Category: Development

Shubhro Saha on why software engineers should write

Software engineers should write because our craft is increasingly collaborative. Open source projects invite worldwide participation, while industry products often require an army of engineers. (Google Maps has 1100 full-time employees!) Good writing– whether it be in a GitHub comment, code review, or technical documentation– facilitates clear, concise communication for projects like these to move forward.

I’m going to take Shubhro’s essay on why software engineers (i.e. programmers, developers) should write one step further. Everyone should write about their craft. Database administrators, project managers, accountants, plumbers, Wal-Mart door greeter, you name it.

Writing is thinking. Writing helps you to understand your work better. To take a step back from the hustle and bustle and reflect on what you’re doing. You ask different questions about your craft when you take a moment to think and put it down in words for others to read.

Matt Mullenweg on the “State of the Word 2014”

The mission of WordPress is to democratize publishing, which means access for everyone regardless of language, geography, gender, wealth, ability, religion, creed, or anything else people might be born with. To do that we need our community to be inclusive and welcoming. There is beauty in our differences, and they’re as important as the principles that bring us together, like the GPL.

There are thousands of reasons why a person might pick one technology over another. Cost, support, growth, platform, user interface, etc.

The biggest one to me, and one that I’m happy to say WordPress embodies well, is the culture and community around such technology. After watching Matt Mullenweg give his State of the Word presentation at our WordCamp San Francisco Viewing Party, I’m glad to have aligned myself with such an awesome community. I want to work to use technology like WordPress to make other’s lives more rich. To improve my own knowledge of technology. To better myself as a person and be more including and welcoming.

Here’s to the future growth of WordPress, and all those who make it what it is. Grand.

A Great Interview with Mike Monteiro – “Design Is Not An Investment”

“Yes, investments are great. They’re also not necessary. When I think of investments I think of stocks, artwork, original Star Wars figures mint in box. Stuff that’s nice to have, and that you hope increases in value someday. Design is core. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s plumbing. It’s foundation. You don’t invest in design. You can’t exist without it. A website without design isn’t a house without art, it’s a house without a bathroom.”

Like any professional I have numerous books on topics core to my work. Technical manuals for systems, guides for programming languages, historical text from founders in the discipline, and numerous outdated (FrontPage 97!) reference materials from years gone by.

Yet, there is only one book that I would give to anyone entering the field. Mike Monteiro’s Design is a Job. I’ve been a ‘professional’ for over a decade. I just read his book a few years ago and it has changed how I approach everything – for the better.

And now Mike has a second book out, from the other side of the table as it were, called “You’re My Favorite Client“. This interview with him is a great introduction to the relationships between designer and client.

Both of Mike’s books are essential for anyone working to create something for someone else. Web design, photography, app developers – all will gain more from these books than any technical guide or “Photoshop for Dummies” could ever muster.

Good Work Doesn’t Always Get Good Coverage

Gina Trapani is someone who I’ve admired for a long time. Not only for her professional success and acumen, but her strong sense of ethics and fairness in all that she shares. I enjoyed her thoughts on paying for promotion and the state of visibility online.

“My feelings about advertising are fraught. I’ve worked for advertising-supported web businesses my entire career, so I mostly hate ads, even while they paid my salary.

Ads can compromise the user experience by splitting product makers’ loyalties. Is the advertiser or the user the customer? Ads are a way for monied brands to buy exposure for a product that’s often not as good as an alternative. Ads give companies a reason to collect data about you and sell it to advertisers for targeting purposes.”

We need more people like her in all industries – especially technology. We should be more reflective. Thinking about your work and the perception therein can be very rewarding.

P.S. You should try ThinkUp. It’s a lot of fun and makes you think about what you’re putting out there.

Vogue’s Interview with Jony Ive

“And here’s the next irony that defines Ive’s career: In the clutter of contemporary culture, where hits and likes threaten to overtake content in value, the purity of an idea takes on increasing currency. “I think now more than ever it’s important to be clear, to be singular,” he says, “and to have a perspective, one you didn’t generate as the result of doing a lot of focus groups.””

Jony Ive is well-known in design and technology communities. I hope that articles like this one will bring more awareness to his influence on the devices we use – and wear.