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I have set a professional goal for myself to become more active in the Rails community and to begin contributing patches to Rails and other open source projects

I have set a professional goal for myself to become more active in the Rails community and to begin contributing patches to Rails and other open source projects I use. With the eventual goal of getting the super awesome Rails job that I one day want as opposed to the okay-to-good Rails job I currently have. This article gave me a lot to think about in relation to my goal.

captain_mars 15y ago
Similarly, I have set myself the goal of becoming an awesome mobile app developer. My goal is to first become one of the most valued developers at my current workplace, and then to move on to a better job. I would appreciate any suggestions for how one can apply this 'Pyramid method' to the field of programming. What should be the pyramid here - Github? StackOverflow? Or is there another way to approach this quest?
- wallflower 15y ago
  The best mobile app developers I know are equivalent or even better graphic designers than they are programmers. If you truly want to become a better mobile developer, focus on improving your ability to design the visual side. When a user sees your mobile application, they are interacting with and see only the tip of the iceberg, your UI. They don't see the underlying iceberg of code. As far as a specific tip for the Pyramid method, get involved in your local mobile development SIG. For iOS, it is Cocoaheads (weird name, I know but Cocoa programmers are an interesting bunch). Once you get involved (or better yet, start one up), start presenting topics. By presenting, you will be pushed out of your comfort zone. Don't know AVFoundation? Volunteer to present on this topic and then build your first AVFoundation based app. As another comment in this thread pointed out, hackathons are a great way to meet other developers and improve your coding production. Seek out the good developers in your local area, nothing beats buying someone a beer or coffee and listening to their experience and advice. Do a pro-bono project, ideally one with a deadline (and one that would be difficult to back out of - e.g.one with personal commitment) StackOverflow is a good practice area. If you have free time, go find some questions you don't know how to answer and answer them. One last thing, buy a lot of apps. Use them, try to reverse engineer them (not from object code but from the app itself). Money well spent.
  - captain_mars 15y ago
    Awesome suggestions; thanks!

captain_mars 15y ago

Similarly, I have set myself the goal of becoming an awesome mobile app developer. My goal is to first become one of the most valued developers at my current workplace, and then to move on to a better job. I would appreciate any suggestions for how one can apply this 'Pyramid method' to the field of programming. What should be the pyramid here - Github? StackOverflow? Or is there another way to approach this quest?

wallflower 15y ago
The best mobile app developers I know are equivalent or even better graphic designers than they are programmers. If you truly want to become a better mobile developer, focus on improving your ability to design the visual side. When a user sees your mobile application, they are interacting with and see only the tip of the iceberg, your UI. They don't see the underlying iceberg of code. As far as a specific tip for the Pyramid method, get involved in your local mobile development SIG. For iOS, it is Cocoaheads (weird name, I know but Cocoa programmers are an interesting bunch). Once you get involved (or better yet, start one up), start presenting topics. By presenting, you will be pushed out of your comfort zone. Don't know AVFoundation? Volunteer to present on this topic and then build your first AVFoundation based app. As another comment in this thread pointed out, hackathons are a great way to meet other developers and improve your coding production. Seek out the good developers in your local area, nothing beats buying someone a beer or coffee and listening to their experience and advice. Do a pro-bono project, ideally one with a deadline (and one that would be difficult to back out of - e.g.one with personal commitment) StackOverflow is a good practice area. If you have free time, go find some questions you don't know how to answer and answer them. One last thing, buy a lot of apps. Use them, try to reverse engineer them (not from object code but from the app itself). Money well spent.
- captain_mars 15y ago
  Awesome suggestions; thanks!