Apprenticeship Pattern Blog 5

From chapter 5 of The Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye we see that most of the software craftsmanship patterns are inter-related. This chapter is titled ‘Perpetual Learning’ to mean that software developers must continuously work towards gaining and improving practical, crucial skills to build confidence, value and progress in the field. I agree with this approach, and I plan on investing time in the mastery of some of the programming languages we’ve been taught at school such as Java, JavaScript. It’s often said that a journey of a thousand starts with the first step. Therefore, daily practice for me is that first step in my software craftsmanship. The author beautifully lays it by saying, “…concrete skills, an apprentice must also learn how to learn, for the transition to journeyman will certainly not remove the need for learning…” I agree with this approach and as I've mentioned in other blogs, it is challenging sometimes but worth the pursuit.

 

We also see that identifying skills that are required in one’s craftsmanship facilitates setting up clear targets to be achieved. Technical skills can be hard at times to comprehend but with dedication anything can be achieved. For instance, since I’m interested in created in APIs, web systems and user facing applications, it’s relevant to learn Java, JavaScript and VueJS. Knowing that these are the requirements, I can efficiently dedicate my time towards platforms that achieve the set objectives. Practical learning solutions offered include signing up for Google Reader or another blog aggregator, following some software luminaries on twitter, subscription to moderately high-traffic online mailing lists, joining a newly formed local user group that is excited about new technologies. I personally, I'm a fan of the Software Engineering daily, however, adding Google Reader would also be a great addition.

 

We’ve seen in previous patterns that simply taking on simple tasks and fully mastering them before tacking complex projects continues to be very helpful. I'd say that documentation is always the first place to start when it comes to learning a new platform or technology. I intend to use this pattern to learn more about document-oriented databases such as MongoDB since they have faster transaction performance and data persistence. I know that with continuous practice comes resistance but it’s encouraged within the book to retreat into competence by taking a step back from overwhelming challenges and focusing skills in a specific area.