yegor256 podcast

Solving software problems in most cases is not about finding the right algorithms or optimizing the effectiveness of existing ones. It's about cleaning up the mess left by other programmers and by ourselves.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/kPmbRkSWYnY

"Jacks of all trader" were appreciated and valued in the past when computers were young. Now the situation is different: you either are a niche specialist and you make good money, or you know everything and your income is below average. This situation will only get worse for those who don't want to dive deeper into a specific tech domain.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/-WpBUrOxoDI

I often hear programmers complaining about projects they work in: customers are not happy, the market doesn't like us, nobody wants our product, etc. They not only complain, but they also quit. This is ridiculous. You don't need your product to be successful, you need your project to give you everything you need to be successful, personally. And this includes freedom and open source.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/wQwZPOzN2gI

Most of us programmers are good at writing code, but very bad in reporting bugs so that other programmers understand what is wrong and help us resolve issues. This is a very important "soft" skill. You can train it in open source projects, where nobody will listen to you unless you explain yourself very clearly and professionally. Take some open source project and try to submit bugs to them. You will see the reaction.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/Hrk_Jorc5z4

One of the most complex tasks while working in a team of software engineers is how to convince them that you are right and your technical decisions are correct. No matter how smart you are, you will have problems with this. In order to win in those fights, you need a support group: people who agree with you and will vote for your decisions. Open source projects may give you such a support group.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/DA9pK_yNLtc

1-го сентября 2020 года мне повезло выступить перед 200+ студентами Факультета Компьютерных Наук (ФКН) Высшей Школы Экономики (ВШЭ) в Москве, по случаю начала нового учебного года.

Видео здесь: https://youtu.be/Ly9u_ZAZFCk

You may think that being altruist and give your project and your team more than taking back is the right thing to do. It's not true. To the contrary, if you are being selfish and always make sure that the team is giving you back the same amount of value you are giving to it—you are doing the right thing and improving the management system in your company.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/A59xGYb-aGY

Being a talented programmer, in my opinion, means having an innate intolerance to mess. It means a permanent desire to structure and organize the code you are working on. This may be a great advantage if you are in a small project or a startup. However, if you join an enterprise, this will be your disadvantage, which may only hurt you and the people around you. Instead, you will have to learn new skills and acquire new talent for yourself: the ability to put up with mess around you.

The blog post about talent is here: https://www.yegor256.com/2019/12/31/talented-programmers.html

The video is here: https://youtu.be/8Ls88a_Y5iY

Some of us believe that a good open source project (or some of them) must have extensive and big documentation, in multiple Wiki pages or Markdown files. I don't believe in this. I believe that any project must be able to fit its documentation into a single README. If you can't fit it all into it, you are doing something wrong.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/Qxvk9z0tEP8

When someone comes to your product and asks questions about how it works, why it doesn't work, or simply complains about its problems: don't help them right away. Instead, fix the product while they are waiting "on the line," show them a new version of it, and ask to provide feedback again. This is how you use them as free testers and make your product become better.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/tI6rGQIevxU