Also one of the most interesting ways to keep talented devs around is rewriting their own solutions with new knowledge, it’s very counterintuitive but challenging and fun
Doing something like is really a culture thing. Not a process or policy thing.
It takes a company recognizing that it's beneficial to the dev which is beneficial to them. Allow wiggle room. Don't bog it down with red tape and expectations.
Mh maybe Im lucky, but at the 2 full time Programming jobs I head I always had those opportunities. Don't you have at least some company hackathons were you can go wild for a couple of days?
In my experience, these "exploration" allowances are just as effective at allowing developers to explore a technology and discover why it won't work for them. Sometimes, the marketing copy (even for community or open-source project) tends to be a little breathless and optimistic.
I usually sit along the river bank and wait for the enemy's corpse to pass by. /s
Seriously, someone might say that the sooner you enter in the game the bigger the reward will be (be one of the first nosql expert, crypto expert, Ai expert, whatever expert) but my experience tell me that it's a good idea to know that those things exists, what they are how they work, maybe even try explore/play a bit to better understand.. But I never start using them in daily job project until it's proved that they can really be better than actual technology.
And even if they are better, we always have to consider the time to share with the team, learning, refactoring to make it works as we need.. It has to be REALLY better than the actual tech stack to justify all the pain.
Different story on greenfield, maybe single dev team projects.. But those are hobby/poc..not daily job ones.
I take solace in the cycles of it all. Hot new database, try to rebuild everything with it, slowly crawl back to Postgres cause it’ll always love you now matter how many times you leave it.
I take solace in knowing that I can laugh at the hot new tech in 5-10 years when all the "XYZ rocks!" articles are replaced by "XYZ considered harmful".
It just blows my mind how people are so fucking fickle in tech. It's completely stupid, just like the techbros that are constantly shitfactoring everything.
Ugh... mongo... an over-zealous architect fought tooth and nail, believing mongo it was the perfect solution to a persistence problem. Several tens of thousands dollars later of azure bills we're finally ripping the last piece out. A 6k a month mongo bill vs 25 dollar a month on a plain old sql database.
In about 2008 I wrote down all the things I needed to learn (that I didn't already know) to be successful in tech. Looked at the list recently and they were all obsolete.
The rapid evolution of technology often leads to anxiety over being left behind. To manage this, focus on understanding your personal learning style and improving your learning process. Be cautious of overestimating the prevalence of new technologies based on online discussions. Identify foundational technologies—referred to as "keyframes"—and master them before exploring their derivatives. Recognize that technologies with a longer history are likely to remain relevant, as suggested by the Lindy Effect. Since a significant portion of development work involves maintenance, it's more probable you'll need to revisit older technologies than adopt the latest ones. Instead of attempting to predict which technologies to learn, stay informed about available tools and the problems they address. This approach prevents unnecessary reinvention. When learning complex technology stacks, tackle them incrementally, understanding the purpose behind each component. Remember, most technological advancements are iterative combinations of existing ideas. Maintaining humility and acknowledging that your current practices may evolve over time is essential.
If the summary seems inacurate, just downvote and I'll try to delete the comment eventually 👍
ThisIsMyCouchAccount@reddit
I wish companies would allow devs to carve out a sliver of time for exploration.
There's always some problem to solve a company. Or some opportunity.
Maybe the receptionist needs a little check-in system. Let some devs "play" and solve the problem.
YourCompanyHere@reddit
Also one of the most interesting ways to keep talented devs around is rewriting their own solutions with new knowledge, it’s very counterintuitive but challenging and fun
Overhaul8300@reddit
Some companies do have them but they end up being another bucket to fill up with regular work.
ThisIsMyCouchAccount@reddit
That's really it.
Doing something like is really a culture thing. Not a process or policy thing.
It takes a company recognizing that it's beneficial to the dev which is beneficial to them. Allow wiggle room. Don't bog it down with red tape and expectations.
Bananenkot@reddit
Mh maybe Im lucky, but at the 2 full time Programming jobs I head I always had those opportunities. Don't you have at least some company hackathons were you can go wild for a couple of days?
ThisIsMyCouchAccount@reddit
I would say you are lucky.
I've only worked at one place that was even close. And even it still struggled.
gredr@reddit
In my experience, these "exploration" allowances are just as effective at allowing developers to explore a technology and discover why it won't work for them. Sometimes, the marketing copy (even for community or open-source project) tends to be a little breathless and optimistic.
ThisIsMyCouchAccount@reddit
Exactly.
Make a thing in some weird shit that won't work.
Make it some popular thing and learn that it actually works.
Find out that regardless if it works - the developer experience is crappy.
Use it as a form of cross-training.
It doesn't have to be super official like what Google used to have. But it does need some protection otherwise it will never get used.
junior_dos_nachos@reddit
I built my entire career off side missions at work.
severo-ma-giusto@reddit
I usually sit along the river bank and wait for the enemy's corpse to pass by. /s
Seriously, someone might say that the sooner you enter in the game the bigger the reward will be (be one of the first nosql expert, crypto expert, Ai expert, whatever expert) but my experience tell me that it's a good idea to know that those things exists, what they are how they work, maybe even try explore/play a bit to better understand.. But I never start using them in daily job project until it's proved that they can really be better than actual technology.
And even if they are better, we always have to consider the time to share with the team, learning, refactoring to make it works as we need.. It has to be REALLY better than the actual tech stack to justify all the pain.
Different story on greenfield, maybe single dev team projects.. But those are hobby/poc..not daily job ones.
autopilot_failed@reddit
I take solace in the cycles of it all. Hot new database, try to rebuild everything with it, slowly crawl back to Postgres cause it’ll always love you now matter how many times you leave it.
chintakoro@reddit
I take solace in knowing that I can laugh at the hot new tech in 5-10 years when all the "XYZ rocks!" articles are replaced by "XYZ considered harmful".
Cheeze_It@reddit
It just blows my mind how people are so fucking fickle in tech. It's completely stupid, just like the techbros that are constantly shitfactoring everything.
AnnoyedVelociraptor@reddit
I didn't jump on Mongo, and now everybody realizes it's shit.
I'll wait.
godjustice@reddit
Ugh... mongo... an over-zealous architect fought tooth and nail, believing mongo it was the perfect solution to a persistence problem. Several tens of thousands dollars later of azure bills we're finally ripping the last piece out. A 6k a month mongo bill vs 25 dollar a month on a plain old sql database.
Mongo is never the answer...
Overhaul8300@reddit
In about 2008 I wrote down all the things I needed to learn (that I didn't already know) to be successful in tech. Looked at the list recently and they were all obsolete.
fagnerbrack@reddit (OP)
Speed Read:
The rapid evolution of technology often leads to anxiety over being left behind. To manage this, focus on understanding your personal learning style and improving your learning process. Be cautious of overestimating the prevalence of new technologies based on online discussions. Identify foundational technologies—referred to as "keyframes"—and master them before exploring their derivatives. Recognize that technologies with a longer history are likely to remain relevant, as suggested by the Lindy Effect. Since a significant portion of development work involves maintenance, it's more probable you'll need to revisit older technologies than adopt the latest ones. Instead of attempting to predict which technologies to learn, stay informed about available tools and the problems they address. This approach prevents unnecessary reinvention. When learning complex technology stacks, tackle them incrementally, understanding the purpose behind each component. Remember, most technological advancements are iterative combinations of existing ideas. Maintaining humility and acknowledging that your current practices may evolve over time is essential.
If the summary seems inacurate, just downvote and I'll try to delete the comment eventually 👍
^(Click here for more info, I read all comments)
Dry_Independence920@reddit
Didnt read just voted down
halting_problems@reddit
Take advantage of quantum negative time and you will have experienced all of it before you can even fomo.