👋 Hey, my name is Rich, I've been in software development for over 2 decades. It was hard to admit, but for a large part of my career, I struggled with self-doubt, I lacked self-belief and my confidence was low. A bit about me. 👇👇.

🔴 You don’t take initiative and wait to be assigned tasks. 🔴 You make a lot of excuses and are overly negative. 🔴 You minimise opportunities for communication. Are you really taking responsibility? 👀.

Most developers think they’re taking responsibility when they aren’t…. 5 signs you're not taking responsibility…. 🔴 You create too much tech debt rather than implement the proper solution. 🔴 You avoid ownership of your mistakes and often blame others.

You can make it fluid or set strict rules…. it completely depends on your pairing preferences. 👍. Don’t let anyone else dictate how you and your pairing partner code together. But which role do you prefer? 👀.

The roles in pair programming: driver and navigator…. 👉 The driver writes the code while the navigator thinks ahead, asks questions and reviews the code on the fly. However, the relationship between two developers can dictate how these roles are executed.

👉 Own it, and accept responsibility for it. You’ll gain the respect of your team and your boss.

have prevented. 🤬. But it happens sometimes…. Rather than look for blame, try this: 👀. “Thanks for pointing this out; I should have.checked that…”. 👍. Take pride in your work and do some of your own testing in whatever form is appropriate.

Testing is not my responsibility…. Is a statement uttered by many a software engineer. I’ve uttered it too…. Along with:."How did this bug get through testing?". ❗️This is called not taking responsibility.❗️. It’s annoying when an issue is found you could.

Happy to follow guidelines on how it should be architected, only choose from tools already used by the company, and code it using TDD (or some other methodology) in the name of consistency?. Are a few well-thought-out constraints a good thing?.

👉 Are you happy to have the tech stack dictated based on the rest of the company's software?.

A choice of the tech stack, tooling, architecture and code design, even if it goes against what your company already has in place?. Can you handle the added pressure and stress that comes with that freedom?. OR….

Is there such a thing as too much freedom and autonomy?. If you're given a new project, a new API or a small web app to deliver…. How much of a steer do you WANT from your boss/company?. 👉 Do you want total freedom?.

Speaking in complex technical detail might make you sound smart, but if you want to help your team be the best it can be, make the effort to communicate with them in a way that THEY can understand.

🟢 They can translate high-level technical solutions. …into understandable domain language for the wider team.

🟢 They translate the details of data structures, algorithms and design patterns. …into understandable domain language for the wider team. 🟢 They translate low-level technical detail. …into understandable domain language for the wider team.

🟢 They can talk about high-level technical solutions. More importantly. They are fluent in the language of the domain they work in and make that extra effort to make things easier for the wider team to understand.

The best developers speak multiple languages. They're fluent in both business language and technical speak. 🟢 They can talk about data structures, algorithms and design patterns.🟢 They can talk about low-level technical details and best practice.

Start by increasing your activity levels slowly and incrementally; who knows where it might lead?. All journeys start with a single step.

👉 Walking.👉 Gardening.👉 Cleaning the house.👉 Playing with the kids…. Going to the gym and following a workout programme is great, and I do recommend it, but if you’re not ready for that, don’t let it stop you from taking a step in the right direction.

Thinking about doing some exercise but don’t know where to start?. Don’t be put off…. More activities count as exercise than you might think. Exercise is just anything over and above your normal sedentary state and it all counts towards your wellbeing….

👉 I felt better about it, too!. Feedback is a gift. Use it wisely 👍.