Author: dwang

  • There’s a price for everything

    Dear D and H, There’s a price for everything, and that cost is always related to time. Time is the only thing that no one can get more of and everything that is worth pursuing takes time. When you’re young, you have a lot of time. And time is really “cheap”. You don’t really have…

  • Dear D and H,

    Hopefully when you guys are older, you’ll read these letters to you and you’ll gleam some insight into why I may or may not have done certain things for/to you. Why was daddy so strict? Why did he want me to learn Chinese? Taekwondo, brazillian jiujitsu, again? Why no TV, why no iPad? Why did…

  • Web Developers Roadmap

    On /r/learnprogramming, I see a lot of frustration on what to do after a basic language tutorial.  There’s a lot of information on the web, but it’s still hard to know what to do next for a beginner.  I’ve found that there’s not really an example of how to bridge the gap between knowing the…

  • 10 Steps to get Unstuck While Programming

    As a beginner there will come a time when you will write something that either has a bug, doesn’t work properly, or just won’t run/compile. It will seem no matter how hard you try, you just can’t figure it out and you’ll feel absolutely stuck. So what do you do when you’re stuck? I’ve seen…

  • How does a new software engineer get a job?

    Finished a boot camp or online course and feeling discouraged?  Looking around at job requirements and thinking about learning another language?  Feeling like you worked really hard for nothing?  It’s tough getting started as a software developer, so let me give you the step-by-step route that I took to getting hired as a beginner.

  • Signs of Burnout and How to Prevent it and Recover.

    Last week I covered talked about whether you should work overtime or not.  This week, let’s talk about the effects of persistent overtime – burnout.  What is burnout?  What are the symptoms, and if you’re burned out, what can you do to recover?

  • Should Software Engineers Work Overtime?

    There’s a problem in our industry and we need to talk about it.  Should software engineers be expected work overtime?

  • Common Fears of Programming, and How to Overcome Your Fears.

    Learning how to program can seem like a daunting activity, but it’s really just like learning anything new – it takes time and practice.  Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re not progressing fast enough and not learning anything, but I can assure you that by pushing through those thoughts and feelings, you’ll come out the other…

  • What Programming Language Should I Learn First?

    As a beginner, ever wonder what programming language you should learn first?  I’ll review the common industries and common problems that people solve with different languages to help you figure out which is the right language for you.  I’ll also review the average salaries, and which language to choose for the highest paying salary.

  • What does a Software Engineer do?

    This one is for the noobs!  Let’s go back to the basics and describe what a software engineer actually does.