12 Engineer Habits

Listen

  • What do senior-engineers tell you?
  • What do new employees have to say?
  • What did you hear in a podcast?

Observe

  • What do other companies do?
  • Read your teammate’s code.

Log

  • STORAGE IS CHEAP
  • If you’d write “print” and write a comment, why not log it
  • Save git commit messages for things that are unusual. (Squash the rest)
  • Save it in a separate NoSQL table/db

Document

  • Write it out first, don’t edit it until later
  • If you finding yourself drafting a slack message, please post it to Jira.

Think Big Picture

  • Don’t get attached to your software
  • Wait until the 3rd time you repeat yourself to abstract.
  • Talk with your teammates
  • Be “present” during standup. (this might mean you need to come prepared to standup)

Set Boundaries

  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Know when to keep working and when to take a step back
  • This helps you measure your progress
  • Again, don’t get attached to a project, don’t get attached to your code.

Automate

  • Don’t waste time and energy
  • It’s always easier to start with a linter, than to add one after the fact.
  • Save your mental space for what’s important
  • It helps you “think like a programmer”
  • A computer can organize better than you can.

Try New Things

  • Docker is scary, but if learning it now will help you later, learn it.
  • Dive in head first.

Discuss

  • Ask your coworkers what they think about something
  • Until everyone is on the same page

Have Fun

  • Grab lunch with a co-worker
  • Post cat videos in #random on slack

Reflect

  • Measure your progress

Plan

  • Backtracking leads to burnout
  • You can always abandon a plan