2 Traits of Great Programmers
What distinguishes great programmers from good ones? It’s a question I’ve been wrestling with since I began learning to program . I’ve…
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Why Reading Code Matters (and how to get better at it)
It strikes me as odd. We’ve heard the same messages: Write clean code. Write readable code. Write concise code. I agree with these…
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The Best Resources to Learn Python in 2020
Finding a good programming resource is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's hard to find and can take a lot of time. I’ve used…
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4 Ways to Learn Programming Topics
All programmers have something in common. There’s a lot of programming knowledge to learn and we need a way to learn it effectively. In many…
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How Ben Franklin Can Help You Become a Better Programmer
Benjamin Franklin was a lot of things, including a scientist, an inventor, writer, and politician. He was also a great learner. In his…
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Program Better in Ten-Mode
Many programmers don't get the most from their programming hours. In large part, this is because most workplaces don't emphasize peak…
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Why You Should Cross-Train Your Programming Brain
It seemed counterintuitive. Standing in Barnes & Noble one winter evening, I paged through a running book titled Run Less, Run Faster…
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How to Retain the Programming Knowledge You’ve Gained
There’s a lot to learn as a programmer. But there’s just as much material to remember and recall. You don’t want to relearn SQL because you…
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A Better Way to Learn Test-Driven Development
The meetup had a requirement. About fifteen of us sat around plastic tables and chairs listening to the meetup organizer explain the problem…
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Learning a New Programming Topic? Start with the Big Picture
It kept happening. I’d set out to learn a new programming topic and get caught up in the details. Learning something new took forever. I’d…
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The Art of Problem-Solving
On a rainy Monday night in downtown Boston, I sat around a small conference room table with three other programmers. I was at a Python…
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Jocko Willink and The Disciplined Life
Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL, underscores the importance of discipline in his latest book, “Discipline Equals Freedom.” It’s filled…
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Use a Standing Desk to Boost Your Energy at Work
People try kinds of tactics to stay awake during the day. Drinking caffeine in one of its many forms — coffee, energy drinks, or soda — is…
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A Simple Solution to Improve Your Work
In 1935, a pilot error on Boeing Flight 299 resulted in a deadly crash, killing two people and injuring others. In response, Boeing…
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Supercharge Your Lunch Break
Most people spend their lunch break working or eating, and sometimes both. But I have another suggestion: take a beneficial break…
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5 Things Artists Can Teach Us about Productivity
Society portrays artists as eccentric people, lounging around their studio or office waiting for inspiration to strike. But after reading…
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Stop the Meetings!
The workplace is meeting-happy these days. We meet to discuss projects. We meet to create processes. We meet to share daily goals. And we…
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Be a Good Manager
I was intrigued by Jason Fried’s recent post on being a bad manager , so I decided to take the opposite tack. This post is about being a…
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Working in Blocks of Time
I used to be a to-do list fanatic. Each evening I wrote the things I wanted to accomplish the following day on a pocket-sized notebook pad…
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