Smash the Bug

Wow. Magento just got much better! How? Grab a seat and let's talk about it. Adobe Commerce (Magento) has made some big strides with 2.4.3 and opened up quite a bit of opportunity for developers and merchants alike. As Jesse put it so simply, they may have fixed one of their greatest flaws. Let's talk!

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MINI SHOW NOTES (full notes available on SwiftOtter.com)

This might be the biggest update to Adobe Commerce (Magento) in a LONG time. We've been waiting for it for what seems like forever. Are you excited??

Sometimes our assumptions are dead wrong and an issue that should take ten minutes to resolve takes hours. For instance, "null" doesn't always equal zero. To add to the frustration, sometimes we make the wrong assumption twice and don't journal when it happens the first time...

RabbitMQ can provide so much value. Are you using it?

The importance of generating DbSchema whitelist and why database backups get messed up.

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging is AVAILABLE NOW! Check out https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ to order, get more info or download a robust preview. This is NOT a self-help book designed to change your title to "senior developer". Rather, it contains the information you need in order to become an excellent debugger and an invaluable developer, regardless of your job title. The book is $40 USD, shipped anywhere in the world for free. This is the next step to becoming an incredible developer and taking the next step in your career!

Get it at https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

What's your next career move? How are you going to score the ideal job? What are the best agencies looking for in the next developer they hire? Jonathan Lorenzi, Director of Engineering at Corra and six-time Adobe Commerce (Magento) certified developer joins us for episode 23 with a bunch of helpful insights to share!

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MINI SHOW NOTES (full show notes available at SwiftOtter.com)

Should a dev be hired for their skill level or their commitment level? Where does passion come in?

How can you know if someone has a passion for what they do, and how will this translate into the life of a developer?

Sometimes when you don't get the job, it's not really a "no", but a "not yet".

When an interview doesn't land you a position, make sure to get a clear answer on why you didn't make the cut. Be humble about it, and show that you desire to close the gaps in your skillset.

Interviews are stressful, but Jonathan reminds us that good developers don’t “stay on the market very long” and that the best way to interview is to get comfortable, be confident in your knowledge, take your time answering questions, and prepare a few thoughtful questions of your own.

Jonathan’s advice for the interviewer is to never ask questions that won’t really be asked of that person if they are hired for the job. This is a waste of time, and an interview really doesn't need to be a frustrating trap. It should be a comfortable and meaningful experience where both the interviewer and the interviewee feel like they are working towards the same goal.

What is YOUR dream job? Are you prepared for that next interview? Are you being paid what you’re worth? Do you feel valued and appreciated by your current employer? Feel free to reach out to us if you need any insight on these things. SwiftOtter exists to be a helpful resource for you and we’ve got your back!

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging is AVAILABLE NOW! Check out https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ to order, get more info or download a robust preview.

This is NOT a self-help book designed to change your title to "senior developer". Rather, it contains the information you need in order to become an excellent debugger and an invaluable developer, regardless of your job title. The book is $40 USD, shipped anywhere in the world for free. This is the next step to becoming an incredible developer and taking the next step in your career! Get it at https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Welcome to Episode 22! This week, Joseph and Jesse discuss the exciting upcoming changes to Magento and PHP, what these changes might mean for developers, and the unique challenges they've both been facing in their every day work. What have YOU been working on lately?? Leave a comment and let us know. You might even be our next guest on Smash the Bug!

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MINI SHOW NOTES (full notes coming soon to SwiftOtter.com)

Magento 2.4.3 releases on 8/10/21!

PHP 8 and the "null safe operator".

Every single character that we write in code is technical debt. The takeaway isn’t to avoid writing code, but to write tighter code that will require the least amount of maintenance in years to come.

Jesse explains his recent challenge that got him all tied up in a knot.

Joseph explains his ongoing battle with integration testing and the tedious challenges he's been facing.

Joseph hits hard on the importance of note taking and leveraging the space "outside of your mind".

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging is AVAILABLE NOW! Check out https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ to order, get more info or download a robust preview.

This is NOT a self-help book designed to change your title to "senior developer". Rather, it contains the information you need in order to become an excellent debugger and an invaluable developer, regardless of your job title. The book is $40 USD, shipped anywhere in the world for free. This is the next step to becoming an incredible developer and taking the next step in your career! Get it at https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Welcome to Episode 21! Eduard Zuiev isn’t your everyday Magento developer. Actually, he has six certifications and co-founded his company, PROFSTEP in 2014. While this was a short interview, Eduard’s story will resonate with developers who are committed to their craft and servicing their clients well, and it might shed some light on what it's really like to be a "founder".

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MINI SHOW NOTES (full notes coming soon to SwiftOtter.com)

While taking some precious vacation time with his family, Eduard had to deal with the most intense technical challenge of his career while attempting to climb an actual mountain! He lets us into the world of a “founder” and what it really looks like to run a company that puts clients first.

Joseph can certainly relate, as it took him years after starting SwiftOtter to get to the point where he felt comfortable with taking a vacation and leaving his post.

Eduard shares his daily habits and his methods of growing as a developer. While he doesn’t have time to take in all of the information, he loves Magento and has amassed a great toolbox of resources to help him stay fresh and learn new things on a regular basis.

“Every day, I’m starting” is a golden nugget from this episode, because a developer who starts the day with a readiness to learn and grow and a desire to climb that day’s mountain (pun intended) is the one who will do great things!

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging is AVAILABLE NOW!

Check out https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ to order, get more info or download a robust preview. This is NOT a self-help book designed to change your title to "senior developer". Rather, it contains the information you need in order to become an excellent debugger and an invaluable developer, regardless of your job title. The book is $40 USD, shipped anywhere in the world for free. This is the next step to becoming an incredible developer and taking the next step in your career!

Get it at https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Jisse Reitsma is an extremely knowledgeable, Dutch ecommerce developer with an impressive history. His core focus nowadays is on his education platform, Yireo.com, where he trains developers on Magento 2, Shopware 6, React and Vue. From a recent public debate on social media to a helpful discussion here on Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jisse certainly can produce quite an interesting conversation. In this explosive episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jisse explore the conversation of product repositories, efficiency enhancements and what originally sparked their little disagreement on social media.

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MINI SHOW NOTES (complete notes coming soon to SwiftOtter.com!)

Why are there two distinct camps regarding product repositories? The real question is: are they making life simpler or is there a better way?

Exploring if the issue is really with product repository, or if it should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

A good developer isn't defined by their ability to memorize and replicate the same processes over and over, but rather their ability to be flexible, explore options and activate their creativity when a time-tested process they've conquered suddenly breaks down.

To quote the great Ben Marks from his Twitter page, “Remember, all software is garbage, and we are merely sanitation engineers”.

What if the community embraced open source and came up with a viable solution to this product repository/collection debate? After all, what is Hyva about and why is everyone excited about it? It's all about throwing out the parts of Magento (Adobe Commerce) that aren't working well and creating a solution from the outside.

Paraphrasing Joseph’s statement at about 26:00, it’s time to go from the complaining stage to the critique stage and to take action instead of throwing rocks.

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging is AVAILABLE NOW!

Check out https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ to order, get more info or download a robust preview. This is NOT a self-help book designed to change your title to "senior developer". Rather, it contains the information you need in order to become an excellent debugger and an invaluable developer, regardless of your job title. The book is $40 USD, shipped anywhere in the world for free. This is the next step to becoming an incredible developer and taking the next step in your career!

Get it at https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Ed Finkler, Founder of OSMIHELP.ORG, joins us for this episode to talk about what may be the most important bug we have to smash on a regular basis. Burnout is far more serious than we tend to think, until we're going through it ourselves! In fact, with the unique challenges that ecommerce developers face on a daily basis, it is almost guaranteed that each one of us will experience burnout at some point in our careers. The battle for your own mind is worth fighting.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS [coming soon: full show notes at SwiftOtter.com]

“Burnout” isn’t a technical diagnosis. Unfortunately, when people experience burnout, their mental condition may even worsen due to the perception that nobody else identifies with their situation or understands the personal challenges it presents every day.

Burnout is uniquely identified by the inability to manage stress levels properly, enjoy tasks that were once enjoyable, feel like progress is being made when tasks are completed, or even have a confident “sense of agency”, which is the conscious recognition that one has power over their own situation.

Programming is certainly a difficult job, but an ecommerce developer is the creator, ongoing maintenance provider and solution designer for online merchants who often demand a lot from them. The action really never dies down with how many different things developers have on their plates. Because of the way professionals must operate in this career, experiencing burnout is almost guaranteed to happen at some point.

Ed revealed to us the reality that “burnout” is really just a euphemism for “episodic depression” and that it’s important to understand that everyone goes through this in different ways and for different reasons. Burnout cannot be remedied with more money, easier projects or the occasional pizza party. The sense that one’s peers truly care about them and desire to see them succeed is an incredible antidote.

One’s greatest asset is their mind, so how come it doesn’t seem important to take care of that thing?

Visit Ed's website at osmihelp.org and for additional resources, check out helpguide.org

Are you dealing with burnout or "episodic depression"? Do you feel that your coworkers and/or managers don't understand the importance of mental health? We'd love for you to post a comment here or drop us a line at [email protected]. We're happy to be a listening ear and an encouragement to you! In addition to that, please feel encouraged to join our Slack community where over 1200 developers are collaborating and encouraging one another on a daily basis! Email us or connect with us on social media and we will happily share an invitation link with you.

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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof!

Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Are you interested in moving up as a developer? Or, maybe you just aren’t happy where you’re at and you’re curious what an interview looks like at a healthy, growing agency? On episode 18 of Smash the Bug, Joseph is in the hot seat for an intense technical interview! Whether you are going to be interviewing for a new position or interviewing others, be inspired and motivated by this example of a successful technical interview!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Joseph's early career, key advances, and what has mostly gotten him to where he is now.

Where Joseph believes he still needs the most growth and the tools he wants to learn more about.

What Joseph's first moves are when he is faced with a "brick wall" situation (an agent problem in need of solving).

Joseph's most recent accomplishment that led him to feel satisfied and confident with the end results.

*Rapid fire questions!*

Differences between production and developer mode What is a repository?

What is the difference between a router and a controller?

What is the difference between "bundled" and "grouped" products?

Someone wants to print an admin order, but the page looks terrible. It has menu and action buttons still on it. How would you fix it?

Jesse has great feedback for Joseph's answers to these rapid fire questions!

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Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof!

Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph had the opportunity to chat with Max Chadwick, Back-End Tech Lead at Rightpoint (formerly Something Digital).

Max has been around the block as an ecommerce developer and, as a Tech Lead at a large agency, finds himself at the helm of the ship whenever one of their clients has an urgent problem to address. His experience has led him to pinpoint the key differentiators between a novice developer and a seasoned professional, and subsequently, what makes for a high-functioning team.

In this episode, we get a SMALL chunk of his wisdom. What do you want to hear from Max next time? Post a comment and let us know!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Max figured out a while back that finding the real root of an issue and documenting your entire process is the way to achieve excellence, not just seeking out a quick (and likely temporary) fix to a problem.

Maxchadwick.xyz is Max’s public blog where he documents his processes, from taking the initial call from a merchant in distress to informing them that the issue has been handled. You might want to go bookmark that right now before you forget, cause that could be a huge help to you when you're in a bind!

“Debugging can kind of feel like a bottomless pit at some times, and you can feel like you’re just throwing stuff at a wall” - Max

Why is blogging such a powerful tool? Long story short: making sure that you know how to explain your process to someone else will solidify the process in your own mind.

Max has been creating blog posts about his debugging experiences for more than eight years and continues to see blogging as a necessary part of his daily work.

Max argues that a spreadsheet can come in handy when debugging, to help you categorize where and when you’re seeing these “cases” and he's even been able to use the statistics from his data-gathering to shorten the problem-solving process.

n98-Magerun2’s dev:console is a little-known resource and should be in your tool box, just in case you run into production issues and you need a way to evaluate the issue without interrupting it.

Consider the Bug Bounty program if you want to sharpen your skills AND contribute to an excellent cause at the same time. Max continues to participate on a regular basis!

Max's Blog: https://maxchadwick.xyz/blog/

Max's Article about the dev:console: https://maxchadwick.xyz/blog/n98-magerun2-dev-console-magento-cloud

Bug Bounty: https://www.bugcrowd.com/bug-bounty-list/

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Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers.

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof!

Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, the one and only Phillip Jackson, Chief Commerce Officer at Rightpoint and industry mentor is here to discuss the process of going from Junior to Master Developer. Phillip started as a developer and has certainly grown into an attractive role in the community! There are tons of golden nuggets in this episode so grab a seat!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Phillip's story from being a young child, interested in computers and point-of-sale systems, to overcoming the odds and proving a lot of people wrong. He "fought and clawed" his way into the career he wanted and you can do it too.

He "decided" that this was the career he wanted, and he had "the grit" to accomplish his goal, all while he didn't even understand what the potential was with computers.

Writing code on a graphing calculator?!

The connection between Phillip's initial determination and the quality of his work as a developer.

Your mindset is key to transforming your career.

*Phillip built his first website as payment for a new computer at Best Buy (he had never built a website before...)

"We are at the cutting edge of things that are happening" in the ecommerce world and "we are constantly forging new ground" as developers.

If you can be "comfortable being uncomfortable" you are going to do very well in this industry.

*The 3 traits a developer needs in order to be excellent and have a positive impact on those around them.

An important look at the content available at Future Commerce and why developers should occasionally consume content that is merchant-focused in order to blaze a better trail for their future work.

Why is being a "lazy developer" a good thing sometimes? (yes, it's a trick question)

*Phillip's bug-squashing story: "the way we were going to get paid is to hit some pretty unreasonable goals".

The final comment from Phillip on how to become an irreplaceable developer: seek to inspire, instruct and build those around you up.

If you focus on others, every project you touch will benefit from your involvement.

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Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof!

Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse talk about burnout, or more creatively put, "debugging the person". Sometimes the problems we face aren't with the code, but with ourselves, and we need to be open about these challenges so that we can help each other out.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

What does burnout actually look like and how can we identify when it is starting to become an issue?

Can we possibly identify how many hours we are productive and set healthy boundaries for how much we are working? Drawing an arbitrary line in the sand isn't the answer. Some people work 12 hour days and love their work, while others hit their limit faster.

Instead of being willing to step back and re-evaluate a project we are working on, we often look to just "get it done" instead of doing it right, which is often both a contributor to and a result of burnout.

Beginning every day, week and project with a fine-tuned "big picture perspective" can help you stay on course. "

One of the most demoralizing things I can do is throw code away" - Jesse

Jesse confesses that he struggles a lot when the requirements for a project change. Starting with a "big picture perspective", making sure the requirements are well laid out in the first place, and preparing for those struggles help to prevent demoralizing emotional situations.

Maybe sometimes you just need to clean the junk off of your glasses and you'll be as good as new! (joking, of course)

After discussing burnout with a dentist, Jesse learned that the feeling of burnout that comes from doing repetitive and boring tasks can be remedied by seeking to learn new approaches and creative solutions for the project. Trying a new approach might take you longer, but it will help you to learn and explore.

When you make creativity a priority, you can get into a routine of making mundane tasks seem fresh again.

If you're struggling with burnout, email [email protected] or [email protected]. While everyone's situation is unique, we've most certainly been through similar challenges and would be happy to lend a listening ear!

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Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to [email protected] and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof!

Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)