The idea that changed the way I program - Dev Finds Friday
Tags: discuss, career, news
Published: 2020-05-08 14:33:02

---
title: The idea that changed the way I program - Dev Finds Friday
published: true
description: Links on links on links
tags: discuss, career, news
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/3iblr818iz62f9fvusyv.jpg
---

This was originally published in my free weekly newsletter, [Dev Finds Friday](https://newsletter.paulrcook.com). It's like having that cool friend who sends you all the best links on the internet (but better).

Onto the the links!

***

I was browsing Twitter earlier this week when I came across a thread on [ideas that changed your life](https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1257484391204352002?s=21). 

It's well worth a read in and of itself, but it got me thinking about what ideas changed the way I program.

I [tweeted out](https://mobile.twitter.com/therealpaulcook/status/1257685660191928325) my first thoughts on what those ideas might be, and as I think about it now perhaps the biggest change was learning how to use JavaScript's array methods.

I read through a [tutorial on functional programming in JavaScript](http://reactivex.io/learnrx/), and overnight it transformed my code. I don't remember the last time I wrote a for-loop in my day job.

I've read a lot of articles, watched tons of courses, and listened to too many podcasts, but only a small percentage of that content has truly shaped the way I program. It's fun to look back and reflect on the ones that did.
What ideas have influenced you?
***
## The Links

**[Rules of thumb for a 1x developer](https://muldoon.cloud/programming/2020/04/17/programming-rules-thumb.html):** Everyone is obsessed with the idea of a 10x developer., but what do you do when you're a 1x dev?
- "Rule 3: Focus “learning time” on things that compound"
- "Rule 18: Estimates serve more for creating pressure than for project planning"
- "Rule 20: When somebody says Agile, push for Kanban, not Scrum"

[Hacker News discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23029489).

**[Advice for Writing a Technical Resume](https://css-tricks.com/advice-for-writing-a-technical-resume/):** Great article from Sarah Drasner on exactly what it says.

> "Each time you list a work example, answer this: **what did you accomplish?** This is a good way to provide valuable information without unnecessary fluff."

**[Regular Expressions for Regular Folk](https://refrf.shreyasminocha.me/):** A visual tour de force through regular expressions.

**[SQL Police Department](https://sqlpd.com/):** Learn SQL while solving crimes. The [Hacker News discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23066776) has a few other links to similar SQL tutorials, as well, like [SQL Murder Mystery](https://mystery.knightlab.com/).

**[Software Folklore – A collection of weird bug stories](http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/index.html):** We've all experienced our share of tough bugs. This is a collection of doozies like [a bug that only showed up depending on the phase of the moon](http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/lore/moon_phases.html).

The [Hacker News discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23005140) has more bug stories.

**[Analyzing Analytics (Featuring: The FBI)](https://exploits.run/analytics-analysis-fbi/):** In which our young adventurer discovers a site secretly run by the FBI.

**[The Eng Hiring Bar: What the hell is it?](http://blog.interviewing.io/the-eng-hiring-bar-what-the-hell-is-it/):** A question for the ages. Long answer made short: it depends, but it's pretty high.

Corresponding [Hacker News discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22739605).
***
That's all I've got. 

If you're a curious dev, and that sounds like something you'd like to get directly to your inbox, sign up: [Dev Finds Friday](https://newsletter.paulrcook.com).

Much appreciated.

Stay healthy and thanks for reading!