For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
Episode 030: Essential Developer Skills with Tom Stuart
00:16 – Welcome to “Cycles in Philosophy of Software, Common Principles with Different Names & Reference” …we mean, “Greater Than Code!”
01:47 – Superhero Origin Story
04:45 – Nomenclature: “Junior” and “Senior” Developers; Differences Between “Early Career” Developers and “Experienced” Developers
13:56 – Solving the Skill Assessment Problem; Learning Methodically
20:55 – Software Development Now vs Then
29:51 – Do Programming Languages Create Certain Biases?
44:16 – Good Mentorship and Telling People What’s Next to Level Up
55:58 – Cohorting/Teaching Classes with Sandi Metz; Object-Oriented Design and Object-Oriented Programming
Reflections:
Janelle: Looking at things as multidimensional problems.
Rein: An Introduction to General Systems Thinking by Gerald M. Weinberg
Sam: The importance of the skill of metacognition.
Tom: How the work as changed as being a developer. Nonviolent Communication: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall B. Rosenberg PhD
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Special Guest: Tom Stuart.