Brown - How to Become an Expert Software Engineer (and Get Any Job You Want): A Programmer’s Guide to the Secret Art of Free and Open Source Software Development

Copyright 2016 by Marcus Tomlinson.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

Publisher: Marcus Tomlinson

Cover & Interior Design: Marcus Tomlinson

First Edition, 2016

DEDICATION

To my wife Lisa, and our soon to be born son, without your love and support this book would have never happened!

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

Im writing this book to share some real life, practical steps you can take to perfect the art of software engineering and land your dream job. No pie-in-the-sky theories, no fluff, just some simple, straightforward guidelines. Im a firm believer in practicing what you preach, so the suggestions I make in this book are all things I have personally done to improve my skill set, and as a result, get every job Ive wanted.

Ive had a relatively short career so far (just over 8 years), and 2 years ago I landed my favourite job yet! Does that mean itll take you 6 years to land yours? No, not necessarily, but that's a bit of a tricky one. If youre new to the field and the job listing youre interested in states: 6 years experience required, then perhaps yes, but I truly believe that by following my advice, youll likely convince them to hire you with fewer years under your belt. Trust me, at 28, Ive been the youngest amongst those sharing my title at every company Ive worked for. Proving your proficiency in a skill is far more valuable to an employer than simply stating the number of years youve spent doing it.

Ever heard the saying: practice makes perfect? There are a lot of bad theories out there, but this is one that Im sure youd agree holds a pretty valid point. If you want to perfect anything, you need to practice it, and in the world of software engineering, I see no better way to practice your art than with open source development. Not only is writing open source software a great way to learn and acquire new skills, it is a brilliant way to gain real world experience in something your current job may not be offering you; experience that you can legitimately claim on your rsum. Theres no hiding behind the cosy veneer of closed source software here, these are real solutions with real users, but this time your code is as much the product as the application.

So why should you listen to me? Well, if asked to name the worlds most successful open source project, most people would immediately answer: Linux. The Ubuntu operating system is arguably the most popular Linux distribution on the planet, and for over 2 years now, this has been my job. Dont get me wrong though, I didnt make a very glamorous entrance to the open source world by any means. Ive made a lot of mistakes over the last few years. My personal projects range in popularity from a couple hits a day to a couple hits a month, not to mention one or two utter failures that received zero interest at all! However, it's through these mistakes that Ive learnt a lot about the dos and donts of free and open source software development, and is precisely why Im writing this book. I want to show you the system I use to design, develop, and deliver open source software, steer you away from the mistakes Ive made along the way, and help you build an impressive rsum of projects thatll get that job youve always wanted!

So, without further ado, lets get started

PART ONE

Define

CHAPTER ONE

Reprogramming yourself for success

Step 1: Be proud to be an engineer

What ever happened to praising the hard working engineer? The Steve Wozniaks and Linus Torvaldses of the world. We have put managers, directors, and CEOs so high up on a pedestal that many of us actually believe, unless we end up becoming one of these, our career is a failure. We are in the middle of the information age right now, computers are literally transforming the world around us, and we are the men and women shaping it in our hands. Even though the part you play may seem small and insignificant, remember that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts, your impact on the world is more significant than you might think.

Whether youve just started your career, or youre looking to further it, this book is aimed at anyone with an interest in writing software. Those who genuinely enjoy taking on challenging problems and solving them with an enthusiasm for smart, reliable solutions. As software engineers, we give computers new purpose every day. We bring them to life by imparting pieces of our intelligence to them, we create whole new worlds and ecosystems governed by laws we enforce in our code, but most importantly, we love what we do.

In his book: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink narrows motivation down to 3 key elements: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Without a genuine interest in what we do, we will never be proud of it, we will never master it, and we will never feel purposed for it. In short, if you are not interested, you are not motivated, and without motivation, you will not succeed.

Although the origin is greatly disputed, it is generally accepted that Confucius was the one to say: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. This quote has taken a lot of heat, but I think it's just misinterpreted. The emphasis should be on the words: have to. If you choose a job you love, you will want to work every day of your life.

Step 2: Prepare to work for what you want

The most valuable asset you could offer a potential employer is experience. Although a qualification can be great for getting a foot in the door, anyone who has worked long enough knows that theory and practice are not often synonymous. Remember, what you are being hired for is to do work, and experience proves that you can do just that (well, it almost does). Years of flying under the radar at a company is hardly going to leave you with many tangible skills. The only valuable form of experience you can gain is the kind you actually worked for, because experience you work for is experience you can demonstrate. Proving your proficiency in the job youre asking for is by far the most convincing argument you can make.

By this point, youve probably gathered that this book is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Im not going to be teaching you any tricks to cheat the system, or telling you that being lazy is ok. What I want is to help you get your priorities straight and work smarter, but by no means does working smart automatically replace working hard. Hard work spent doing something worthless will always be worthless no matter how hard you work, but hard work spent doing something beneficial becomes more beneficial the harder you work.

A lot of people associate the words: hard work with feelings of displeasure. To many of us, the word: work is reserved for the stuff we do at our jobs; work we tend to see as benefiting our employer more than it benefits us. When we have this mindset, the harder we work, the greater the gap seems to grow between our employers benefit and our own. We need to break out of this way of thinking. Sure, hard work is not necessarily fun, but it should always feel worthwhile. If your job does not leave you proud after a hard days work, you need to find one that does.

Step 3: Take the dream out of dream job