue reading →

Don’t look at me… my struggle is showing!

At my software development bootcamp (Epicodus), we work in a style called “pair programming.” Pair programming refers to a practice where two people share the same computer, working together to write and debug their code. Each person in the pair takes turns on the keyboard and each person contributes by talking through the code whether … Continue reading →

Make an assumption, but not the one you think

I cofounded and organize a developer Meetup group that has been in existence for almost three years now. Our membership is just shy of 1000 people and our regular attendance at our monthly speaker events is at least 40-50 people. It’s a great group and I’m proud of the work I’ve put into building it … Continue reading →

Things to Focus on as a Beginning Developer: the non-technical skills

Regardless of how good your technical skills are (see part one of this blog post for how to improve them), if no one wants to work with you it won’t matter. So be nice. To everyone. That part should be a given. Time and time again, the developers I have been most consistently impressed with … Continue reading →

Things to Focus on as a Beginning Developer: the technical skills

A few days ago I gave a talk on intentionally learning and improving as a beginning developer. Because one of my goals for this first quarter of the year is to do more writing, I used this blog post to work through some thoughts for the talk and knock off an item on my work goals. … Continue reading →

Things that made me laugh (or How to Prove You Aren’t a Robot)

This morning I woke up early, so reached for my phone and got a head start on my “three things.” In our family that’s what we often say as we’re getting on whatever screen to do a quick check of email, the news, WordsWithFriends, Pinterest or whatever. We all have them, those few items that you … Continue reading →

My text from the Easter Bunny

Not just anyone gets a text every year from the Easter Bunny… the real Easter Bunny. At my house, we do. This text is from this past Sunday, but it started years ago when my boys were little and believed in all things make-believe and magical, especially if those things involved candy and/or celebrating. So, they were … Continue reading →

Groceries just show up!!! Really!

My current favorite app is the one that magically makes food appear in my house in a couple of hours or whenever I’d like to schedule it to be delivered. Who wouldn’t love that? It makes me want to grocery shop (because I’m really not!). I’m talking about Instacart, a handy dandy little app for ordering … Continue reading →

What blog am I reading?!?

For those who were reading my blog a couple years ago, my last post (I Kinda Get Git…) may have you wondering what blog you inadvertently subscribed to back then. I haven’t added much on here for awhile, but have continued to think in “blog posts” and write them in my mind when funny or … Continue reading →