Leaf of Beyond Writing Code
I'm writing a book on career growth for developers, leadership as an individual contributor, and big-picture thinking skills for developers. Subscribe for thoughts on development, leadership, and writing. I'll be sharing updates on the book and excerpts of what I've written so far. I'm also an Art-o-mat artist, creating drawings of mysterious creatures, and I will share occasional glimpses of my art here. You can find out more about the book and the art at beyondwritingcode.com.
When you ask for help, issue 7 of Beyond Writing Code
Beyond Writing Code #7 Date, 2025 Ahh, high school programming class. We were using TRS-80s (even then, they were old) and 80-column paper to code in BASIC. Sometimes, when a student who was stuck would raise their hand, our teacher would call out, "you need professional help!" "Fortunately, I'm a professional," he would add, coming over to the student. "How can I help?" I recently read How to Ask for Help Without Looking Stupid, a blog post by Ian Kiprono. Ian gives five main pieces of...
Mysterious creatures, Leaf's first art note
Beyond Writing Code - Art 1 June 27, 2025 Overwhelmed? Too much email unread in your inbox? Good news: this one's mostly pictures. I promised the occasional glimpse of my art... I make art for Art-o-mat, which converts old cigarette vending machines to sell art. I draw mysterious creatures on 2" x 3" watercolor paper. "looking for..." I glue each drawing to a wooden block, paint the edges, and number and name each on the back Mysterious Creatures series 6 I just sent Art-o-mat my ninth set of...
Draft outline, issue 6 of Beyond Writing Code
Beyond Writing Code #6 June 25, 2025 I've been promising you sneak previews for the book. Today, an outline of the whole book (neither final nor complete). What do you think: Is this one book, or more than one? Hit reply and let me know your thoughts (about multiple books, about the outline in general, or whatever's on your mind). Book recommendations and citations noted throughout. Here we go! Background This isn’t part of the outline, it’s here to keep me focused. If I’m not talking about...
Writing past fear, issue 5 of Beyond Writing Code
Beyond Writing Code #5 June 17, 2025 Lately I'm dealing with something I am not used to in my writing: fear of push back. Fear of “getting it wrong.” Usually I write what I write, and if someone thinks I’m wrong, well, then I learn from it, if there’s something to learn. But lately I'm noticing more anxiety about what I’m saying and how I’m saying it. Photo by Aubree Herrick on Unsplash As a result, I’m being more cautious. I'm writing a lot more “I think” or “it seems to me” or “maybe,”...
Answering the question, issue 4 of Beyond Writing Code
Beyond Writing Code #4 June 10, 2025 This email does NOT try to answer the following question: Why are we still trying to figure out exactly how much more productive developers are with GitHub Copilot when it is so cheap? I already wrote a blog post here about that. This newsletter is about something else entirely. Photo by Mark Basarab on Unsplash We wonder aloud about things we don't understand. But we're often just using the question as a rhetorical statement. "Why can't we just..." "Why...
AI for developers
Beyond Writing Code #3 June 3, 2025 In college, I took an intro psych class where the professor asked: is it nature, or nurture, that forms us? Is it all about our genetics? Or is it about the experiences we had? Of course, the answer is "some of each," but the part that stayed with me is that this is often the answer to big either/or questions. So, I haven't been quick to declare AI tools for developers (or AI in general) either the greatest innovation humanity has ever seen or the worst...
Was my book already written?
Beyond Writing Code #2 May, 2025 A few weeks ago, I took my aunt to a medical appointment. While I was waiting, I found a place to get a coffee, and I read a book. I read two copies of the book at once. Actually, two of my three copies... maybe I'd better explain. Books, books, books A year or so ago, I picked up an ebook of The Staff Engineer's Path, by Tanya Reilly. Looked like a good book, but I was in the middle of reading something else, so I set it aside. I picked it up again recently,...
Getting started writing
Beyond Writing Code #1 (yes!) 20 May 2025 Getting started writing When I stopped working at my job, I expected that I would settle down to write. Or at least I would work on the book proposal. Writing: number one on the To Do list for a writer, no? How most people write a first draft. I'm an author now Recently, I had several occasions to list my job title and employer. For example, I signed up for (and applied to speak at!) LeadDev StaffPlus in NYC. What's my new job title? I put "Developer,...
I'm writing a book on career growth for developers, leadership as an individual contributor, and big-picture thinking skills for developers. Subscribe for thoughts on development, leadership, and writing. I'll be sharing updates on the book and excerpts of what I've written so far. I'm also an Art-o-mat artist, creating drawings of mysterious creatures, and I will share occasional glimpses of my art here. You can find out more about the book and the art at beyondwritingcode.com.