From the Desk of Brian Richards

This week marks the beginning of my 16 week “Becoming a Better Developer” course. Starting today I’ll be reading the first four chapters of Clean Code: Clean Code Meaningful Names Functions Comments I’ve looked ahead, and I’m really excited by some of the excerpts I’ve read. I’m particularly enthused by Uncle Bob’s strong emphasis on…

As I stated last week, for the next four months I’m putting myself through code school. Objective and Plan In order to do this right, I’ve outlined a 16 week plan that has me reading 5 books and recording what I’m learning. Every Monday I’ll write about the chapters I intend to read and what…

Here are a few posts I’ve read recently that have helped get me in the frame of mind for the semester of learning I’m designing for myself. How to Become a Better Developer: Straight Talk High Quality PHP Why Can’t Programmers Program? 7 Ways to be a Better Programmer in 2014 Deliberately Practice Programming How…

This year, my goal is to become a better developer than I was last year. Now, that’s no different than my goal in previous years, and if you’re a developer it should be pretty high on your list of goals as well. However, this year I’m approaching the goal in a measurable, tangible way. I’m…

This year I want to become a measurably better developer. One way I hope to improve in that regard is by reading the best books that have been written on the topic of programming and development. Now, I would consider myself a web developer – I’ve been building websites for the better part of 17…

This post originally appeared on WPStartBox.com shortly after this event took place in 2011. I’ve resurrected it to include as part of my own blog. WordCamp Chicago 2011 I presented on “Developing for Success -or- Any Fool Can Do This”. The talk encompassed how I took a leap of faith and launched StartBox and all of…