March 19, 2017

It's The Foundation That Matters

  —Understanding the fundamentals are critical to staying relevant.

I have to agree with Santiago L. Valdarrama and the points he makes in The unremarkable career of (some) modern software developers. Continuously learning is important to your career. Complacency is a career killer.

I've resigned from two positions during my career because those organizations got in the way of my learning or didn't provide the opportunity to apply it. Staying in these organizations comes at great personal cost. It's a cost that can sneak up on you if you aren't vigilant.

In addition to building a solid foundation build a broad network to get better insight on the issues you face.  I discuss some of the pitfalls of social proof and social loafing in Stop Being a Cave Dweller. These pitfalls are an issue if you think Google and Stack Overflow are your friends. (They certainly help but you need to think as well.)

The response on Reddit to Santiago's blog post is interesting. In my view Santiago's, point is understand the theory and stay sharp. The fact of the matter is that technology changes. You need something to carry with you as you move through your career. That something is probably a solid foundation in fundamentals that can carry you for the long haul.
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