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Warren Shea

Archive for June, 2013

The Art of Development

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 at 12:35 am

1/4 today…

I’ve spent my career being a developer/front-end developer and I can say that of all the types of development I’ve seen – front-end is the easiest. It’s easy to grasp and there’s a lot of room for error. Though that’s true of any kind of development when you get into it; it can be forgiving. There are an infinite number of ways to get to the best solution and the top 100 ways might not be clear unless you’re really good.

I’ve always thought that anyone who has done any development could do front-end development but I’ve often found that some developers I’ve met absolutely suck at front-end development. I see people doing crazy back-end stuff on their resume but still don’t know that a table shouldn’t be used for layout purposes.

I’d say that good front-end development, like any development, is like an art. There are ways to do things and ways not to. But they’re learned from experience. And that makes the difference between a good front-end developer and a bad one, despite it’s ease. Every kind of development has a box that must be played in. And it’s our job as developers to explore this box and discover how we can play inside (or outside) it. But anytime we play in or outside of the box, we’re creating development “art”.

I look at some pretty good back-end developers, still using tables for layout and I cringe. But they’ve obviously spent their careers learning the “art” of back-end development. And a front-end developer would be lost in this art. Such is “experience” and its value. (I’m almost saying that development “art” is gained through or IS experience).

My point is that, despite having spent a career in front-end development and thinking it’s the easiest of the developmentS, it is not without its unique rules, difficulties, and constraints. But I think the rules and difficulties are more artistically driven than conceptually, logically, or methodically driven. That is to say – you can do less with front-end development but it is, in its way, a skill that takes a lifetime to master.

Well, especially with a breath of new life to front-end. HTML5 and CSS3 both have some aspects to learn to even a seasoned front-end developer. HTML5 Canvas in particular is its own beast. But the new breath of life are the JavaScript frameworks introduced – jQuery, node.js, backbone.js (MVC) are all front-end tools/frameworks/techniques that can be explored with no less difficulty than any back-end language (that is, if front-end had a database…).

ZOMG AND THIS.

Thursday, June 20th, 2013 at 8:40 pm

I have a lego play date in July with my nephew. Gonna take out all my old Lego’s for him to play with….gonna let him break stuff apart (and then i’m gonna have to rebuild it :S)

Oh wait, not :S

:D

I still like playing with Lego :)

Architect of the world.

Never thought I’d have so much fun NOT deving

Thursday, June 20th, 2013 at 1:39 am

In recent years, there’s been one constant in my professional career – “I want to dev”. There were roles offered to me that I didn’t take because there wasn’t enough dev. Even when working out my manager role’s responsibilities, the initial “25% of my job is dev” worried me. Too low I thought. But funny enough, as soon as I took the job, I tried to make my 25% go to 0%. That is, I’m trying to delegate all development of my old job. It’s actually pretty awesome – like a weight/responsibility has been lifted off my shoulders. However, a more important responsibility remains in its place.

So I’m not deving anymore – but I’m still walking around, helping the developers out. I find I’m probably helping out at least….6-8 times a day. Which is a lot. But I like it – I come in to help out, and then I step away. I’m just there to support my team – which is honestly what my role is all about: doing the best I can do to support my team.

As Development Lead/Manager, my responsibility is split in two: support my team and dev. That’s it. So the more I dev, the less I support my team. But while dev is fun, it really only helps me. When I support my team, I feel that I’m helping all 13+ of them. And it feels way better doing that than helping myself.

That said, it’s not to say I won’t ever dev – I figure that in my position, I can delegate all my work and take anything I really want for myself. But that hasn’t happened yet, I don’t see it happening for a while, and it might not ever happen while I’m in this role. But it’s nice to know that option is there. (I’m still doing my own dev FOR work, but not WORK TASKS if that makes any sense…so it’s a lot funner – no deadlines).

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“With Great Power comes Great Responsibility”

That line, from Spider-Man, has actually been running through my mind lately. As a dev, my responsibility was only towards myself. I didn’t have “great power” and thus, didn’t have “great responsibility”. I did what I could but felt no obligation to. When pressure was on me, I tried my best. But if I couldn’t do what was needed, I was fine with it. Can’t do more than my best. But in my new role, I have “great power” (not really “great”, more like “some”), but I FEEL that great responsibility. Everyone on my team is my responsibility and even though I’m their boss officially, I feel like they’re all my boss: I do what I can to support them. And in return, they also try to support me. It’s…a great feeling. I just wanna do as much as I can for them so that, in a couple years, when I walk away from the role, I’ll have known that I did my best trying to help each and every one of them in the best way I could have. THAT, is a feeling that I would cherish my entire life. To affect a person’s life, in a positive way. Or even better, affect 15-20 persons directly, in a positive way. It makes me giddy just thinking about it…..which will hopefully be the case. Unless I suck.

This.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013 at 9:08 pm

And to a less extent – this.

Who will I play? Kirby? Or Mega Man? >_< It’s like asking which of my children I like best. They make Mega Man look. SO. DAMN. COOL. In the first video. I’ve never seen them handle Mega Man so coolly. Like, when his arm cannon switches to his hand, or when he takes out Metal Man’s power. I will say that that every time I see Kirby, he’s the only thing I’m looking at. He’s so cute!! And I die a little inside when he gets hurt. Is that normal?

More active this year than the last 10 years combined.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013 at 8:24 pm

Probably the last 14 years!
When was my last high school gym class?

Went to play tennis with some co-workers today. Definitely not as good as I thought I was/remember I was.
Need to improve:
Serves
Hitting it hard AND in
Volleys
Backhand
Spins
…..
Forehand?

So. Everything.

Sucks, I know I used to be pretty good when I was younger. Totally won a doubles tournament…in like, grade 2. That was 24 years ago but you don’t forget tennis…right? Right?

Going to get a grip tape and some tennis balls later this week. Practice serves in the really crappy court beside our building.

I want to improve!