Developer Wellness Program
We’ve been talking about software wellness around here lately, but what about developer wellness? We have a plan to increase the quality of our software, but what about the quality of ourselves?
I want to thank Scott (you need a blog, wise one) and Matt for recently instituting our latest developer wellness programs.
- Microsoft Certification Brown Bag Group
- Pattern of the Month Club
Microsoft Certification Group
To kick off our weekly brown bag meetings, we purchased 3 boxes or so of the MCTS Exam 70-536 study book. To the right is what $700 worth of MS Press books from Amazon looks like on my kitchen table.
Scott “Mad Dog” Schimanski will be our fearless leader on our path to certification and enlightenment.
Pattern of the Month Club
Our other self directed study group is being facilitated by code slinger extraordinare Matt Berther. Matt has set a twice-weekly meeting pace for us to work through the group’s selected text, Design Patterns Explained.
I am genuinely enjoying the author’s style of writing and the clarity his explanations. He starts the book with a primer on UML to use as a tool for getting ideas across throughout the text and it shamed me. The UML primer shamed me because I know good and well what a useful tool formal modeling is to communicate clearly and I have neglected it in recent years. I don’t know why, but I just haven’t wielded this tool for awhile. I am glad I am blowing the dust off of my UML.
The industry grows around you all the time. We aren’t sorting pickles here, folks. Therefore, if you aren’t growing you are shrinking.
Man, I’d love to be involved in the Pattern of the Month club. Really good idea.